REFLECTION: I invite you to join me in a time of reflection as the chilly wind, singing leaves, and shimmering colors herald the seasons changing.
The LORD is stirring up a lot of good, challenging things in my own heart, and I thought I would share a couple of things to ponder & pray over. As we approach the 2024 election, it feels like an especially good time for repentance and return. I invite you to join me in reflection.
🍂🌻🍁 A Season of Prayer and Perseverance 🍂🌻🍁
The world can be an increasingly scary place to find ourselves. It can be fear-inducing to know how to respond. I am praying for direction on how God wants me to move in these unpredictable and unprecedented times.
We are now 2 weeks following the catastrophic devastation from when torrential rains of Hurricane Helene shockingly and suddenly flooded poor, rugged Appalachia, most severely affecting West North Carolina and East Tennessee. It saddens my heart to witness the distress and destruction.
Please join me in focused prayer over these needs:
The remote, rugged areas of Appalachia are still completely cut off from the outside world, including communications and life-saving supplies.
The seriously-high death toll continues to rise as time goes on without assistance and as reports solidify, with thousands of people still missing.
Much of the disaster relief efforts are being coordinated by limited and impromptu civilian efforts, scrambling to fill the unexpected gaps.
Hurricane Milton currently rampaging through Florida adds a complication after much of the regional infrastructure was severely damaged.
As I pray for our neighbors in Appalachia, I ask the Lord: how could the Reservation-Based, Indigenous-Led teams that I hope to form through Outlands Response be prepared to help with these critical needs in the future?
It's a question worth asking. I want to plant resilient seeds of hope, help, and love in Jesus' name, on and off the U.S. Indian Reservation.
I hope to grow Outlands Response into a stronger organizational position, so we can competently and compassionately respond with courage to these intensifying crises and catastrophes in the United States of America.
Please pray for God's courage and comfort amid the exponentially escalating hardships of our day. Please pray for endurance and faith.
🍂🌻🍁 A Season of Preparation and Celebration 🍂🌻🍁
October 2nd-24th, 2024 is the High Holy Days on the Jewish calendar, a season of reassessment, repentance, and refreshment.
I invite you to come alongside me in this time of reflection before God. Seek the LORD for guidance, preparedness, and responsiveness as we enter a new season. Petition God for a softened heart as the leaves fall, and we are called to fresh and deeper things.
“Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. " ISA 43:19
Ask the LORD to lead and prepare our efforts here in Outlands Response to help R.I.V.E.R.S. [Reversation-Based, Indigenous-Led, Versatile Emergency Response Service] flow in the outlands through diligent obedience, also discerning how God may be asking you personally to participate and partner with us. Thank you!
[Look for an upcoming newsletter, exploring these ideas even more soon!]
P.S. if you desire to give directly to Hurricane Helene disaster relief in Appalachia via a known-and-trusted response effort that is boots-on-the-ground in Tenessee right now, I recommend IAOCC.NET (International Alliance of Community Chaplains, through whom Tessa is a certified chaplain and personally connected). Note: above link is a unique giving opportunity, separate from supporting Tessa's discipleship efforts in Native communities through Outlands Response.
Give to Tessa's efforts in Native communities through Outlands Response here.