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Dear Friends,
Seven….biblically, seven is the number for completion and perfection. On the seventh day God completed His work of creation. From the seven days of Genesis to the seven seals of Revelation, Scripture is saturated with the number seven. Seven years ago, God created Operation Bandanas, and on November 2nd, 2013, we will celebrate that milestone. I wanted to celebrate this special occasion with you.
For those we have provided the Psalm 91 bandanas to over these seven years, our military chaplains and our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, I want you to know it has been an honor and privilege to serve you through this ministry. We can never thank you enough for all you have done for us through your service, but our gifts of Psalm 91 bandanas have been a tangible way for us to express our love and appreciation to you. You have not been forgotten, and we are forever grateful to you for your willingness to maintain our freedom and safety at whatever cost. We are blessed to have been given the opportunity to support you through the ministry and mission of Operation Bandanas.
To all those who have donated your time and treasure, we would never have been able to reach this milestone of support to our military without you. You, the body of Christ, have provided enough donations to provide 232,713 Psalm 91 bandanas to our troops. God brought us together from all across the country in pursuit of a common good. And many hands have lovingly folded, packaged, and prayed over the bandanas. I cannot thank you enough for co-laboring with me to spread God’s words of comfort, strength, courage and protection to our servicemen and women serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hot spots around the globe. We were given the opportunity to spiritually encourage them along the way and point them to our great God.
God had a plan and purpose for this ministry, and I am thankful to have been the one called to be the engine on His train. Mark Batterson said it well in The Circle Maker, “I’m in awe of the strange and mysterious ways in which God works, but I have come to expect the unexpected because God is predictably unpredictable. God always has a holy surprise up His sovereign sleeve!” I wholeheartedly embrace that word for no one has been more in awe and more surprised than I to have witnessed and been a part of tHIS amazing work!
I encourage you to visit our newly updated website, www.operationbandanas.org, to read and see what God has done and how much the Psalm 91 bandanas have come to mean to our troops. You can read lots more and see more pictures by purchasing Lovin’ Our Troops, A Story of Service on Two Fronts which God very clearly called me to write. There has been too much that has happened over these seven years to not put it in writing! It’s your story too! And we still need your help in meeting the current requests for the Psalm 91 bandanas, so your tax-deductible donations, particularly as we approach the end of 2013, are very gratefully received. I pray we finish the year strong!
Dwelling in the shelter of the Most High and resting in the shadow of the Almighty,
Mary Bass Gray
Founder and Executive Director
Author, Lovin’ Our Troops, A Story of Service on Two Fronts
Mary recently received a testimony via email from a chaplain. Our ministry has been going strong since 2006 and growing every year. Despite the many heartfelt “thank you” notes over the years, when we read a testimony like the one in the attached email, it adds an extra measure of encouragement for the job we’re doing. Operation Bandanas is a ministry of encouragement for all our sacrificing military members, but more importantly it strives to bring them to a closer personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Please read this testimony- this is what it’s all about.
Subject: It’s Still The Good News!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013 9:30 AM
Dear Prayer Warriors,
I wanted to quickly share another good news story with you and ask that you pray for the individual Soldier that I will be referring to. Obviously I am not at liberty to pass along a name to you, but I am certain our great God in heaven will know exactly who you will be referring to.
I was sitting in my office this morning when one of our Soldiers walked in and started looking at our Bibles on the shelf and I asked ifl could assist him in any way. He then turned to me and asked if I had a minute to talk. So I quickly invited him into my office and once we took a seat he began to express to me that nothing was physically wrong with him as it related to deployment, but that he had been really thinking about the spiritual side of things as of late. And what got his attention yesterday was when my Chaplain Assistant handed him a box of goodies and told him that this box was for him. But unbeknownst to my Chaplain Assistant, inside of that box was a muiIticam (what our deployment uniforms are made out of) bandanna with Psalm 91 printed on it. He said that when he read Psalm 91 on that bandanna that he knew something was missing and that he needed to talk with someone. It was at that moment that I began to share with him how I believed God was speaking into his life, which ultimately led to me sharing the Gospel with this Soldier. It was such a great joy for me to share with him how Jesus had changed my life and how He could change his life as well.
He eventually took one of our military Bibles that we have and told me that he would read through the gospel of John like I had asked him to do. He didn’t make a profession of faith before he left my office, but I truly believe God is working in his heart and I ask that you would join with me in praying for this Soldier. Pray that he would realize his need for Jesus as he reads through the gospel of John. I may not ever see the fruit of my efforts today, but I do believe a seed was planted in this young man’s heart and I am praying that seed will come to fruition sooner rather than later. Thanks for joining with me in praying for this Soldier. Yes, it is still the goodnews!
For God & Country,
Daniel Garnett
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