Praise the Lord for Roger and Kristin!

Yes, they were married on February 25, 2009 at our home in West Melbourne, FL. Rita had the great joy of designing and crafting most of the decorations. Roger and Kristin were very concerned about the cost of a wedding in today's world. They certainly didn't want to go into more debt over this. We knew the Lord didn't want that either. The whole thing really came together in just a few days and in the end it was a beautiful time of the two immediate families coming together to witness the vows and celebrate the joining together of this man and this woman--the new Mr and Mrs Roger and Kristin Pallatt. They immediately flew to Las Vegas for a couple days of honeymoon. And now they are as we say, such a cute couple! Oh, and in case you are wondering, the total cost was about $900 and that included pretty much everything... the rental of the chapel (which was our transformed living room), pictures, decorations, refreshments, the cake, as well as the pastor to marry them (that was me and I gave them a pretty good discount)...it was great! And just to let you know, Rita said she might be interested in starting a business, "Great Weddings for Under $1,000."

Thoughts

In following a link from a friend on Facebook, I came across a writer for Time magazine by the name of David Van Biema, whose latest article for TIME is entitled, "The New Calvinism." I read the article and would first want to say that it was well-written but had a dash of bite to it--probably just what TIME wanted. Anyway, I wanted to know more about Mr. Van Biema and thanks to the marvel of the internet, immediately found out that he was recently married to another writer (female) in California by a Rabbi. Anyway, the article was so good, and I had another minute so I searched some more and found another of his works this time having to do with Mother Teresa. It was that article that inspired me to reflect a little...
Mother Teresa spent over 60 years doing what I would call, serving the Lord. Over the years like so many others, I have always admired her for her faithfulness and selflessness, two marks of a believer in Jesus Christ, or to simply say, a Christian. But in his article I read of Mother Teresa's clear lack of what I would call, 'real' faith. We can do, do, do, so many things that we would all applaud as good, even extremely good, even sainthood good, but in the end that's not what will matter on our judgement day. Two things...we should never raise a person up too far and our own eyes, but rather leave those ultimate judgements to our Lord; and two, it is never our 'works' but our abiding faith and trust in Jesus Christ that we can live with the assurance and hope of spending eternity with our Lord and even that is a gift from God (better stated in Ephesians 2:8-9). I am thankful for the Holy Spirit... the Comforter in my life that for some reason unknown to me, Mother Teresa apparently didn't have.
Just some thoughts.

Jan-Feb-Mar 2009 Update

Greetings All,
It's halfway through February and I'm finally able to get this out. Normally this would be our first quarter Prayer Letter. Well, it is but rather than coming to you in a usual format, I have decided to make my 3-page annual report serve as my first Prayer Letter of 2009... But here's the catch, despite this being the age of electronic communications, I want to get a little "old school" for this one. All you have to do is request it, with your name and mailing address, and I will mail the report to you.
In any case know that Rita and I are fully into the work of serving the Lord through our mission, our local Christian school and our local church. We are supper-busy but totally working in the strength of the Lord.
Thank you all for your support and encouragement.
Till the next time, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all!
-Roy

Pallatt Prayer Letter for Oct-Nov-Dec 2008

Christmas Greetings in the Wonderful Name of Jesus!

With the crushing economic news day after day this Christmas season is shaping up to be one that some of us just want to see in our rearview mirror. But wait, we believers don’t (or should I say, shouldn’t) measure how good a Christmas is by the number and size of our gifts—either given or received. Gifts are fine; but this year we are especially challenged to see Christmas for what it really is, a time to reflect on and celebrate the wonderful news the angel brought to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord!” (Luke 2:10-11) Since it’s Christmas, let’s talk family here… First, Rita continues to serve the Lord with her work at Community Christian Academy and also at LifeSong Community Church. She is a dynamo!

And we have to show you a picture of the grandkids… Charlie is 3 and Haddon is 16 months. What a joy it was to be with Rebekah and Chas and the boys for Thanksgiving this year. Those two can really wear out their P-Pop! But P-Pop and of course, Granma really love every minute. Also I want to thank son-in-law, Chas, or correctly, Rev. Chas Rowland, Pastor of Duck Hill Baptist Church, for letting me preach on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. What a privilege and blessing it was.

We are proud and happy to also report that our son Ryan just completed his Associate’s degree in Graphic Arts with honors and is working in the Orlando area.

The Lord has blessed our kids with exceptional skills and creativity. It is a joy to see Roger being blessed in his tile and flooring business in the Melbourne area. And we are happy to announce that Roger and Kristin are now engaged and happily making wedding plans.

I want to remind you that if you don’t have regular access to a computer, please check in when you can to: http://pallatt.blogspot.com/ to read my latest notes and prayer requests.

SUPPORT: All I will say here is that we need a miracle… Our short-fall now stands at $8,000 for the year. After a good September and October, November was the lowest in years. Please pray with us for this need.

In case you misplaced the address, please mail your gift to:
EFCA – Donor Services
901 E 78th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55420

Make your check payable to: Evangelical Free Church of America
Please note: Pallatt Support #1852

Our Christmas prayer for you this year is that you would know the true joy of the Lord in your life!

Your partners in Christ’s service, Roy & Rita

Update on Special Appeal & other Prayer Requests

Dear Pallatt Prayer Team,
I promised to keep you updated and here is the latest…

This is a PRAISE… Last month I sent out on important appeal related to our support lacking situation. We asked for people to prayerfully consider a special offering to help us eliminate our fund deficit and the Lord spoke. The September support was the largest in three years and after meeting the current month needs we were able to put nearly $500 toward our deficit. We are asking our Heavenly Father to move among His people to help us fully eliminate that deficit. You should know we have reduced our salary by $400 a month to do our part meeting this need.

Another PRAISE… Rejoice with us in that we have a new single missionary going to Mongolia for a one-year work with our team there. I have been busy working with our national office making sure her financial matters are in order so she can be free to do the good things God has prepared her to accomplish. I really enjoy seeing new missionaries be successful in going through all steps of preparation that it takes to actually finally leave for the field.

PRAY for me, Roy, as I have just come through about a six-week project of working with all our missionaries to help them get their 2009 support budget worksheets completed so we can be ready for the new payroll in January. Also my ongoing work is to help all of our staff to improve in their use of the new online expense reporting system. May the Lord grant me wisdom to be a blessing to all of our missionaries serving in Japan, Mongolia, the Philippines and several Creative Access areas in Southeast Asia.

PRAY for Rita as she works extra hours in her dual ministries of worship leader at our church-planting work near where we live here in Stuart, FL and also her other ministry helping Community Christian Academy grow and build their fine arts program to the glory of God.

Pray for wisdom for us both as we often find ourselves working into the night, day after day because there is so much to do. We know God would not want us to over-do the work part of life, even if it is for His kingdom. May we regularly stop and rest in Him and let Him fill us again with His strength.

May God’s richest blessings be on you and those you love!
-Roy and Rita

Special Appeal

Dear Pallatt Prayer Team,
We Christians come is all sizes, colors and circumstances… Some of us have needs and some have a surplus… and yes, God always meets our “needs.”

This is for you who may find yourself with a ‘surplus’ or nevertheless, would choose to help. Personally, Rita and I prefer to be in the ‘surplus’ group so we can help those in the need group, but for now we have a need that is pressing and we can’t shoulder it without your help. We are asking and praying that it will be resolved, by God’s grace, between now and the end of December.

We need to raise financial support over and above our regular monthly need. The goal is to eliminate a $7,000 account DEFICIT. So that’s the target we ask you to pray about with us and give as the Lord leads and provides.

If you would like to use your credit or debit card, we now have this link to help you do that:

https://my.efca.org/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=359

The designation box should read: Roy & Rita Pallatt – 1852

(You will receive a tax receipt for your gift.)

God has provided in these situations before and we know He can again. We are just asking if you would be a part of helping with this need.
We indeed are deeply thankful for your partnership in the cause of Christ in Asia over these years, both financially and certainly in your prayers.

I will keep you informed how God chooses to answer us.

No matter what, TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Pallatt Prayer Letter Jul-Aug-Sep 2008

(P-Pop and Charlie doing our computer work)


Greetings Friends & Family,

Most of you receive my notes of prayer requests and praises through email. But I realize some of you don’t have a computer and unless you get my letters in the mail, you don’t hear from me. I pray that four times a year is enough for you to always “feel connected.” Also I would encourage you, when you do have access to the Internet to type in: http://pallatt.blogspot.com/ to read my latest personal notes and prayer requests. This is my weblog (World Wide Web log) known as a “blog.” (Now you know some internet-talk.)

So often things happen in “my part of the world” and people ask me such things as, “Did the typhoon that hit Myanmar affect your work?” …or, “…the china earthquake…?” Though I don’t work directly with people in these two areas, we certainly know people who do, particularly from our years in Singapore. These events brought such immense devastation that life for those people who survived will never be the same. But now after the news media are gone, the people of God remain to help. Here’s a current update from ReachGlobal concerning these two areas:

Myanmar—After the cyclone devastated the Delta, many people have come to know Christ, worshiping God and studying the Word every night in the church. Local authorities are troubled by the presence of a Christian organization and people coming to Christ. Please pray for the new believers to stand firm in the Word and in their faith. Pray that our ReachMyanmar ground team will have courage and wisdom in dealing with local authorities and in the community. Ask God to provide more opportunities to impact people's lives through the gospel and the help given.

China—Pray for the local believers who are reaching out to the earthquake victims. There is uncertainty as to whether officials will continue to allow people to go into the affected areas after this month. Pray for those living in temporary shelters. Many are without work and trying to figure out ways to support themselves. Officials are working to get the homeless temporary housing before winter. Pray that the ReachGlobal staff will know the best way to use the resources and time available to them. Pray that they will rely on His strength and not their own as they experience extra stress on family and ministry.

Follow-up Notes: LifeSong Community Church – We are still waiting on the last of the many permits before actual construction begins on LifeSong’s first ministry facility. Pray for me as I preach the Word each week and continue to support Rita as she leads worship. Pray for Rita as she has begun a new school year of teaching and building a Christ-honoring Fine Arts program at Community Christian Academy in Stuart, FL. And please pray for Pastor Lanny Penwell in his search for ministry options now that he is no longer with LifeSong.

SUPPORT: At this point we have an emergency need to raise $7000 to eliminate our ministry account deficit by the end of the year. So far this year only March and May saw support that met our budget need, and now we are facing our second salary cut this year. Please ask the Lord to move His people to give to this need.

We truly thank you for your support. (2 Cor. 9:7)

In case you misplaced the address, please mail your gift to:
EFCA – Donor Services
901 E 78th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55420

Make your check payable to: Evangelical Free Church of America
Please note: Pallatt Support #1852