REQUEST FOR  PRAYERS This newsletter is different from all of my others in that there will be no tales of travel, adventures, or mishaps.  This newsletter is a request for prayers. I received news this weekend that the family who I was serving in China has been expelled.  Every missionary knows expulsion in a possibility when they go to closed countries.  The knowledge that expulsion can happen doesn't make it any easier to accept it when it does happen.  So now my "Chinese" family is out of China and is now in limbo in another country.  Their future plans are up in the air at this point. Please pray for: The missionaries and their staff who have all been expelled.  I estimate at least twenty people in their organization were expelled from the country.  Direction for all of these people and where they should go next.  Pray for clarity on which countries they should serve in. Finances for all involved.  Scraping together money for (expensive, last-minute, no-notice) tickets is difficult for some missionaries.  Pray that people will come together to support them during this emergency. Pray for the Chinese national believers left behind.  Pray that they will be bold and rise up and fill in the gaps left by those forced out. Pray that they will be able to endure the crackdown on Christianity.  Pray that they will go forth and keep their faith and share it with their fellow countrymen. Pray for the family which I was serving.  They have three young boys who have been uprooted from the only life they've known.  They no longer have a home, or any of their toys/possessions/comforts/familiar surroundings, etc.  Pray that the boys will feel safe and secure wherever they may end up.  Pray that their education isn't disrupted too much and that they don't fall behind.  Pray for wisdom for the parents to know where to serve, where to go, what to do.  Pray that they will find affordable family housing wherever they end up serving.  Pray that their basic needs will be supplied while they are in limbo. Pray that God's plan for China will continue to be fulfilled through other people stepping up and filling in.  The people in China are hungry for hope; please pray for workers to go and help them find peace through Jesus. Thank you all for the support you have always given me.  Please keep these missionaries in your prayers for the next several weeks and months while they transition to a new life in a different location.