Here's our prayer letter that went out this week:
“He said ‘No; rather I indeed come now as a captain of
the host of the LORD.’ And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed
down, and said to him, ‘What has my lord to say to his servant?’ The captain of
the LORD’s host said to Joshua, ‘Remove your sandals from your feet, for the
place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did so.” – Joshua 5:14-15
Dear Family,
This story in Joshua has
always bewildered me. God finally gets the Israelites across the Jordan and
into the Promised Land. They set up camp within sight of Jericho – their first
enemy. Before Joshua even has a chance to ask God “Now what?”, God tells him to
circumcise the whole army. Did I mention how close they camped to Jericho? As
if that weren’t enough, Joshua goes to survey the city as the troops heal and
runs into none other than Christ Himself. Surprised and probably psyched by
God’s clear show of support, Joshua seeks counsel from Him about what He would
have him do. Christ (as the “Angel of the LORD”) answers Joshua and befuddles
me: “Take your sandals off, this is a holy place.” Exactly at the moment where
Joshua seeks a battle plan – a map with forces and strategies or blueprints for
a war machine – Christ gives Joshua an opportunity to worship Him and spend
time with Him. And this is exactly
what January has been for us.
Our month
started with the high-octane, labor-intensive Epicenter Experience, a 4-day
conference in Albany, NY with 300+ students from across the
Northeast region. I (Matt) worked in the Prayer Journey – a room filled with
Scripture, activities, and décor meant to lead the students into deep prayer
time with God. Rebecca spent the week as Book Store manager – having planned
the inventory and ordered new books ahead of time – selling books to students
and managing the finances of the store each day (a job which she loved!). We
both spent our free time working with the 22 UMD students who attended –
processing God’s leading, helping them strengthen their testimony
presentations, preaching the Gospel around Albany with them, and teaching them
about God’s Word and Will. We watched students come to Christ, surrender their
lives in new ways, and find their hearts burning with passion to preach the
Gospel to their campuses. We left Albany with them ready to change the world.
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A student reflecting on Eph.
3:14-21
& “planting her tree” at the Prayer
Journey station I designed
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Two days later I found myself
all dressed up with nowhere to go. The Monday after the conference I realized
three weeks sat between me and the start of the semester. Three weeks without
students, meetings, Bible studies, or times of evangelism. I sat with my Bible
that morning and asked God, “now what?” He spent those three weeks just as He
spent that time with Joshua. He showed up powerfully in our study times, spoke
to us in prayer, wrote His Word on the tablets of our hearts and grew in us a
passion for His mission. He laid on Rebecca’s heart the desire to lead a bible
study on suffering and God’s view of justice, which she has been preparing for
ever since. He led me to a deeper understanding of His Scripture and to teach a
study on His view of our relationships with each other. He has taught both of
us much about the other and has strengthened our marriage richly. He showed up
when I stood there in my battle armor and gave me a chance to worship Him.
Choosing to do so was the best “prep time” we could’ve had!
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There’s nothing quite like a roomful of students
passionately worshiping God! Can you spot
Rebecca and the UMD students?
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Today is the first day of the
semester – and we’re more sold for God’s mission than ever before. Now that
we’ve had our three weeks of adoring Him and learning about Him, we’re ready to
take the enemy by storm – in His strength – and introduce UMass Dartmouth to
the most astounding Being in this universe. God has the victory already, so
please be praying that God will begin even now to show us the fruit of His
labor.
In His Service,
Matt & Rebecca Litchfield
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