RESCUE's Equipment Trailer Stolen

"Ginger" and "Ale" last Summer at Mule Creek Maximum Security Prison


Here is the special bulletin that Susan sent out:
________________________________________________
Dear Prayer Team,

I just received a call from Jason Overstreet who asked me to send out an emergency prayer bulletin.

The RESCUE trailer has been stolen; not only was the trailer itself stolen, but it contained RESCUE's entire sound system and CD product inventory. A police report has been filed.

Immediate prayer is needed for:

*RESCUE's short-term sound needs for their remaining concerts beginning with the concert on Sunday 11/27/05 through the end of the year. At this time, RESCUE will need to rely on the sound system at each venue they perform at.

*A long-term solution for sound.

*Peace of mind for RESCUE as they continue their desire to serve the Lord with everything they have to give, despite this setback. Please pray against discouragement.

Thank you for your prayers mighty prayer warriors!

Sincerely,

Susan Ward
Prayer Team Leader
RESCUE Ministries

Stories From Sunset Presbyterian

A shot of the santuary at Sunset Presbyterian

Dear Prayer Team,

We had an outstanding evening at Sunset Presbyterian. "Mac" asked me to sing a song with my guitar at the beginning and then he and a couple of excellent acoustic guitar player/singers performed a beautiful worship set with the theme: "We are very safe in God's hands".

"Mac" took great joy in introducing RESCUE and went down the list of funny names that different emcees had called us in the past. We've been called: "The Rescue Team", "WWW Dot Rescue Dot Com", "Rapture", and my personal favorite, "Revenge". No joke! So after he mentioned all of that to the delight of the audience, he brought us out. What a responsive group of people! I must admit that I was a bit nervous to be singing in such a large church because of the reverberation of the sound as it bounces around a large place like that, but after we started our set, it all just went away and we were able to really focus on delivering the message that we came there to deliver.

Afterwards, I met a lot of wonderful people, many of whom were prayer team members. I met about 20 or so kids who wanted me to talk like a duck to them I met Allison McKenny's mom and dad (I even met one of her grade-school teachers!) but I also heard a couple of stories from some people who have been greatly effected by this ministry that I thought I should pass along to you.

First, I met a guy who had some sort of cast or brace on his arm and seemed to have some neurological damage. As he came up to me I could see that he had been touched emotionally by the program. He said that he had been going through such an incredibly difficult year, and he motioned toward his arm. Then he said that he was thankful for the ministry of RESCUE as it had really helped to support his walk. He just threw his arms around my neck and gave me a big ol' hug!

Secondly, I don't know if you remember on the RESCUE web site that for a long time there was a newsletter on there about the time when RESCUE sang for President George Bush. In the sidebar there was a reprint of a letter that was sent by a man who had a brother who was being sent to jail. The song "In My Darkest Hour" was an extreme comfort to him during that very difficult time. I had the opportunity to meet him at the product table after the program, and he was very excited to meet us and to be able to talk to Jason Overstreet. But, an even greater surprise was yet to come. He introduced me to the man who was standing beside him the whole time that we talked and said, "You know my brother who I talked about being in jail? Well, this is him!"

I was thrilled and overwhelmed to be able to shake his hand, and as I did he looked me in the eye and said, "Your voices have been a real comfort to me and have touched me in ways I didn't think possible. Thank you so much!"

I don't know how it was possible that I was given the honor of having that conversation with them, but All I can say is, "Thank you Jesus!"

Where Our Treasures Lie

Cake, bowling AND singing! Could there be a better birthday party?

Dear Prayer Team,

Okay, so November 11th was my birthday. My wife Kimberly spoiled me and kind of turned it into a "Birth Weekend". We had a party with my Bible study group, with my family, and with my RESCUE buddies (we went bowling Saturday evening and Susan beat us all, SOUNDLY!).

Ah, birthdays! Ya gotta love 'em....don't ya? I know I did as a kid. I still do, but as a child, having a birthday meant that not only was I getting taller, stronger and smarter (in theory), I was also going to be rewarded for it by getting a bunch of really cool presents, and CAKE, even!

As we mature and invest in the souls of those around us and reap the benefits of what it means to truly give of ourselves we will undoubtedly come to the conclusion that the happy feelings we felt when we got material things doesn't even compare to the glow we feel when we operate in the Holy Spirit by reaching out to a lost soul, visiting someone who is lonely, comforting someone who is afraid, giving time, talents or materials to those who are needy, teaching a young person about life in Christ, or just crying with someone who is in grief.


Fred Leads Youth For Christ in the Portland area. He spoke about the ministry at their banquet.

We had the opportunity to sing at a banquet for Youth For Christ and it was evident to me that they have grabbed ahold of this concept. They have discovered that serving the young people of our communities is worth their every effort. One of the points that came out very strongly to me that night was spoken by the President of YFC/USA, Dan Wolgemuth. He was a talented businessman who was Vice President & Chief Information Officer of General Electric.

He told a funny story about when his now college-aged son was two years old went into the bathroom of their aging house and shut the door. Dan and his other son, a four year-old, were walking towards the door as he shut it. Then they heard the ominous sound of the door's lock being turned. No amount of direction or cajoling was going to help to get this little boy to turn the lock on the door so that he could get out of the bathroom. His mother just tried to keep him calm and happy by sliding raisins under the door for him to eat while Dan figured out a plan. The hinges were on the inside of the door, so that wasn't going to work...he could repel off of the roof and get to the bathroom window and get it open or break it, but that seemed too extreme until he had exhausted every other means to rescue his boy. He went into the next room and saw a grate with a vent pipe that went into the bathroom. He took off the grate and removed the pipe and he could look into the bathroom to see what the child was doing. He was sitting on the floor across the room from the door enjoying his raisins. Then it dawned on him, "I can't get through that hole, but my four year-old can!" Sure enough, he told his son what to do, and he went right through. There was a moment of fear when he had both sons in the locked room, but soon after going through the hole, they heard the sound of the door unlocking.

Then Dan said something like this, "I discovered a few years ago that I am too old to be the guy who shows up at schools and gets young people mobilized and serving Jesus, but that doesn't keep me from serving youth! I can add my talents and gifts to strengthen a system of support for those who ARE able to reach these kids, and send THEM through the hole instead!" He could have decided it was beyond him ("I can't be of any real use to kids!"), or below him to serve others in that way ("I am a successful businessman! I should be doing more important things!"), but because he humbly made himself available God is clearly using this man in the position he is in as a leader of this powerful ministry.

Rev. Kalvin Waetzig, pastor of Christ The Vine Lutheran in Clackamas, OR showed another example of this during our time with them on Sunday. He is the head pastor of this beautiful church who has gone to great effort in promoting our concerts to his community in the last two times we have been there. As we enjoyed worshiping with them I saw him do something phenomenal! You see, every Sunday during a particular part of the services he gets behind a little curtain stage with a couple of other guys, puts a green puppet on his hand and to the delight of the little children (and some of us adults), "Splish", "Splash" and "Bubbles" do a little puppet show to teach the children a concept from the bible. To me, it spoke very loudly of this man's heart to serve even the smallest lambs of his congregation.

Lord help us to focus not so much on the things we CAN'T do, and instead see what it is that we CAN do in this world to serve others and to win souls.


Splish, Splash and Bubbles at Christ The Vine Lutheran

Katrina Victims Fundraising Banquet (FEI)

Dear Prayer Team,

Saturday night (11/5/05) we had a really great time singing at a fundraising banquet for Forward Edge International, an organization which is funded by many churches and Christian organizations which has a "22-year history of delivering aid and assisting in reconstruction projects following natural disasters. FEI teams were dispatched earlier this year to Sri Lanka’s tsunami-ravaged coasts... to Manhattan’s Ground Zero following the 9/11 attacks (2001)... to earthquake-stricken El Salvador (2000)...to Nicaragua following Hurricane Mitch (1998). "

They received a matching funds grant for one million dollars for Hurricane Katrina victims, and they have raised about $630,000 towards the million dollar goal so that they can take full advantage of the grant. Their goal is to have 53 families placed back into their repaired homes and churches by Christmas and many more by Easter 2006. They are targeting families who don't have insurance and are too poor to be able to repair their own homes. One of the really great things about the matching funds grant is that the administration and fundraising costs are being paid for ABOVE the million dollar grant, so 100% of the money being donated by their fundraising attempts and the matching funds amount will be going to the needy families who have been stricken by this distaster. The testimony of a particular woman who was helped by FEI was really touching as she described the workers who came to help her as "Angels".


Here is an earlier photo of the woman who spoke to those in attendance at the banquet as she was being helped by FEI.

"The Bible says that we may be entertaining angels unawares," she said, "Sometimes I think that maybe the ANGELS don't even know! 'Angel' simply means messenger from God. I must admit that there was a fleeting moment where I wondered if God had forgotten about me, but these beautiful people brought the message home to me that God was very aware of my situation, and that I was not alone!" There are about 700 volunteers who are receiving training and are being sent to help.

If you'd like to learn about how you can put a team of people together to go help the survivors or make a donation to this wonderful organization, find them online at: http://www.forwardedge.org

I know that all of us who are involved with RESCUE were so honored to be a part of such an incredible effort.

Fear: The Enemy of Unity

Dear Prayer Team,

It's been a productive week for RESCUE! Our Christmas music is starting to really come together, and we are completely moved out of the old offices and into the new office at Jason's apartment. We had our moving party on Saturday and we had 10 brave souls helping to pack and move all of the stuff. I just gotta say, after we carried all of the stuff up three flights of stairs and into Jason's extra room, I thought I was going to need a medic! Or at least someone to wheel me around for a while. I am very glad that it is over. It went very well, no one was hurt, and everyone seemed to be in a pretty good mood even though it was a pretty sentimental time.

I noticed that for us to really get anything done, we really had to submit ourselves to the overall plan for the day. Whenever I just started moving stuff around I would have to end up moving it all somewhere else, making twice the work!

In the context of the church you can see why God wants us to abandon our own selfish motives and work together in harmony. We just wouldn't get anything done if we did it our own way!

In Phillipians 2:1-11 Paul talks about trading in our ego-driven desires for unity in the church. What is this fleshly drive for getting our own way based in? I think it's based in fear! Try to follow my logic. From the chicken coop to the African savannah to Wall Street, the nature of things seems to be about making sure you are ahead of the chicken, lion, or businessman that seems to want your spot. What's that all about? Fear that we aren't going to get what we need to survive! Nobody wants to go hungry and most creatures will do whatever it takes to ensure their place at the table.

Jesus came to set a new order of things! When the King of Glory placed a towel around his waist and washed the feet of His disciples what was he trying to tell them? What I'm hearing Him say as I read it right now is this, "I am all sufficient! I don't need to strive for dominance. I hold it all in my hands! I can peacefully place myself into the role of servant because I am not in fear of losing worldly status. My role in eternity is secure, man cannot take that away." And He wants us to "do likewise."

If we understand our value in Christ and truly grasp that our only intrisic value is in the eyes of a loving Savior, then we are no longer tied to worldly values. This results in the peaceful understanding that no matter whether our little kingdoms rise or fall, we are safe in Him. There's no scripture to support that bad attitudes and striving with others will result in a greater place in God's Kingdom. Quite the contrary! To lead you must serve, and to be first you must be last.

Our moments of glory pass so very quickly. Our little victories of temporary dominance only tie us to the things that don't matter. Only by understanding that our completeness lies solely in Jesus can we ever really follow His wonderful example of humble, quiet, service to others.