August/September Prayer Time
by
Lynn Hare
Prayer Team Member
Lord, thank You for creative words that flow into the orchards of our manuscripts. For the seed of every rejected word that falls to the compost heap, we celebrate rich soil that bears Kingdom fruit. Some of Your best fruit grows in unlikely places!
Thank You for the new friends we’ve made in OCW. Bless their writing with exceptional success. Show us how to reinforce their calling and cheer them on as they write their stories for You. Remind us to pray for them and to encourage them with a well-placed word.
Show us the next steps for our writing journeys and help us to prioritize them. “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’” (Isaiah 30:21 niv). Show us Your ways. Teach us Your paths (Psalm 25:4). We live by Your Word and Your light and purpose to walk with joy, in cadence with Your Spirit.
As we explore new stories, we invite Your fresh creativity as we make known journeys of historical heroes and living legends on astounding adventures. As wordsmiths who purpose to bring redemption to our readers, we invite You to reshape our scenes, voices, and words as we dream forward, master storytellers chronicling tales of the Master Storyteller Himself.
MEMBER NEWS
Stanley Baldwin, of Milwaukie, released his new book, Bringing Many Sons to Glory, in late July on Amazon. It is a sequel to his previous title, The Pardonable Sin—the Greatest Prophecy Never Heard. The new book is available on Amazon, or from the author at Clackamas Bible Church, or at the OCW fall conference.
As a five-time contributor to Chicken Soup anthologies, Charles Harrel, of Portland, was featured in the August issue of The Inner Circle, the Chicken Soup for the Soul’s newsletter for contributors. The title of the article about him is titled “Signings aren’t just for new books!” and talks about some creative book-signings he has done. Here’s an interesting comment he made when submitting this information: “God has blessed my writing ministry. I now have over 600 published works. Most of those happened after I joined OCW and started attending the one-day and summer conferences. I am so grateful to OCW and the staff. OCW has truly made a difference.”
Lynn Hare, of Portland, had a meditation, “Go for the Gold,” and an online post, “Swing for the Fences: Forgive Yourself!” in August in The Upper Room. Her article “Fear’s Sting” appears in theSeptember 24 issue of LIVE. She is in the process of co-publishing (with Sylvia Blair and Jim Campbell) her first licensed song, “Come, Let Us Go Up,” based on Micah 4, Isaiah 2, and Psalm 24. Lynn is excited to announce the release of Dr. Bruce Cook’s book, The 8th Mountain, for which she was a contributor of two chapters.
Bethany Hayes, of Gresham, had her devotional, “The Great Exchange,” published in the July/August edition of The Upper Room. She also was a contributor to the book Short and Sweet: Small Words for Big Thoughts compiled and edited by Susan King, The Upper Room, and published by Grace Publishing (Terri Kalfas). Both Susan and Terri are summer conference favorites.
The following have devotionals in the fall issue of God’s Word for Today: Geneva Cobb Iijima, of Oregon City (6), Sue Miholer, of Keizer (12), and Pam Rosales, of Beaverton (8).
We received word that although Linda Jett graduated to glory in the spring of 2016, her devotional was featured as the July 21, 2017 devotional in The Upper Room. Amanda, her daughter-in-law, contacted Susan King (an OCW summer conference favorite and associate editor at The Upper Room) with this message: “My mother-in-law loved having your devotions. She used them to get started in her afternoon prayers. One thing she longed for was to be published in one of the devotionals. She passed away March 2016. Just a few days ago, my father-in-law brought us a copy and asked for us to look on our son’s birthday. There she was, her passage. We have all already placed seeds in the holes her death left. Already looking forward vs. backward. She was an amazing woman with a fierce passion for Christ. I realize no one will probably read this, at least not fully. But I had to say this: Thank you and God real does work in mysterious ways. I have never doubted, but it is very nice to have these nudges every once in a while.”
Priscilla Tate Gilmore, of Salem, has a devotional in the fall edition of The Secret Place.
Susan Maas, of Gresham, has a devotional in the current issue of The Upper Room.
Jennifer Anne F. Messing, of Portland, had new short fiction story entitled “Wanted: A Loving Babe for Marriage” published in the August 2017 issue of ANAK SASTRA: Stories for Southeast Asia, an English online magazine published and based in Indonesia. This marks the sixth country where she’s been published, with more than 200 magazine articles and short stories with her byline in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Philippines, and Indonesia. Keep up with her latest at www.JenniferAnneMessing.com
The following members have articles in the August issue of The Christian Journal: Eleanor Cowles, of Independence; Annika Klanderud, of Dundee; Maxine Marsolini, of Happy Valley; andJan Sheerin, of Bend.
We want to start providing links to news stories about our members, so send them along. Here are two to start off: Jane Daly https://citrusheightssentinel.com/2017/09/02/meet-jane-daly/ and Christina Suzann Nelson http://rushtopress.org/debut-novel-kregel-garners-accolades/.
