This month we thought we'd give you a little change and I (Jim) would write you
about what the Lord has been putting on my heart. First of all I would like to
thank you so much for your faithfulness in lifting us up before the Lord. It is
your loving support that has enabled us to serve Him here at Wycliffe, and we're
all very grateful to you for enabling us to be here.

For years the Lord has been saying to me, "When you pray, bring Me your problems
to solve; don't ask Me to provide your answer to a problem." He first told me
this 7 1/2 years ago when He led me to be director of the computer department,
gave me Jeremiah 33:3 as our department verse and told me to emphasize prayer as
the foundation for all that we did.

During these past few years we prayed many times for the Lord to provide us with
the ability to meet the computing needs of Wycliffe. For a long time, things
appeared to go the wrong way, getting worse instead of better. But then in 1987
in the midst of a great struggle God miraculously provided us with the
equipment, software and training that we needed to meet many of our needs.

This past year the Lord has been speaking to me again on the subject of prayer
as I have been preparing a talk on, of all things, new computer technologies for
a Christian management conference. The focus has been on Romans 12:2.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that
good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God."

The Phillips version says, "Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its
own mold ..." while the Jerusalem Bible says, "Do not model yourselves on the
behavior of the world around you, but let your behavior change, modeled by your
new mind. ...".

As I've meditated on this verse, the Lord has shown me how we Christian computer
users tend to measure our status by comparing ourselves with the world. We say
things like, "Our programmers use the same methods as programmers in industry",
"We've got the best in the business" or "We are working on the cutting edge of
technology". Now don't get me wrong, I think its wonderful that the Lord has
provided us with modern technology and opportunities for training in new
programming techniques. But recently I got together with the leadership of the
US Division and, as we listed the computer needs, the task appeared
overwhelming! The fact is, despite all of the new equipment, we still aren't
getting the job done. Actually, the new equipment gave us additional work to do
in office automation which slowed us down in our other computer work.

Our natural tendency is to say, "we obviously need more programmers to do all of
that work" and begin to think of how to get more people, asking everyone to pray
about all the people we need. But I'm hearing the Lord say that our problem
isn't a lack of people - our problem is that we need these new computer systems
completed in order for the US Division to accomplish its part in supporting
Bible translation effectively. When God's people quit trying to solve their own
problems and cry out to Him, we will see things like Gideon defeating the
Midianites (with obviously too few people); or Joshua defeating Jericho (using
very non-conventional methods); or David slaying the giant Goliath (without
using the most modern equipment).

God can get the job done without enough people in very mysterious ways using
strange equipment if He chooses. And once again I'm reminded of our department
verse where God says, "Call unto Me, and I will answer you, and show you great
and mighty things that your know not." My heart is yearning to see the Lord
meet all of our needs in His own way so that everyone will have to say, "See the
great things the Lord has done".

At the same time the Lord has been showing me that in my personal life He wants
to challenge me to stop trying to solve my own problems and give Him the
opportunity and freedom to meet my needs and the needs of my family in His own
way. As we do this, our lives will bring more and more glory to our Heavenly
Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Please pray that the Lord will enable me to effectively share this vision for
prayer, and for our department to focus on prayer as the only means of
accomplishing our work. And we pray for each of you, that the Lord will
wondrously and gloriously solve your every problem as you bring them to Him with
confidence that He can and will me your every need to His honor and glory.