Prayer Update July 15, 2009

I'm a bit embarrassed to have let over a month go by without posting a prayer update. Where does time go?

Anyway, thanks for praying for this ministry, even when I don't give you new fodder for prayer.

Praises:

1) Praise God for the gradual opening of hearts of our patients to explore His Word. Last night we had a young man at the clinic who didn't want a Bible last month when he was in but this time gladly received one. Please pray that him and others who receive Bibles will have a genuine curiosity to read God's word and that it will change their lives.

2) Praise God for a patient named Steve who so graciously helped move some very heavy exam tables. We received 2 new tables from another office that upgraded, however, at the last minute, I had to find someone who could help move them and take the others away. I knew Steve had a trailer and when I called him he eagerly came to help. Please pray for a special blessing and encouragement for Steve.

Requests:

1) An on-going prayer request is for protection and safety for our patients, volunteers, and facility. The crime in the area has seemed to taper, but we continue to pray for safety for all who are coming and going.


2) Please pray for favor for a grant we submitted last month for an equipment upgrade. All of our current medical equipment has been donated after many years of use and some of it just doesn't work well any more. We desperately need things like otoscopes, thermometers, and blood pressure cuffs-which are all pricey. We ask God to provide what is needed.

Prayer Update

Many of you are busy getting ready for Healing the Heartland, family reunions, or summer vacations. The last couple of days I have tried my hardest to be efficient and get as much done as possible. This morning, it suddenly hit me that the most important thing I can do is pray. If you have never read the book, Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels,I highly recommend it! The title says it all.

Here are some things to keep in prayer:

1) Praise God for his provisions to allow us to do blood pressure screenings at Healing the Heartland. For awhile, I was unsure whether or not our insurance would allow us to participate but I got word today that yes we can! Also, thankfully, we have enough volunteers to staff our booth.

2) Please be praying for Healing the Heartland Festival this weekend. Please pray for good weather, safety for all, and for soft hearts to hear the Gospel.

The Festival is a time for people to come together, celebrate, and enjoy some family fun following a tough year. However, the larger purpose in it is for people to hear the Good News of Jesus and how they can put their hope in Him.

3) Please pray for a grant proposal we are submitting this week to the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation requesting funds to help us upgrade some of our medical equipment. Many of our volunteers have experienced missing equipment, dead batteries, or malfunctioning items. By getting some newer items, our volunteers would be able to spend more time with patients and less time fixing things.

4) Praise God for his continued financial provision through many individuals, churches, and now some grants. Just this week we received money from Wells Fargo & Farmers State Banks as a result of grant proposals we sent to them several months ago.

As always, thank you for your prayers and your on-going support!

Healing the Heartland Volunteer Opportunities

As many of you know, Healing the Heartland Festival is coming up on Saturday, June 13.

There are many opportunities to be a part of this event:

1) We need people to help give out His Hands info and nurses to take blood pressures. We have various 1.5 hour shifts between 11am-5 pm. Contact me at director@hishandsclinic.org if you can help out.

2) Become a FRIEND during the festival. Through various festival events, speakers will give an invitation for people to know Jesus personally. They need people who can come stand beside those folks, pray with them, and take their information so a local church can follow-up. This is mostly an informational activity, not a counseling event.

There are 2 training events (you only need to attend one):
Thursday, June 4 at 7 pm at River Of Life Ministries, 3801 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE
OR
Tuesday, June 9 at 7 pm at Peace Church, 6600 C Ave NE. If you are interested in attending the training on Tuesday, please let me know.

3) There are other volunteers opportunities, find out more here and scroll down to "Opportunities to Serve". You can sign up at your local church or email me with your serving preference.

Together, we can help our community celebrate the recovery following the flood and provide healing to those in need.

Community Walk

I'm so proud of our volunteers! Thursday night there was a community walk to help show people that we are concerned about the recent violence in our neighborhoods and we are going to speak out against it. Six volunteers and their spouses came out along with hundreds of others to walk through the Wellington Heights and Mound View Neighborhoods.

As I was walking, I saw an older woman sitting on her front porch, with tears streaming down her face, telling passer-bys "Thank you".

We pray for God's protection for this woman, these neighborhoods, and those who live and work in them.

Check out the following news sites for pictures and information:

The Gazette

Fox 28/CBS 2

KCRG

2 Prayer Walks this Week

This week, there are two opportunities for prayer walks.

1) Community Walk through Eastside Neighborhoods Thursday, May 21, starting at St. Paul's United Methodist Church (2nd Ave & 13th St SE)

BBQ from 5:30-6:30 pm
Walk starts at 6:30 pm

2) Prayer Walk around Kingston Stadium for Healing the Heartland on Friday, May 22 at 3pm. Meet in the Ice Arena Parking Lot.

Healing the Heartland is a festival sponsored by Serve the City (which His Hands is an affiliate) June 12-14 to commemorate and celebrate the survival and healing from the 2008 Flood. We will be helping on the Saturday event by providing a mobile medical clinic.

Each affiliate has signed up to pray prior to the festival and our day to pray is Friday. If you are unable to join us you are welcome to pray on your own for all of the planning details to come together as well as opportunities for people to come to know Jesus in a real way.

Prayer Update on National Day of Prayer

Here is the prayer update. Don't forget it is also the National Day of Prayer!


1) Praise God for a wonderful evening at our Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on Friday evening, May 1. We had a great meal, a great speaker, and a great prayer time for volunteers heading to Africa on a medical mission in June. Praise God for providing such great volunteers!

2) Praise God for providing a couple to do prayer support for our Friday morning chiropractor clinics. For the last 2 years, we had a volunteer who has been providing prayer support during one of those clinics but due to her husband's job relocation, she is moving away. A week after she notified me, David & Dixie Estrem, sent in their volunteer applications and indicated there were available and willing to pray! Praise God for his provision at just the right time.

3) Please pray for more physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. We have been turning away more patients recently because we don't have enough appointment slots. To be fully staffed with 2 providers at each of our clinics we need 5 more volunteers. God, provide us with what we need!

Thank You to Our Volunteers

This is a letter I wrote for the program of our Volunteer Appreciation Dinner, thanking our volunteers for their GREAT work.

Dear Volunteers-

To each one of you, thank you for your incredible service. This ministry literally wouldn’t exist without the offering of your skills and gifts.

Thank you for coming to serve when you are busy, when you are tired and want to go home after a long day, when you would rather be out enjoying the nice weather, or when you feel like you have nothing to give. Often. that is when God uses us the most.

Last fall, when we surveyed our patients, 100% of them said they felt like they were treated with respect & dignity while at His Hands. This is proof that the work you are doing is excellent and that you are serving the patients in more ways than you know.

I’m proud to serve in a place where it is evident that the Church is coming together to meet a real need in our community. May you not grow weary but continue to trust in God for strength, energy, and encouragement so that you can continue to display His Love to those who do not yet know Him.

Blessings,

Andi Doane

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.” Romans 12:1