I sent this urgent email out at 9 a.m. this morning.

My dear Prayer Warriors,

Got a call this morning at 6:30 a.m. for prayer. Kyle Holton, missionary in LaChinga, Mozambique: http://www.yaomission.org/, is gravely ill. For several days he has been unable to lift his head. Kyle's wife, Ginger, took him to an Indian doctor who gave him very strong malaria medication, even though the blood tests were negative for malaria. The medication is making Kyle throw up. Kyle and Ginger, who have two small children are alone. Their team mates are in the states.

Their sponsoring church has asked Ginger to arrange for Kyle to be evacuated to South Africa, where he can receive proper medical treatment. The evacuation plane will not arrive until tomorrow. If Kyle has cerebral malaria - tentative diagnosis - it could be fatal. Cerebral malaria is the worse form of malaria. Prayer requests: 1) pray that the medication Kyle is receiving is the right medication; 2) pray for Ginger's endurance - she has been caring for Kyle night and day without help for several days, plus she has two very young children to care for. She has another night to go through alone; 3) pray the plane is large enough to hold not only Kyle, but the whole family.

Please call your prayer ministries at your local churches and ask them to pray for Kyle and Ginger. Pray for Kyle's extended family - this has been a year of many losses for them. Please get on your knees for this family. I am thankful I have you to call on when prayer is needed. Our God is able!

Around 2 p.m. I sent this email out:

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Your prayers are being heard. Some Australian Baptist missionaries heard of the Holton's difficulties. They came by and took the boys, Asher and Eli, for the afternoon and part of the evening. Ginger was able to pack. The boys are now asleep (it is night time in Mozambique now). Kyle was able to keep down some of the pain medication long enough for it to begin to work and was able to take a warm shower, which helped him feel better. I thank God they had water and that it was warm. That within itself is a small miracle! Though Kyle is still extremely ill, he is no longer in "screaming" pain.

Aviation Fellowship, who is flying to Mozambique to help them evacuate, has an apartment on their compound in Nels Pruitt, South Africa (north of Johannesburg), for Ginger and the boys to stay in. Also on the compound is a hospital that specializes in malaria. God be praised!

I am grateful to God for better news. I am grateful to you for praying for this couple. Kyle and Ginger thank us for praying.. Ginger said that she feels "at peace." She believes it is because of your prayers. This ordeal is not over. Please continue to pray.

And shortly after 5 p.m. I put these thoughts together:

I listened to a great series of sermons this last year called Prayer for Dummies – 12 in all. It made me think. However, I’ve been as affected by the “off-the-cuff” remarks about prayer made by my preacher and others I’ve come to know this year as I have been by sermons. I find that I pray more than I used to. I have a prayer notebook and five pages of it are filled with names of people I pray for. One page in my notebook is filled with answers to prayers. The rest of the notebook is filled with my personal notes, some personal written-out prayers and some articles on prayer - still, I wonder if I have the kind of faith that prayer calls for.

Yes, God has answered many of my prayers. Some answers to prayer have been so personal, I could never share them with anyone, and it is those personal answers to prayer that have convinced me that God has had compassion on me – on me. When I think about it, I tear up. I know a God who answers prayers.

But, God hasn’t answered all my prayers, even when I prostrated myself, wept, and begged. I decided a long time ago that God is God and I am not! So, when I pray, I do not presume that I know how God will answer my prayer. That makes me wonder if I’m a doubter – perhaps a person who does not pray in faith.

A missionary wrote the following in his blog: “I was called upon to go with some other men to pray for an old man who had dislocated his right femur over a year ago!! They said he “broke” it but I’m wondering if it were truly broken how he’d be doing as well as he was (walking with a walking stick). They tried all kinds of traditional methods of healing (cannot imagine how many voodoo sacrifices have been made), but someone told the man we were having our meeting today, so he asked for prayers. Believe me, I was shocked upon hearing the awful story and then seeing him “flex” his upper thigh in a highly abnormal position, and then seriously perplexed how this prayer team might pray for him…then who might the team decide should pray? Yep, me! Lord, forgive my unbelief, and do a miracle in that man’s leg anyway for the sake of your glory!!”

I feel the same frustration. Perhaps I am too western – too educated! Yet, I find I trust God with my future, my life or death more than I ever have before. I know I live with a lot less fear than I used to. But I don’t claim verses for myself and I don’t presume God will answer my prayers as I want. Perhaps, to pray is to have faith.

Please keep praying for Kyle and Ginger. He seems better because the pain medication is working, but his condition has not changed. Please pray with as much faith as you can and I will pray with as much faith as I can. Lord, help our unbelief.