Dear Soldiers of the Cross,
I want to thank the Lord for safety in our month and a half travels out on nine reservations in the Northwest. God met with us in a special way through all the work, and many seeds were planted. The trip was very difficult without Ms Sheril with me because she is a great source of our strength and stability. Please pray for us, as we are getting older and our bodies are feeling it more each day.
As I returned home, I had a lot of doctor’s appointments, and now I’m confronted with some upcoming decisions. If you remember around this time two years ago I had back surgery. I’m now in need of another one. Please help us pray for direction in this matter. I also have another issue facing me. My cardiologist has recommended that I receive a pacemaker/defibrillator. At present my ejection fraction is 25 to 30 per cent, and normal is 60 to 65, so I’m running at about half speed. As a result, I don’t have the energy I once had. My family is giving me a hard time because I’m not slowing down. My cardiologist has informed me that it’s not my lifestyle, it’s weak muscles in my heart. Please help us pray about this decision as well. When your heart is filled with a desire to do the work that God has filled it with, you can’t but give all your energy to him. All of this reminds us that our days are all numbered, and we must be busy about the father’s business. Our windows of opportunity are closing a little each day — please don’t miss out on your opportunities that God has given you.
We had a wonderful opportunity to visit some of our Lumbee churches in September and to share our ministry with them. We are the most blessed tribe in the nation with over 100 churches working among our tribe. There are over 60 Southern Baptist churches working with our tribe, and they are all pastored by Lumbees. Sadly, we do not have a single Independent Baptist church working with the Lumbee Tribe. God has burdened my heart about this, and we are asking God what he’s going to do about it. God has blessed the Lumbee people beyond measure, and they have the ability to evangelize every reservation we have in the United States, but they do not have a vision of missions. Please help us pray about this matter, that God would open their eyes to see a lost and dying world on our reservations.
God has blessed us with the funds needed to print our next run of the John Eliot Native American Bible. I’m reminded of Mordecai and Esther in Esther 4:14 “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place.” It has been a wonderful thing just to see the hand of God as he moved on the hearts of his dear people, and they stepped up and supplied the needs. It’s out in the deep waters where you can see the hand of God move like you have never seen it before.
As We Labor for Christ,
Gerry & Sheril Locklear
Missionaries to the Native Americans