The Lucases

Prayer requests & Praises

Hello Ropeholders. Thanks for your prayers on behalf of Team Expansion and our family in particular. Here are some praises and petitions, if you have a moment...

*** Thank the Lord for a great week at the NACC. See the photo gallery at the Team Expansion website:
http://www.teamexpansion.org

*** Join us in praising the Lord for the growth He's brought to Team Expansion. We recently crossed the mark of 300 full-time missionaries. In the local church world, to us . . . that's somewhat equivalent to reaching a weekly worship attendance of 1000 people. It brings all kinds of celebration . . . and also creates a lot of joy-filled work, too. Feel free to read some of the postings of those workers at the TELL Magazine online center by clicking on the link at our website, or go directly there by copying this link into your browser's "URL:" box:
http://www.teamexpansion.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=108&Itemid=133

Also, you can read some sample reports ("blogs") from the field by clicking on "Pray" in the top line menu of our website, or copy this link into your browser:
http://www.teamexpansion.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=98
While there, click on "Prayer Community" to get a daily prayer-email update from our Prayer Coordinator, Betty Byrd. (You can see former posts at:
http://www.teamexpansion.org/prayerforceblog/

*** Please continue to pray that God will bring the helpers to provide the services and shepherding for an organization He is obviously blessing. Along with this, please pray that we'll have the space to grow. Watch the video for prayer pointers by browsing to the website and clicking on the link to the video.

*** Please pray for the week we're about to begin:
July 7: I drive Penny up to Chicago to the Diamond Headache Clinic for tests to determine possible causes of her near-chronic headaches. We drive back from Chicago to Louisville late that night.
July 8: I drive to Freetown, Indiana, to watch the annual Fourth of July parade with my mom. Then drive back to Louisville, pick up the boys, and head for Andover, Ohio to preach, report, and help with a week of VBS
July 9: Preach and report at Andover Church of Christ, Ohio
July 10-12: Daily visits with church members there (they've supported us since 1981 and were, in fact, one of the first supporters of Team Expansion), daily VBS updates, updating the giant missions wall in their family life center, meeting with church leaders, etc.
July 13: Drive back to Louisville
July 14: Back in the office at Team Expansion in Louisville
July 15: I hold tryouts for the high school boys varsity soccer team I coach in my spare time each fall. (You guessed it -- Caleb might make varsity this year. But he has to make it fair and square. :-) Hint: He's probably among the most fit members of the team. He already ran 3 miles in the required 21' earlier this week.)
July 16: Play piano for morning worship at Fern Creek Christian Church where I'm an elder and where we attend when we're in town. During the afternoon, finally *breath*! :-)

*** Please pray for 25 more partners in the "29" project. Learn more about "29" by browsing to:
http://www.emeraldhills.info/
In short, "29" seeks to find 29 congregations that will each step up to the plate and help us build the initial prayer infrastructure at Emerald Hills... The Prayer Center and 29 associated Prayer Shelters, combined with 29 table computers that prayer-walkers will use while praying at Emerald Hills. Each church agrees to pitch in $24,000 toward these opportunities, either as a one-time gift, as a mission trip fund, or over 3 or 5 years. Give thanks for the four churches that have already made the commitment to partner with us in this way:
Fern Creek Christian Church (the church we attend when we're here in Louisville, KY)
Indian Creek Christian Church, Indianapolis, IN
Lakota Christian Church, Cincinnati, OH
Shively Christian Church, Louisville, KY (the church in which Penny grew up . . supporters since 1981)
Ask God to bless them for their faith and courage . . . and to bless Emerald Hills through their partnership. Pray for 25 more partners.

*** Please pray for Penny, that tomorrow can be a pivotal day to diagnosing a cause and a solution for her troublesome headaches. They are frequent enough that she's not going to be able to accompany us to Andover. Ask the Lord to bring healing and hope. Pray for the doctors and technicians that will be testing her.

Thanks for walking the world with us in prayer!

Doug

2006-01-26 Special Request for Mark

Please make a very special effort to lift up Mark Trotter and family. Read more about him at:
www.teamexpansion.org
by clicking on the link, "caring4mark".
---
Mark & Lyla Trotter and their children (4 are adult plus 6 who still live at home) were new missionary recruits with Team Expansion, headed to Southeast Asia in March. Mark gave up a successful dental practice to take this step. On the doorstep of departure, the family discovered malignant brain tumors in Mark’s head. Surgery on Tuesday went as well as we had hoped. Some of the pressure will be lessened as a result of this important step. But Mark’s life-threatening condition remains unchanged. The prognosis is unaltered: the doctors are saying this condition is normally fatal. Facing that prospect, the Trotters have turned to the Lord of Lords. He is the only one who truly knows the future. Doctors study these diseases and make educated guesses based on past history. Maybe God will allow natural laws to proceed here; but we all know He has the power to intercede, if it is within the scope of His will. Either way, please lift the Trotters up in prayer and jot a note of encouragement by going to www.teamexpansion.org, clicking on "caring4mark", then read the posts and, if you like, click the word “comments” after a posting and type in your prayer or response.

2006-01-26 prayer requests

Would you join me in praying for the Dedication of the Freedom Barn?
---
Please log on at
www.emeraldhills.info and take a look at our events calendar there. Hover your mouse cursor over the afternoon of Feb. 18th -- the hour-long 1pm Dedication service for Freedom Barn at Emerald Hills. We'd love to pack the house that afternoon. Our LTF will be there. We'd love to see you there too. If you're going to attend, please drop a note to:
a...@TeamExpansion.org
and copy me please ( DLu...@TeamExpansion.org) so we can plan accordingly. (We'll need chairs & refreshments! :-) )

Hear Chris Bushnell and join members of Nueva Vida as they attend that day with Daniel Ramirez and Gustavo (who will be leading worship). Listen to long-time Team Expansion board member and friend, Joe Parker, give his testimony of 22 years with the LTF. See the premier of the final cut of the Hills of Hope video. Record your prayer for the time capsule to be opened in 2028. Be in the great group picture in the barn and celebrate what God has done thus far.
Will you be there?
Thanks.
Doug
---

Also please pray for ...
*** Doug's upcoming trip to Sudan next month -- that God would open doors and raise up a team. Doug is accompanying Africa Field Coordinator, Martin Brooks, and a potential long-term team member.
*** Give thanks for the 6 baptisms in the new church birthed by one of our Taiwan teams on Christmas day - 6 baptisms, and one more since then.
*** Pray for Team Expansion's LTF (board of directors), which will meet Feb. 17-18 in their annual retreat.
*** Pray for the local church missions committee as they pray about Doug's request that they budget $19,200 over the next 24 months toward the first Prayer Pavilion at Emerald Hills. Pray for others to join with them in making the campus a reality. Ask the Lord to bless Eric Derry, who is the Team Expansion staff person heading up the capitol campaign. Ask God to lead him to the right partners who will help make the campus happen.
*** Ask the Lord to bless the North American Christian Convention, and especially, the June 28th (4:30pm) GroundBreaking for the next building at Emerald Hills, currently being referred to as the World Harvest Center.

Thank you for walking the world in prayer with Doug & Penny and the workers at Team Expansion.

2006-01-17 Prayer requests

prayer requests about Team Expansion &, in particular,
the role of the Lucases [Doug & Penny])

THANKS FOR WALKING THE WORLD WITH US IN PRAYER, ROPEHOLDERS!
This week, in...

CHINA -- Give thanks for the arrival *today* of new Team Expansion
workers in South Central China. These workers will first study
Mandarin. Ask the Lord to lift them up as they begin adapting to their
new home city -- a giant urban sprawl. Pray that they'll find a great
platform for ministry, that they build meaningful relationships, and
that God uses them to establish His church there.

UKRAINE -- Thank the Lord for new recruits in our office today,
applying for a new city in Ukraine. Pray that God will help us prepare
them effectively so they can maximize their impact for Christ.

NEW SECURITY DIRECTOR -- Please lift up our new Security Director, now
just over halfway finished with his support-raising. Pray that he'll be
able to come quickly to help us address security issues all over the
world. Pray for a new security manual that we're editing right now --
that it will help us keep our 276 full-timers *safe*, globally.

2006 FIELD MINISTRY PLAN -- Thank the Lord for the smoothest and most
effective goal review and goalsetting process yet. We now have plans
firmly in place so we know where God is calling us for 2006.

GREAT GROWTH IN TAIWAN -- Thank the Lord for multiple baptisms in the
Kaohsiung congregation (Taiwan). Pray that God will guide the Foremans
and Dunns as they seek to mature these leaders.

GREAT PRE-FIELD ORIENTATION (PFO) -- Join us in giving thanks to God
for answered prayer -- that He helped us make winter PFO a huge
success. The workers reported huge gains in preparedness for the field.
Thank the Lord for Glen Gibson, our Training Director, who helped make
this happen.

HELP WITH COMPLETING THE FREEDOM BARN -- Please ask God to help us "finish the course"
on the Freedom Barn. For more information, see the website:
www.emeraldhills.info
There you'll find pictures, stories, an upcoming events calendar, and
news on the Freedom Barn Dedication, 1pm, Feb. 18th, 2006. (You're invited! :-) )

PRAY FOR THE NEW TEAM IN CENTRAL ASIA -- Please continue to lift up the
new team in Central Asia, as they try learn the language, share
Christ's message, and, ultimately, establish lasting churches.

LIFT UP THE FAMILY -- I hate to admit it . . . but Penny continues to
struggle with the ongoing effects of repeated migraines and sometimes
daily headaches. Still she forges on and serves as my secretary. Caleb
(age 16) just ran 3 miles in 20 minutes. He's training for soccer
tryouts this summer. Pray he'll be a great influence on the team. (Doug
is the coach.) Chris (age 19), meanwhile, has made the track team at
David Lipscomb University. He just ran 9 miles in 50 minutes. Shew.
Doesn't seem possible.

Thanks for walking the world with us!!!

Doug

All Praise to God for 2005

As we turn the corner on 2005, we give praise to God for everything He has accomplished during the past year. And we thank those who have lifted up the work and workers of Team Expansion. Here are some final prayer requests for 2005 and some openers for 2006. Please...

• Thank the Lord for effective planning meetings reviewing 2005 and setting out plans for 2006
• Thank Him for great growth in 2005. The Kaohsiung church had 12 decisions this past Sunday, plus 6 baptisms, and over 300 were in attendance. Doug remembers a time not all that long ago when the first worker arrived there! There were zero believers and just one missionary family. God be praised.
• Please pray for several new fields to be launched in the coming 12 months, including work in 3 different "creative access" countries. Doug will likely have to travel overseas in Feb. (2 countries), May and again in the fall.
• Please ask God to bless Emerald Hills. Eric Derry and Doug are praying that God would bring in $1.5 million dollars in 2006, allowing them to break ground in June and finish the building by Dec. 31st. Gulp. That would be a tough challenge. But they feel God is calling them to this challenging set of goals. Please pray for His guidance.
• Thank the Lord for good health for the Lucases. Chris is back from college for the holidays, having earned 4.0 straight-A grades his first semester at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, where he played NCAA Division I soccer. Caleb is in great health, running daily, loving the Lord. Penny's headaches seem a bit fewer and lesser in intensity. Doug is loving life, loving his job, and amazed at the goodness of God.

We wish you and yours a wonderful New Year and may God bless every moment of it!

Annual Planning Retreat

Today we finished our annual planning retreat, held at an offsite location so we could concentrate without interruption. In an earlier session, each member of our 30-person team gave a 3-minute (or so :-) ) summary of goals-accomplished during the past year. In today's session, we listed the high points of our goals for 2006. We'll assemble the detailed versions together into a combined Field Ministry Plan that everyone can examine and share. Please join us in giving thanks for the camaraderie and shared vision that resulted. Ask God for wisdom, strength, and energy as we seek to implement goals over the coming 12 months.

2005/09/15 -- We appreciate your prayers, Ropeholders!

***

NIGER

-- Please pray for this troubled land... Here's a good link for more information:

http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/news/story/0,6260,1098194,00.html

Note that the above link is from Time Magazine for Kids. It would be a great article to study with your children . . . and then you could have a special prayer time for this need. You could help your kids see that we've all come to care about people in New Orleans and Mississippi who are in need... but in Niger, there are 3.6 million people who are hungry and many have no recourse whatsoever.

First

Church

of Christ (

Burlington

,

KY

), one of our supporting partners, wanted to establish some great relationships in this part of

Africa

(due, in part, to the fact that they've partnered with us to reach out to an unreached people there). In the process, they wound up supporting a native African evangelist-missionary to

Niger

. And now we've heard this past week that they're recommending he join Team Expansion. Please pray for this gentleman... we'll leave his name anonymous for now... that God will guide him as he applies.. and ask all the details to fall into place.

First

Church

recently received a large grant from IDES to funnel through this worker. He'll need to be sterling silver in his character and faith . . . so this money doesn't become a temptation. (One of our popular old sayings: "Money corrupts; Much Money corrupts Much." Please pray that the saying will prove wrong in this worker's life.)

Also, please pray that Doug will know when it's a good time to go visit this new potential worker. The capital is

Niamey

, the climate is desert, the language is French, and nearly everyone is a Muslim. There are about 12 million people in the country.

*** HURRICANE KATRINA RELIEF -- Even though we don't have a full-time church-planting outreach anywhere near the hurricane-stricken area, we couldn't close our eyes to the need. So, as Missions Chairman of Fern Creek Christian Church (

Louisville

,

KY

), Doug worked quickly following the hurricane to apply for a matching-gift grant from IDES (

Kempton

,

IN

) for the purposes of maximizing Fern Creek's impact as a church of 700. Through a unique partnership with Team Expansion and Crossroads Missions, God raised up over $45,000 for relief and supplies, to which IDES added $25,000. Half of the $70,000 total will go to Journey Christian Church and the other half will be used for direct relief work in conjunction with Crossroads Missions and volunteers from Fern Creek, Team Expansion, and many other congregations throughout the

USA

. (Crossroads now has trips planned through the spring; learn more about participating by logging on at CrossroadsMissions.com.)

*** EMERALD HILLS -- The infrastructure keeps growing! The water line is now complete and the city installed the water meter literally yesterday. If all goes well, we should have running water in the Freedom Barn by the end of this week... and perhaps electricity as well (if the electric company gets the electric meters installed). Please pray for funds to build the

Training

Center

,

Prayer

Center

,

Retreat

Center

, and

International

Services

Center

.

*** CHRIS IS BUSY, BUT DOING WELL -- I guess college is busy for everyone, but he seems to have more than his share (with Division I NCAA soccer). Please keep praying for Penny as she gets used to her firstborn being out of the nest. Pray that Chris can make the jump effectively to

Lipscomb

University

(

Nashville

,

TN

). Lift up Caleb as he gets used to life without his brother being across the hall. Ask God to guide Doug as he seeks to continue to be available when needed.

Thank you for your prayers!!!

______________________________________________________________________

2005-07-29 Prayer and Praises

Hello Ropeholders!

Thanks for partnering with us to pray God's help for Team Expansion and the Lucases. Here are some updated prayer requests -- please join us!

---

*** Please pray for Doug's dissertation (for his Ph.D. degree). He's well into the research phase. And ask the Lord to please raise up employees of non-profit organizations, humanitarian aid groups, churches, mission agencies, etc., to take part in the survey research project (it only takes about 5' and is completely confidential, by the way). If, in your praying, you think of someone who might be able to participate, please just ask them to go to this web address:

www.brigada.org/followership

(He still needs a few hundred participants to finish the project. :-( Please pass the word if you know of others who would take part.)

*** Give thanks for progress with Penny's headaches... somewhat. She still isn't headache free. Some weeks, it seems that 1 out of 3 days she battles migraines or something akin to them. Still, through your prayers, she goes on with life and we appreciate the Lord's grace in her life.

*** Please ask God for wisdom as we begin the next phase of development for Emerald Hills. We now need to start trying to raise funds for the next building, a

Prayer

Center

and an

Int'l

Services

Center

combined. We're really depending on the Lord for wisdom.

*** Give thanks for the developments at Emerald Hills so far this spring and summer. The road is in, the barn is up, the walls are framed, and white farmhouse is down, the electric is going in and mostly paid-for, the water is going in (exact price to be determined), and the plumbing & HVAC is going into the barn (again, exact price to be determined). It's been a busy summer! :-)

*** Please pray for the New Field Launch in

Central Asia

. It's slated to happen in mid-August... and there are 6 team members, all departing together. They've been preparing for over a year and the day is finally here. During the months that follow, we'll work hard to help shepherd this new team through the challenges of living in a new Muslim location.

Please pray...

*** That God would give them safe travel in August

*** That He would help our Field Coordinator for that region to be discerning about any final bits of encouragement, instruction or preparation they need during his visit with them two days before they depart

*** That they'll get off to a great language-learning start from the very beginning

*** That their financial needs will be met

*** That they'll stay healthy during their initial few months -- prime months for culture shock and depression to set in

*** That they'll form healthy and helpful relationships with nationals and that the Lord will open doors for them as they begin outreach.

Thanks for praying!!!

Doug & Penny

______________________________________________________________________

2005-05-14 Prayer and praises

Thanks for walking with us through your prayers and praises! Please
lift up...

*** Emerald Hills -- What an answered prayer, again and again, that God
has provided this new home for us. And the cool thing is that, not only
has He provided us a new home for the future, but also a constant
living testimony to His greatness. We give thanks to the volunteers
that have helped us erect the barn so far. The original quote was
$25,000 for that job... and now we've just brought in a crew to finish
it for just $8300. Bottom line: Volunteers contributed some $17,000 in
labor costs! We thank them one and all. If all goes well, this crew
will seal in the shell within the next 10 days. It'll be great to have
a structure up . . . and just in time, too. We plan on hosting the
kickoff for summer Pre-Field Orientation there on May 29th! Please pray
that it all comes together.

*** North Africa -- Pray for Doug's trip in June as he continues our
entry steps into a new land there, this time setting up a summer worker
who will serve as our first team member. Pray that the letter of
invitation comes ... and give thanks for the fact that one of our most
experienced and effective workers in China can accompany Doug, with the
goal of interviewing and witnessing to many of the Chinese that Doug
met there last visit.

*** Chris -- Please remember our son, Chris, as he raises support for a
mission trip of his own this coming July. He'll be traveling to Europe
with a soccer team that combines witnessing with playing in a soccer
tournament and hosting a clinic there afterward. It's great experience
for his long-term goal of setting up an arm of ministry within Team
Expansion to do this kind of thing full-time in countries where
traditional missions would never be accepted.

*** New teammates -- Thank God for the new family that has recently
joined us here at International Services in Louisville. Dan will serve
as Field Coordinator for the Muslim World (including the former Soviet
Union lands). He and his family have served among the Muslim Crimean
Tatar for the past 5 years. We also give praise for Joe and Colleen
Wilson. May they come quickly! :-) Joe will serve as Interim Facilities
Manager at Emerald Hills. (If all goes well after the first year, he'll
stay on and do that role full-time.)

*** Penny -- Penny has had mostly good days, with seemingly  fewer
headaches lately. Please give thanks for God's work in her life.

Thanks for praying with us!

Doug & Penny

Apr. 27 Prayer and Praise

We continue to thank each of you for being our prayer partners.  It means a lot to know you are praying with us and for us.

Caleb did well with his wisdom tooth surgery, though Friday was a difficult day (lots of bleeding, etc.).  But, he is much better now and it helped him knowing people were praying for the surgery.

Doug was able to send in the first 90 pages of his dissertation for evaluation!  So, we are thankful for the progress he has made and pray that he receives word back soon so he can continue to work on this project and complete it soon.

Please continue praying for Michelle Derry's father.  He is still in intensive care as he tries to recuperate from his bypass surgery.