Category: Prayer Blog

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us and for all the emails. Both are greatly valued.

I am on my way to South Africa for a couple of weeks for meetings. As you know from my last blog, there are some major changes ahead and I will be having some significant discussions while I am in South Africa. Your prayers for God’s grace and peace during these meetings and during my time in South Africa will be appreciated.

Donna is involved with a children’s musical that our church in Naivasha is doing on Sunday. We praise God that He has already been honored and gloried in the lives of some children during the preparation. Pray that He continues to be honored and gloried in the final preparations and musical.

Lastly, my 6 year-old laptop died (issue with power/charging circuit). Pray that it can be revived while I am in South Africa.

TWR in Africa is in the process of some restructuring. Donna and I wholeheartedly support this restructuring and truly believe that it is going to position TWR’s ministry to move forward powerfully in Africa. While we are excited to see how the Lord will use this restructuring, it makes Paul’s current position redundant. Hence his position is being eliminated.

Paul’s position becoming redundant and eliminated in the restructuring is very bitter sweet for us. It is sad to see this phase of his ministry come to an end. It is also great to see TWR better position itself for ministry. Thank the Lord with us for the changes in TWR and how He is going to use these. Pray for TWR in Africa as they make these transitions and us as we bring a season of ministry to an end.

TWR has offered us another position in Africa that would require us to move to a different country. As you know from our communications the Lord has blessed us here in Kenya and being close to our children has been amazing. It is hard to think about leaving Kenya and another adjustment for our kids.

Donna and I have put out a fleece before the Lord as to whether we should pursue this other position with TWR in Africa or whether the Lord is leading us to something else. Please pray for the Lord’s clear leading in our lives and the courage to follow Him however and wherever He leads.

One of the things we did as a family this Christmas was go to the Safe House and celebrate Christmas with the children and staff. You will remember that the Safe House is where the Kenyan government in the Naivasha area first takes children that had to be removed from their homes because of pending court cases, abandonment, neglect, abuse, etc….

As I looked at the carefully decorated Christmas tree at the Safe House, two things caught my attention. One, there were no Christmas presents under the tree. For these children there was no ripping open wrapping paper. There was no stockings stuffed with surprises. Christmas consisted of much needed caps to help fight off the cold Naivasha nights and a new pair of jeans. This was heartbreaking to me.

The second thing that struck me about the Christmas tree was that there was simply a manger scene underneath it. What more could anyone want for Christmas? The gift of Christ. The gift of redemption and salvation. The gift of God Himself invading our time and space continuum to show us the way, the truth and the life.

Is not this Christmas tree at the Naivasha Safe House a picture of the Gospel? A picture of heartbreak and hope. In the midst of abandonment, neglect and abuse God’s response is a baby born in a manger, a son destined to a cross and a glorious resurrection. In the midst of war, famine, epidemic and heartache is the promise of Immanuel – God is with us no matter how bleak our situation. Was not Christ, the hope of the world, born into the tragedy of Herod killing all the male children of Bethlehem?

Heartbreak and Hope. The way of things until the second advent of our Lord. Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus, come quickly (1 Cor 16:22).

I pray that your celebration of Christ’s first advent is blessed and meaningful. The Cox family is planning a simple celebration with a meal Christmas Eve and the opening of stockings on Christmas morning.

Recently Micah Joy and I went on a game drive and had an incredible encounter with a leopard resulting in some fantastic photos. You can read the story and see the photos at www.cox-net.com/leopard.htm. Since I am looking into publishing the story and photos, this site is not public. Please email me for access.

Thank you for your prayers for our trip to Uganda. The trip went well. Unfortunately, by the time we received our passports and made it to Uganda, Brad (Donna’s nephew) was already in South Sudan. Although we had a great time with his wife, Kate, and their two boys. Below is a picture of Nehemiah and Michael.

Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward Men

The Lord answered our prayers on a number of accounts. I had a successful trip to visit Somali listeners who are in refugee camps here in Kenya. By God’s grace I was able to spend time listening to them, visiting their homes and seeing where and how they worship. God provided times where they shared and I was able to listen. See picture below – sorry that I cannot show faces for security reasons. First, pray with me for those with whom I met. These are fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who have paid and continue to pay a great price to follow Christ. Next, please pray with me about TWR’s role in the hope of the Gospel holistically impacting these listeners and others in similar situations. The needs are truly many and wisdom is required to know what role TWR must play and what must be left if God’s hands.

Back on the home front, today our kids start their school break. We will celebrate with a thanksgiving meal, Kenyan style. We have many things for which to be thankful.

Donna and I had a great time dorm sitting for Micah Joy’s and Miriam’s dorm. It was wonderful to be able to care for and share Christ’s love with these girls.

As soon as Nehemiah and Micah Joy get their new passports back from the US Embassy, we are going to take a vacation and head to Uganda to visit Donna’s nephew Brad and his family. Brad and family, who serve with Every Village in South Sudan, are in Uganda for Thanksgiving. Pray that we are able to connect with them before Brad heads back to South Sudan. Also pray for safe travels, good family time and a refreshing get away from the normal routine.

Lastly I should mention that our car had an unfortunate incident with a telephone pole. Between construction of a wall into the middle of the road and dodging other obstacles, such as buckets of water being thrown over the wall while our windows were down, we clipped a telephone pole. We are thankful for no injuries and no property damage other than our car. Unfortunately, the front tire caught on the telephone pole and all the impact was absorbed by the power steering rack. This has been a discouragement as this will be our second power steering rack to purchase in the last six months.

Thank you very much for praying for the course Elements of Greek that I was able to teach at Africa Theological Seminary (ATS – www.atseminary.ac.ke). It was a great blessing for Donna to be able to join me at ATS. The Lord’s grace was very evident to us. Below is a short video of a couple of students from the course. (Yes I know I need to get a lavaliere microphone for the camera to help reduce background noise and improve speech intelligibility.)

This weekend Donna and I are dorm-sitting for Micah Joy and Miriam’s dorm while their dorm mom takes a weekend off. We are looking forward to this. Your prayers for the weekend will be appreciated.

Next week I am traveling to visit a large group Somali listeners who are in Kenya. My goal is to be able to hear their stories, understand their situation and figure out how TWR can further help them to grow in their Christian faith. Please pray that the Lord would allow me to accomplish my goals. In the Africa culture, many times when an outsider visits they are expected to speak or teach. While I want to minister to those on my trip, it is more important that I hear them than that they hear me. Pray for God’s grace as I work through the cultural dynamics of listening rather than speaking. Lastly pray for security and good situational awareness. While we do not anticipate incidents, the area to be visited can be very fluid and prone to plans requiring last minute adjustments.

Link to video: http://vimeo.com/thecoxfamily/ats-greek

As part of my role with TWR as the Director of Discipleship for the Africa region, I am at Africa Theological Seminary (ATS – www.atseminary.ac.ke) in Kitale, Kenya teaching Elements of Greek to pastors. Donna has been able to travel and be with me while teaching. For me, teaching Elements of Greek has been a nice change of pace to be focused on one class and one subject. In addition, it is wonderful to have Donna on a trip with me. Please pray for the students as the course is not an easy course. Pray for me as I teach. Praise God that Donna has been able to join me on this adventure.

ATS operates on an “in-service” model where those in ministry can remain in ministry while taking classes. Most students will come to ATS for five weeks three times a year for intensive classes. After the classes the students return to their ministry with practical assignments which are designed to help them integrate the course material with their ministry. The assignments are turned in the next time the students come to ATS for their next set of courses.

The timing of teaching at ATS has worked out very well as I have a number of TWR projects waiting approval. Your prayers for these projects would be greatly appreciated.

Lastly, as part of my role, I review programs for Biblical authenticity and theological soundness. In one of my recent reviews, a number of issues surfaced. Your prayers for wisdom, grace and positive resolution are needed.

Recently I submitted chapter 1 of my PhD dissertation to my advisor. His final comment said: “Great stuff. This is precisely what a good introduction should be…”. While chapter 1 was not perfect (my advisor did suggest a few additions, modifications, changes and deletions), I was greatly encouraged that the first submission was rated as “Great Stuff.” Praise God with me for the positive progress on my dissertation.

Another tremendous encouragement to me is a positive news report about the work that TWR is doing with Ebola. The story is on ABC11 WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham: http://abc11.com/health/radio-organization-helps-battle-ebola-in-africa/360400/. My friend and colleague from West Africa, Abdoulaye Sangho, is interviewed. Thank the Lord for this great news report.

There are a number of projects I am working on that are awaiting on approval or funding. Please pray that these would move forward.

Praise be to God that we have received the last of the documents we need to be completely official in Kenya. We are very grateful for this. Thank you for all your prayers on our behalf.

Earlier this week Donna and some other ladies from a Bible study had a chance to visit and pray for a small village and its school about an hour from where we live. This village is facing some challenges. Praise God with us Donna and friends were well received. Pray with us as we try to move forward and minister the Gospel.

This past weekend, our kids brought friends to our home here in Naivasha to hang out and relax. A great time was had by all. Below is a photo.

Your continued prayers for Donna as she works with children in the area and Paul as he works with discipleship are appreciated.

In the video below are a few thoughts on John 3:16 and its context. There are a couple of questions at the end of the video. If you would like to share your thoughts, please do so on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/rpaulcox (you should also be able to watch the video from there).

http://vimeo.com/thecoxfamily/john-3-16