“Hail Mary, full of grace. Our Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen,” my patient finished her prayer.

When this patient had asked me to pray with her, I had been thrilled. But when we bowed our heads, and she started into a “Hail Mary” prayer, I didn’t know what to think. Had I done the right thing in joining her for that kind of prayer? Mary can’t help us. As I left the room, I prayed silently for wisdom.

Later when I visited her again, my patient was happy and expressed her gratitude that I had prayed with her. To my surprise she asked me to pray with her again. This time she wanted me to pray! One of my favorite quotes about prayer is, “Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend” (Steps to Christ, p. 93). I lifted a prayer to my Heavenly Father and Friend for her in Jesus’s name. God blessed her, and she was discharged from the hospital that day. Before she left, we again prayed together. She prayed, but this time she did not say a Hail Mary. She opened her heart to God! I was so happy that God had used me to lead her into a deeper prayer experience.

God is longing for the Palawano people to lift their hearts to Him in prayer. He invites them, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not” (Jer. 33:3). We are so thankful for the opportunity to go and tell the Palawano of the One who is “the chiefest among ten thousand” and “altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend” (Song of Solomon 5:10, 16). He is their Friend, too, and will answer their prayers.

Thank you for your prayers and support that enable us to share the love of Jesus with the Palawano! Ninety-nine of you have pledged your support, including seven churches! We praise God for you! Our missionary training is now over. We continue praying and looking for a few more prayer partners and supporters, and then we can launch! We are praying that we can launch to the Philippines before mid-October to begin learning Tagalog.

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