Invitations are being mailed to those who live in the Knoxville area and are currently on our ministry mailing list. However, the dinner is open to all who are interested. If you wish to attend, please rsvp by sending an e-mail to brian@utnav.org

1)     The harvest requires laborers. Someone must do the reaping.

2)     As John Piper put it “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Therefore, we need laborers to help bring the most people possible into a place to be able to worship Him.

3)     We only become who God desires us to be as laborers for the harvest.

As we read over those verses in the English Standard Version of the Bible, two words leapt off the page at me: “pray earnestly.”  I’ve never been much of a “prayer warriors.” I know some and they are amazing to me both for their passion to pray and their endurance. Yet, the word for me was loud and clear: pray earnestly for laborers. Jesus didn’t say to the disciples “go recruit laborers.” His first priority was to pray earnestly. As fellow disciples, please join me in praying earnestly that God will raise up laborers for the harvest around the world from our internationals students at UT. Pray also that Acts 1:8 will be true for these students. Pray that the power of the Holy Spirit will enable them to be God’s witnesses to the ends of the earth.

Thank you’s

* Thanks to Kevin, Jacob, Will, Dale and Greg who came out to help us fix the structural problems with our carport.

* Thanks to God for 3 additional financial partners in the past month.

* Thanks to the Couple with Young Children class at Fellowship for their support of our ministry and of our family.

Additional Prayer Requests:

* Pray for our international friends who face challenges such as cultural adjustment, studying in a second language, homesickness, etc. Pray that they will draw near to God as they navigate through these challenges.

* We are praying for 20 additional monthly financial partners to join us this summer. Please pray that God will raise these people up to invest their resources to make an eternal impact - especially in this time of high gas prices and inflation.

* Satan does not like what we are doing. Realizing the truth of Ephesians 6:12, pray for us as we face the schemes of the enemy. Thankfully John 10:10 and 1 John 1:4 are true.

• Praise God for his continued financial provision. Each month additional partners are joining us and we are getting closer to full funding. We currently need to raise an additional $1600 monthly
• Pray that God will put a desire to know Him intimately in the heart of my friends Vic, Xinan, Xiaojun, Min, Omid, Mahdy and Faete.
• Please pray for my Nigerian friend, who is experiencing nagging problems with his car and for him to get over a hurdle with his immigration paperwork so that he can continue his studies.
• I am hosting a Bible study on Tuesday evenings for men. Please pray for 2 or 3 additional students to join us who want to learn from the Bible.
• Pray for Sarah and I as we balance family, ministry, part-time job and church commitments.

 A final note of praise. I have a Chinese friend who is a new believer that I meet with each week. In spite of his struggles with a relationship and his learning of several troubling things about American culture (in contrast to his all positive experiences initially), he told me that he learned something wonderful about God during the past two weeks. He said, “Though many people may not see it, the Bible is a book of love AND it is powerful.” He reminded me that I had shown him Hebrews 4:12 a few weeks ago. “That verse is so true!” he said.  Praise God!

International students from several universities in the southeast will come for recreational opportunities, relationship building, bible study and worship. Please pray for this time. The majority of the students are believers who seek to grow spiritually, but some are seekers who are interested in learning more about the Bible, Christianity or are simply interested in spending a weekend away with the Knoxville Navigators International Student Fellowship. I am also working with staff at UT to continue the International Student/American Family Partners program. This program is designed to provide opportunities for cross cultural exchange and friendship between international students at UT and families in the Knoxville. 70% of the students in the United States are never invited to an American home. We are hoping to reduce that percentage and we want these students to feel welcome in Knoxville regardless of their cultural, ethnic or religious background.

Please pray for connections to be made. Several people had the opportunity to meet and connect with students this fall. Some of these were one-time meetings, while others have developed into deeper friendships. In addition to these two items, please pray for the following students that God has brought into our life: 

• A new believer in our ministry that he may grow in his walk with God.
• An African couple who are raising a 3 year old girl and a 3 month old boy. They have been having car trouble. Pray that the husband may get a graduate assistantship soon. His wife is currently working toward her doctoral degree at UT.
• A new couple who arrived in August. One of them is pursuing the doctoral degree and the other still needs to learn English.
• Students from Muslim backgrounds that he may come to see the evidence of Christ in the lives of new American friends.

 We also are continuing to raise support towards full-time ministry. Our current need is to raise about $1850 monthly. Please pray for God’s provision. He is the one who provides for all of our needs.  May the Lord Bless You and Keep You! 

Recently, I have begun studying the bible with one Chinese student each Friday afternoon and another student to join us soon. One of these students is a seeker and one is a new believer. Earlier this month, several members of Fellowship Church had the opportunity to meet international students. Please pray for God’s blessing on these developing relationships. Finally, this past Saturday night three Indian students and one Indonesian student came to our monthly Fellowship meeting where we have dinner and discussion topics. The Indonesian student waited 45 minutes before eating with us because he is Muslim and observing Ramadan. It has been difficult to develop relationships with students from India and Indonesia in the past.

We also invite you to join us in pray for the following:

- Wisdom as we help students in bible studies and for the Holy Spirit to be present and revealing truth to us and the students.

- God’s blessing on the relationships between Navigators staff and the International Student Services staff at UT.

God Bless