Greater Portland Baptist Church

Jesse and Tiffany Shanks: July 2006

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." (II Peter 3:18) This verse has been on our minds a lot lately, and God is challenging us not just to do more for Him, but to know Him more. God has been showing us that our growth in grace is in direct relation to our knowledge of Jesus Christ. Obviously, that is not just a "book knowledge" of Him, but an experiential knowledge. Our prayer is that we would be completely consumed with knowing and loving Jesus Christ!

As you can see, our new prayer cards are finished! (http://www.lightoftogo.com/about-us/prayer-card/) We hope you like them, and if you would like more, please just let us know either by email or phone and we will send as many as you need. We would like to thank Brent Blaise and Color Concepts for printing these for us. If your church or ministry has any printing needs, I would highly recommend them. They can be contacted at [ed: removed].

God blessed in the month of July with so many great meetings. It seems like the Lord has hand picked the exact churches that He wants us to go to. We are so thankful for God allowing us to minister in so many great churches. We began the month by going to a couple churches in Las Vegas, then we traveled to the Bay Area in California for three meetings there. While in Las Vegas, we celebrated Independence Day at a pastors house. They invited the whole church and told every one to bring their own fireworks. We had a really great time there, but I am surprised that we did not blow up the entire neighborhood!

Between some meetings in California, we were able to stay with some friends of ours who are starting a new church this fall. They have been making many contacts with neighbors and other people in the community, so one night while we were there they invited about 20 people to their house for an international dinner. After the dinner, I showed them our video about Togo, and explained how God has led us to go there. I had the privilege to share with them how the Lord saved me when I was 12 years old, and then called me to be a missionary to Africa when I was 13. I praise God for this wonderful opportunity to minister there, and to help in some small way as a new church is started for God's glory!

Please pray earnestly for the remaining support that we need. I have calculated that we only need approximately 20-25 new churches to begin supporting us before we can leave for language school and then Togo. We know that God has the exact churches in mind that will be supporting us, so we are trusting Him by faith to lead us to them. We realize that He is in complete control of our support, and it is simply our job to be entirely dependent upon Him. Please pray with us that we will neither rush nor delay His plan, but that we would simply follow His leading.

In His Grace,
Jesse, Tiffany, and Joshua Shanks