At the writing of this update my good friend Mike Lynch and myself are returning home from our tour of Cambodia and Thailand. I can honestly say that I will never be the same. I have traveled all over the world and have seen and felt the heart of God in amazing ways. Our visit to Poi Pet, Cambodia is now added to one of the greatest places where I see God's plans to do some great things.

It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone. God has been so gracious to us at Compassion Acts this year. We have been able to take the message of hope and love to thousands of people. This year has been full of opportunities to help those affected by disasters. In May, we were able to serve in Birmingham, Alabama and Joplin, Missouri after historic tornados devastated thousands of people’s lives and did millions of dollars of damage. It is in times like this that we get to go serve hurting communities in their time of greatest need. Compassion Acts, in partnership with other ministries, provided thousands of dollars worth of aid and leadership during these times. Our teams in May alone provided over 25,000 hot meals valued at $187,500. People like you, who want to help others in a time of need, make all of this possible.

Acts 16:22-29
Paul and Silas Imprisoned

"The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks."

"But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened."

Our oldest son, Michael, was born with the diagnosis of cerebral palsy which was complicated by a failed back operation that caused increased pain, emotional trauma, and other obstacles that need to be removed. Those that know our son are taken by his good humor, compassion for others, along with the zeal to live a full life, and find destiny in God. There are so many others in need just like our son.

On September 4th, the fires in Bastrop, Texas began to rage, and people were evacuated from their homes as a precaution. What started out as an inconvenience, quickly turned into a nightmare for over 1,600 families that lost their homes when 35,000 acres of forestland burned.

One such family Pastors the First Assembly of God - Bastrop. He and his wife had just finished their Sunday morning worship service, and then went to lunch with some friends. His wife then returned home to rest before their Sunday evening worship service.

This past week I was preparing to share a word of encouragement with our community at Blood ‘n Fire in San Antonio, Texas. It was our monthly grocery distribution where we share over 2,000 pounds of food. As I thought about what I wanted to share, God reminded me of the widow’s offering found in Mark 12:41-44. In this passage, we find Jesus and His disciples observing the giving of offerings at the synagogue. Jesus watched the people - some were wealthy and some were poor - giving their offerings. While reading the passage, I was amazed to see the observations of Jesus.

This sums up Spring/Summer 2011 at Blood 'n Fire San Antonio. It all started in late spring. We went and served the people of Birmingham, Alabama and Joplin, Missouri, in the wake of the devastating tornadoes. We don’t normally respond to tornadoes due to their localized nature and the fact that local organizations can usually handle the needs. However, we all know the magnitude of these tornadoes and the subsequent need for aid. We kept feeling God leading us to go...go….go. So we loaded up and headed out to do what we could do. Blood 'n Fire chapters from Muncie, Indiana, Minneapolis, Minnesota and San Antonio, Texas responded to the call, and to the needs of the people who had been devastated by this historic natural disaster. As we always do, we must believe God to send the resources for us to go to serve and love the people. God’s people gave toward helping others, and we were able to go, serve, and do our best to make a difference.

with Mark Roye

Tears at 5:41pm – Joplin, MO. Two Sundays ago, after cooking and serving over 2000 meals, we were happy to return earlier than usual to our host home here in Joplin. We are staying with a very gracious retired couple, Mr. & Mrs. Fulton. Our team decided to spend the evening together and take a break from all the cooking and serving. Our days are usually 12- 14 hours, on our feet, cooking under tents in the hot humid weather of Joplin. We were about to leave our host home when we heard music being playing from a radio; it was a memorial service for the people killed by the tornado in this community of 50,000, being broadcast at 5:41, the time the tornado struck one week earlier.

Doug Stringer is one the nation’s leading apostles of compassion with Somebody Cares International in Houston, Texas. We have chosen with Encounters Network and Compassion Acts to get behind their efforts for emergency relief in Japan. Please give directly to Somebody Cares International as you are directed on the YouTube Video you will watch. We are very honored to have Doug as one of the main speakers at our conference in May in San Antonio as well as chairing the opening section on Disaster Preparedness.