In the Spirit of Elijah!

Mark 1:6 - John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

Everyone was waiting for the prophet to come in the spirit of Elijah (Malachi 4:5). In 2 Kings 1:8, it talks about how Elijah was dressed. It turns out that John's unusual clothes were a fulfillment of prophecy!

John also had an exotic diet of wild honey and locusts. This was actually typical desert food. Locusts, as unappealing as they may seem to us, were actually a clean food in Leviticus 11:22!

John had a role to play, getting people ready for the coming Messiah. He was sent to prepare the hearts! Interesting. Reminds me of a role we play. We also work hard to prepare hearts for the Messiah.

It is inspiring to think of all the sacrifice, the meals of locusts and wild honey, the uncomfortable lifestyle so many of you choose to live--all to try to prepare hearts for the Messiah! May God continue to bless and encourage you as you serve him!

Pray for Zurich, Switzerland

Zurich is one of the main cities of Switzerland, with about 1 million inhabitants (including suburbs). It has a rich religious history as one of the main cities of the reformation, where in the 1500's Ulrich Zwingli preached against Catholic food laws, celibacy of the clergy, icons and statues in churches and the sacrificial nature of communion.

The people of Switzerland need some radical reforms in their lives today, too! While Switzerland is one of the wealthiest nations in the world, it needs Jesus and his good news even more.

The Zurich church was planted in 1993. They recently sponsored a missions week, with a focus on young adults. They invited people to listen to Juan Zaragoza, a guest speaker from the Madrid Church of Christ, who spoke on Friday evening, March 26 on the topic: "The Secret of Successful Christians" in English, simultaneously translated into German.

Here are some specific prayer requests from the Zurich church:

• Four women have recently given birth, and 2 of them are new mothers. Please pray for us to deal wisely with all the children and teens.
• There are many marrieds in the church, but only about 13 singles. Pray for us to reach more singles for Christ.
• Pray that we will start to see people baptized again (it's been over a year), and also pray that people can be restored.