February Update

Dear People of the Northstate Vision:

There is too much happening too fast to wait for the March newsletter to come out. Firstly, we have just completed recruiting of the site captains for the 2005 edition of The Bible: Up Close and Personal. Please give thanks for the twenty-six men and women who have volunteered to stand a three-hour watch while others read the whole Bible over the city of Redding on May 2-5 round the clock. (Give special thanks for those willing to come in the middle of the night watches.) We are now looking for approximately three hundred of you who will come for fifteen minutes of reading. If you are willing please call or e-mail (see the letterhead) your phone, postal mailing address, and your preference for reading in the morning (6:00 AM until Noon); afternoon (Noon until 6:00 PM); evening (6:00 PM until Midnight); or night (Midnight until 6:00 AM). Please do not specify a particular time – although it is fine to say “early evening” or “late morning” or something like that. We will assign you to a fifteen minute shift within the timeframe you requested – if you want more than one shift we can accommodate, but we will give you a break in-between times as reading non-stop is more tiring than some people think. Thanks and God bless you and please respond quickly as we do not want to be still assigning times down to the wire. You will receive a letter from us thanking you for volunteering and specifying where and when you will report and what you will do.

Big thanks and praises to the Lord for two events that give Him glory and the rest of us a chance to participate in His Kingdom-building! The first-ever-in-Northern California telethon with continuous locally originating programming was broadcast on Sunday, February 13, to benefit the Northern California Burn Foundation and Camp Eagleflight. Channel 24’s Royal Courtain was the master of ceremonies and Jim shared those duties for part of the time. The telethon was a tremendous blessing – raising more than $50,000.00 for Camp Eagleflight and securing the cooperation of all of the major television network affiliates to make it a reality. Fox TV and UPN have already committed to next year’s broadcast and the site of the telethon – Win River Casino – was prayer walked prior to the broadcast. God is reclaiming His land and His people!

A second round of praise to God goes for the Transforming Love Banquet of Redding’s Carenet Pregnancy Center. Jim had the privilege of serving as master of ceremonies at Redding’s Holiday Inn. It raised more than $28,000.00 – far more than ever before – for this ministry of compassion to mothers and unborn babies. We believe several factors contributed to the great success of the evening – the fact that it was devoted so thoroughly to honoring those who – past and present – have stewarded and supported this ministry, the fact that a spiritual baton was passed this night from one generation of leadership to another, and the fact that so many faith-based ministries unified and were present to support Carenet – and Carenet has returned that favor already in advance. (Not to be discounted is the fact that the banquet facility has been prayer walked more than once.) God was present and it showed. Give Him glory and praise!

The next item covered on this update is a little bit further in the future but every bit as important as the others. We attended the 2002 World Christian Gathering on Indigenous Peoples in Hawaii and reported on many groundbreaking events associated with that gathering. The next such gathering will be in Kiruna, Sweden from August 8-14, 2005. We plan to attend, as we believe this is a pivotal time for all of the ministries represented in this event – a time in which direction will be set for many years to come and a time of influence over the prospects for transformation worldwide. We do not at this time know the extent of the expenses we will incur to travel to Sweden – only that transportation alone for the two of us will be approximately $3000.00. We ask each of you to pray for us and for the gifts needed to make this trip a reality. As many of you as are inclined to make a contribution in money should memo your check “travel to WCGIP” and it will be considered a restricted gift for that purpose.

Chuck Pierce calls all of God’s people to pray on Tuesday – February 22 – for the state of California. Chuck believes the day is of special prophetic significance in God’s plan for the state – and a time in which He will be covering past sins. Some of us are familiar – and comfortable – with this kind of rhetoric and others are not. In asking each of you to respect this word and pray I am not asking for understanding – just prayer. I personally have a profound respect for Chuck – I’ve met him and known his ministry for some time. But I don’t need any more reason to pray on Tuesday than that it is a good day to pray.

Last – but certainly not least – I have just this morning received an urgent request for prayer for two missing teenagers. Erica LeGrimas and Amanda Young are daughters to Aglow leaders Denise LeGrimas and Peggy Young of Butte County. I have no details at this time other than that both girls are missing and we are asking everyone to pray hard that they will be found safe. Naturally I will update this situation as I have info.

This is an incredible time to stand on the brink of all that God has promised in California and especially in the Northstate Region. It is the most wonderful privilege to stand with all of you as we praise God and seek His face above all things – knowing that He will provide us with all else that we need and with His Holy Spirit above all.

Yours in Christ,

Jim and Diana Wilson, Coordinators