We just got word that
Alan Whigham’s mother, Yoko Sakamoto, passed away this afternoon around 4:00 pm. Please remember Alan and his family in their time of grief.
Further information will follow concerning arrangements.
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2015 5:45 PM
We just received this in an email from the Missions Office at First Baptist
Atlanta.
Please pray for this urgent request.
Prayer Request from Dan and Marilyn Wilson. Missionaries who are in the
areas that are being attacked by ISIS are asking to be showered in
prayer. ISIS has taken over the town they are in today. He said ISIS is
systematically going house to house to all the Christians and asking the
children to denounce Jesus. He said so far not one child has. And so far
all have consequently been killed. But not the parents. The UN has
withdrawn and the missionaries are on their own. They are determined to
stick it out for the sake of the families even if it means their own
deaths. They are very afraid, have no idea how to even begin ministering
to these families who have seen their children martyred. Yet he says he
knows God has called them for some reason to be His voice and hands at
this place at this time.
Even so, they are begging for prayers for courage to live out their
vocation in such dire circumstances. And like the children, accept
martyrdom if they are called to do so. These brave parents instilled such
a fervent faith in their children that they chose martyrdom. Please
surround them in their loss with your prayers for hope and perseverance.
One missionary was able to talk to her brother briefly by phone. She didn't
say it, but I believe she believes it will be their last conversation.
Pray for her too. She said he just kept asking her to help him know what
to do and do it. She told him to tell the families we ARE praying for
them and they are not alone or forgotten -- no matter what. Please keep
them all in your prayers.
This came this morning...Just a few minutes ago I received the following
text message on my phone from Sean Malone who leads Crisis Relief
International (CRI). We then spoke briefly on the phone and I assured him
that we would share this urgent prayer need with all of our contacts.
"We lost the city of Queragosh (Qaraqosh). It fell to ISIS and they are
beheading children systematically. This is the city we have been
smuggling food to. ISIS has pushed back Peshmerga (Kurdish forces) and
is within 10 minutes of where our CRI team is working. Thousands more
fled into the city of Erbil last night. The UN evacuated its staff in
Erbil. Our team is unmoved and will stay. Prayer cover needed!"
Please pray sincerely for the deliverance of the people of Northern Iraq
from the terrible advancement of ISIS and its extreme Islamic goals for
mass conversion or death for Christians across this region. May I plead
with you not to ignore this email. Do not forward it before you have
prayed through it. Then send it to as many people as possible. Send it to
friends and Christians you may know. Send it to your prayer group. Send
it to your pastor and phone him to pray on Sunday during the service -
making a special time of prayer for
this. We need to stand in the gap for our fellow Christians.
Thank you for all your prayers !!!!