It sure doesn’t seem like a month could have already past since I last wrote but, sure enough, it is September! We do want to thank you so very much for your continued prayers for us. It has been another hard month but the Lord has kept us by His grace and through your prayers.

Things have sure changed around the apartments. Starting September 1st there has been constant stirring as our complex went from eighteen empty apartments to only five! Most of the new tenants are nice young people in their twenties. We watched many apartments fill up with boyfriends living with their girlfriends (we don’t ask – they just tell us!) and parents helping them move in! I have been reading Chuck Colson’s latest book “How Now Shall We Live?”, never dreaming I would see the results of our amoral society so close to home. But I know this is a new mission field for the Wycliffe people that are still here, so please pray that we will be an effective witness to many very nice but extremely lost souls.

Jenny has been very busy the last couple of weeks as her heavy workload begins. She is taking a class in music history this fall at a local community college. As church pianist she has to learn lots of new music now that the choir is back from the summer off. And last week she began her work as accompanist for about twenty voice students as well as the ladies chorus at Vanguard University. So she is learning lots of new music but is very happy with her work.

I’ve been keeping busy doing some computer jobs for the Seed Company and the Wycliffe regional office while trying to learn much more about managing their computer network. Please pray that my learning will go well – networks are not my strong suit! That’s my (Jim) update – now I’ll let Cora finish this letter.

I (Cora) just want to get off some words to you this month. As time has gone by I have felt more and more forsaken – my emotions and spirit have been deadened – a place I have never before experienced. I’ve been too tired to try to figure out what’s wrong with me, how to please God, etc. So I have just given up my case into His Hands and endured.

Yesterday the Lord sent some very special servants whom I did not know with a very special message and a mission, which made my spirit leap for joy. First they assured me I am suffering in the will of God and this dark hour is probably my finest and most fruitful. If I can once again grasp the meaning of my suffering – that it is not in vain – then I am greatly comforted and given much peace and ability to trust. No wonder Satan accuses me so.

But on to the message sisters Grace and Wendy brought right from God’s heart to His people and the world. They gave me a booklet in which was recorded the most blessed message given to a precious sister who was visited by the Lord. I cannot nearly give it all but you must hear some of it. “The flames of mercy are burning Me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them! … Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it with peace. Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy. Speak to the world about My mercy; let all mankind recognize My unfathomable mercy. It is a sign for the end times; after it will come the day of justice. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fount of My mercy; let them profit from the Blood and Water which gushed forth for them. Before I come as the just Judge, I first open wide the doors of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the doors of My mercy must pass through the doors of My justice.”

Later in the booklet it says, “Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint, there would be no (hope of) restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God’s mercy! You will call out in vain, but it will be too late. … I desire to unite Myself with human souls. When I come to a human heart in Holy Communion, My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul. But souls do not even pay any attention to Me; they leave Me to Myself and busy themselves with other things. Oh, how sad I am that souls do not recognize Love!”

Does this not stir your soul dear one? Does your spirit not fill with hope no matter what you have done or experienced in darkness? Fly to Him now that He may help you trust and fill you with grace. The time is so short – we cannot delay!

The next part is about giving mercy. Oh how easy it is to judge – to even desire to see God judge both within the church and in the world. But we are to be vessels of Divine Mercy and love having received from the Lord these graces. To this end we must pray. Listen to some of the prayers from this booklet. “Although my misery is great, and my offenses are many, I trust in Your mercy, because You are the God of mercy. … O God of compassion, You alone can justify me, and You will never reject me when I, contrite, approach Your merciful Heart, where no one has ever been refused, even if he were the greatest sinner. I want to be completely transformed into Your Mercy and to be Your living reflection, O Lord. … Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors’ souls and come to the rescue. Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbors’ needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moanings. Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all. Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. … May Your Mercy, O Lord, rest upon me.”

Last night as I lay awake and suffering, I offered my pain up to God and let His Mercy flow through me as the Holy Spirit led me in extended prayer. My pain and weariness were swallowed up in the process. I felt purpose and unity with the Heart of God – things that had long been dead in me. How I thank God for His message and His messengers. I pray this will bring light and life to you wherever you may be, renewed hope for the future and love for Jesus who made it all possible.

How we love and appreciate you. We can never thank you enough for bearing our burdens with us. It is our sincere prayer that the Lord greatly bless you and fill you with His Holy Spirit.