All the Bible verses in this edition of The Presidential Prayer Team
for Kids Update are from The New Living Translation of the Bible.
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  • Meet Dwight L. Moody--God did great things through him!
  • Want to do something awesome for God? Pray!
  • Dr. David Jeremiah tells how prayer helps his day go well.
Things to pray for

At the end of his five-day trip to Latin America,President Bush met with young scholarship recipients during one of his last meetings before he returned to Washington, D.C. Pray for President Bush as he influences young people across the country and around the world.  Photo courtesy of
the White House.

  1. President Bush had a great trip to Latin America.  He returned to the U.S. earlier this week, so great job praying!  And remember to thank and praise God for answering our prayers for safety and protection for President and Mrs. Bush as they traveled to five different countries, and pray for the important follow-up that President Bush must now undertake.  Pray especially for the concern of immigration reform, as that is near the top of the list. 

  2. Did you know that there were some pretty significant problems waiting for President Bush when he returned to Washington? Many leaders are asking questions about the firing of several of our country’s U.S. Attorneys, so it is a very good time to pray for President Bush as he deals with concerns about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the U.S. Attorneys who were fired, asking God to give both men great wisdom as they deal with the questions surrounding this issue.
  1. Pray for President Bush on March 16 as he welcomes to the White House Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland to keep the tradition of the "Shamrock Ceremony," symbolizing the close friendship between our country and Ireland. After the ceremony, the two leaders will meet in the Oval Office to discuss concerns of both our countries. We can also pray for President Bush on March 21 as he welcomes to the White House Prime Minister Helen Clark of New Zealand. They will discuss our two nations’ common efforts in the War on Terror, and they will also talk about strengthening relations between our two countries.

  2. Our troops keep on working to keep people safe, both in Afghanistan, Iraq and here at home, so it’s a great time to pray for our troops as they work hard to protect us and people all over the world. Pray for their families and loved ones too, as they make sacrifices. Pray also for those who have been hurt in the war, asking God to help them heal and get better so they can get back to a normal life with the people who love them.

Leaders to pray for

President Bush stands by Mary Peters during the announcement of her nomination to the position of Secretary of Transportation. 
Photo courtesy of the White House.

Secretary of Transportation—Mary Peters
Mary Peters was sworn in as our nation’s Secretary of Transportation on September 30, 2006.  She follows in the footsteps of Norman Mineta, who did a fantastic job for over six years (remember, Mr. Mineta was the only Democrat on the Cabinet, and he served under former President Clinton).  Mary Peters brings a lifetime of valuable experience in America’s transportation system.  She has served in both the private and public arenas. She has been head of the Federal Highway Administration and Director of the Arizona Department of Transportation. 

As he placed her name in nomination, President Bush said, “Mary has a reputation for character and common sense. She's an innovative thinker. She knows how to set priorities and to solve problems. And as a member of my Cabinet, Mary will work closely with state and local leaders to ensure that America has a state of the art transportation system that meets the needs of our growing economy.”

As the leader of the Department of Transportation, Mary Peters leads a team of over 60,000 employees.  With her team she is responsible for maintaining a safe, reliable and efficient transportation system. In addition, the Secretary of Transportation works to guard against terrorist threats to our aircraft, our seaports and our infrastructure.

Mary Peters holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Phoenix and attended Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.  With her husband, Terry, she has three grown children and five grandchildren. 

President Bush congratulates Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff upon his swearing in ceremony.   Photo courtesy of the White House. 

Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff—Gen. Peter Pace
 
General Peter Pace became our nation’s 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on September 30, 2005.  As CJS, he is the top advisor on military matters for President Bush, Secretary of Defense Gates and members of the National Security Council.  Gen. Pace is very effective in this position—he was Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs for four years before stepping into this new position.  Gen. Pace is also the first Marine to be the Chairman. 

General Pace was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in Teaneck, NJ. A 1967 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, he holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration from George Washington University and attended Harvard University for the Senior Executives in National and International Security program.

Gen. Pace has had a long and exciting career with the Marines, having served in Vietnam, Washington, D.C., Thailand, Korea, Japan and Somalia.

General Pace's personal decorations include: Defense Distinguished Service Medal, with two oak leaf clusters; Defense Superior Service Medal; the Legion of Merit; Bronze Star Medal with Combat V; the Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medal with gold star; Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V"; Navy Achievement Medal with gold star; and the Combat Action Ribbon.

A former runner, Gen. Pace now stays fit by walking and doing 30-40-mile bike rides.  He met his wife Lynne when he was at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and they have been happily married for 34 years. They have two adult children, Peter and Tiffany Marie.  

Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for You.
--Psalm 9:10

You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.
--Matthew 21:22

“Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.”
--D.L. Moody

Did you ever want to be a part of something really great?  Something really important and big?  Something very, very special? 

If you answered yes, you are just like a lot of people.  They want to make their lives count for something special.  They want to know that what they do with their lives will help others and cause them to be remembered with kindness. 

As a member of The Presidential Prayer Team for Kids, it’s important that you know that you ARE a part of something really big!  By praying for the President, you are helping to make him

STRONG

              WISE

                       GODLY

                                SAFE

You are also making a difference in the way that things go in our world.  Because prayer does that
it makes a difference.  And on the days that are a little extra rough for our President, we know it’s a genuine source of comfort and strength for him to know that kids all over America are praying for him. 

This week, we want to introduce you to a really wonderful man who was used by God to accomplish great things. 

Have you ever heard of a pastor named Dwight L. Moody?  He was a part of something really big, and his efforts truly changed the face of America in the 19th century, in some of the same ways that YOU are helping change America by praying for the President and our troops.  Just like Dwight L. Moody’s quote above, every great thing that God chooses to do begins with prayer. 

 Moody lived from 1837-1899, and was born in Northfield, MA.  When his father died and his mom had two more babies, things got pretty tough at his house.  So when Dwight was just 17 he left home and went to Boston to sell shoes for an uncle. 

When Dwight L. Moody made friends with God,
everything changed for him! 

One of the conditions of Dwight’s job was that he had to go to his uncle’s church!  It was through his involvement in that first church that he realized how much God loved him.  A Sunday School teacher came to visit Dwight at the shoe store and told him how very special he was to God.  He experienced a whole new way to live!  Dwight said, “I was in a new world.  The birds sang sweeter, the sun shone brighter. I'd never known such peace.” 

Soon, Dwight moved to Chicago to work with another of his uncles.  This time he looked carefully for a good church.  In time he ended up at a church that was trying to get their Sunday School going, but they had as many teachers as they had kids.  Seeing that this was a way that he could make a difference, Dwight reserved space for a lot of kids in the pews at church.  Then he went and found 18 kids who came to Sunday School with him that very first week. 

D.L. Moody started his own Sunday School in a boxcar that might have looked like this.  Photo courtesy of ghostdepot

Dwight Moody kept bringing kids to Sunday School, and before long, there wasn’t a space big enough at the church to hold all the kids.  Moody had definitely found his place in life.  He began teaching kids on the shores of Lake Michigan, then he rented an abandoned railroad car, and later an abandoned saloon. (Anything can be used for God!) 

Dwight Moody loved to tell others about God’s powerful love.  Image courtesy of ilovetotellthestory.org.

Pretty soon, people began to learn more about the great impact Moody’s Sunday School was having.  A former mayor of Chicago gave him a large assembly hall to use, and he added lots of fun things that kids like to do, like prizes and picnics and pony rides.  But most of all, D.L. Moody made sure that every child in his Sunday School knew how very much God loved them, and that their life had a special purpose.  Before long, 1,500 kids were attending D.L. Moody’s Sunday School--the largest one in Chicago! 

A man named Mr. Reynolds was a friend and supporter of Moody’s.  Reynolds came to watch Moody work with children one day, and saw him struggling just to read a Bible story to some children.  Moody was not a very good reader, because he had a limited education, so he had to skip over many of the words in the Bible story. 

When Mr. Reynolds went to speak with Dwight afterwards, Dwight admitted that he had some shortcomings.  But Dwight L. Moody knew that he was a part of something much bigger than himself.  He was working for God, and he knew the power of prayer.  Dwight responded to Mr. Reynolds with these words, asking for prayer:  “Reynolds, I have got only one talent; I have no education, but I love the Lord Jesus Christ, and I want to do something for Him: I want you to pray for me.”  Dwight further urged, “Pray for me every day; pray now that the Lord will keep me humble.”

This photo shows the cover of a book of Moody’s sermons.  Image courtesy of Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Reynolds reported later, “I have never ceased, from that day to this, to pray for that devoted Christian soldier.  I have watched him since then, have had counsel with him, and know him thoroughly; and, for consistent walk and conversation, I have never met a man to equal him.”

Dwight L. Moody understood the power of prayer because he saw it work in his own life!  Image courtesy of scrollpublishing.com.

Dwight Moody had helped people see how important Sunday School could be to boys and girls.  He helped spur on a huge “Sunday School Movement” that changed our country forever.  Literally millions of boys and girls who would never have heard of the love of God learned the Good News in Sunday School. 

If you go to Sunday School this week, it is probably because of the influence of Dwight L. Moody and the incredible Sunday School Movement that he helped launch all across North America. 

The PPT and PPK websites are rich fields of fantastic, fun facts and information!  Since we’ve been writing about the awesome heritage of America for over five years, we’ve got a lot of great info that you’ll be thrilled to learn. 

So we’re introducing a new feature, PPK Treasure Hunt.  It will make you explore around the many pages of the PPT and PPK sites.  It should help you grow in your knowledge of the great, godly heritage of our country.  And we hope you’ll learn some great stuff along the way!

President Martin Van Buren was President in 1837 when Dwight L. Moody was born.  He was a godly president who gave us a very common cool word used by everyone today!  Check it out by going to the Living Room and finding a Presidents’ book on the shelf.
Dwight L. Moody was born in 1837 in Massachusetts, a state with a great, godly heritage.  At about the same time as little baby Dwight was being born, a man named Reuben Guild was going to school in the town of Dedham, MA.  Find out what school was like when Dwight was born.

Now check out the BONUS QUIZ QUESTIONS and see if you found the treasure! 

Read the quote by D.L. Moody again:

“Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.”
--D.L. Moody

QUESTION 1

Which statement would be the best way of explaining what D.L. Moody is really saying? 

  1. People who want to do something great for God should take a lesson from Nike and “Just Do It.”
  2. God does really great things only through really great people.
  3. The greatest things that are accomplished in God’s world begin with prayer.

QUESTION 2

When you think back about the way Dwight L. Moody went about building up his Sunday School, which statement is true?

  1. Dwight L. Moody looked for a job that would pay him a lot of money, so he started a Sunday School.
  2. Dwight L. Moody couldn’t really do very much with his life--he wasn’t very well educated, anyway--so he just brought kids to Sunday School because that was all he could do. 
  3. Dwight had a deep and strong feeling in his heart that every boy and girl should know about God’s love in just the same way he did, so he found a way to tell them about God’s love--that was the Sunday School.

QUESTION 3

What was the role of prayer in the ministry of D.L. Moody?

  1. Dwight started a Sunday School and later on he asked people to pray.
  2. Dwight did nothing but pray, and he watched while others made the Sunday School a success.
  3. Dwight prayed before, during and after his ministry with the Sunday School, and he made sure that others were praying for him as well.

For a great Bible verse that explains this idea of starting with prayer, hover here.

BONUS QUIZ QUESTIONS
See PPK TREASURE HUNT

BONUS QUESTION 4

Which special word made its way into our vocabulary thanks to President Van Buren?
A.  President Van Buren gave us the word “cool” because of the wonderful breezes that blew into the White House from off the Potomac River.

  1. President Van Buren gave us the word “cool” because of the wonderful breezes that blew into the White House from off the Potomac River.
  2. President Van Buren gave us the word “OK” from the name of his home, Old Kinderhook. 
  3. President Van Buren gave us the word “neat” because he loved to have everything in the White House clean and neat.

BONUS QUESTION 5

What was it like to go to school during the era when Dwight L. Moody was born?

  1. Kids went to school in modern, well-heated schoolhouses because everyone had a priority on education.
  2. Kids went to school in their homes; that was the very beginning of the homeschool movement.
  3. Kids went to school in a small schoolhouse or in the home of their School “Master” who was seated high above them.

I think there is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is caused by things which happen around me, and circumstances will mar it, but joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows on through the dark; joy flows in the night as well as in the day; joy flows all through persecution and opposition; if flows right along, for it is an unceasing fountain bubbling up in the heart; a secret spring which the world can't see and don't know anything about; but the Lord gives His people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to Him.

I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of itself.

Remember, a small light will do a great deal when it is in a very dark place. Put one little tallow candle in the middle of a large hall, and it will give a good deal of light.

Portrait of President Van Buren courtesy of the White House.

“Beyond that I only look to the gracious protection of the Divine Being whose strengthening support I humbly solicit, and whom I fervently pray to look down upon us all. May it be among the dispensations of His providence to bless our beloved country with honors and with length of days. May her ways be ways of pleasantness and all her paths be peace!”
---Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States

“I cannot recall a day when I truly saved time by jumping into the day's work without prayer.  It may have seemed so at the moment, but as the day wore on, everything seemed out of sync, and time was lost.”
--Dr. David Jeremiah, Pastor, Shadow Mountain Community Church, Turning Point Radio/TV and Member of The Presidential Prayer Team Honorary Committee

We hope you have learned about how very important your prayers are!  They were important in the work of D.L. Moody to get the Sunday School Movement sweeping across America, but they are also really important today!  In fact, your prayers for the President are helping in all kinds of ways--some we may see, and some that we may never see. 

So always remember to begin anything you do with prayer.  And ask people to pray for you.  It makes all the difference!

Would you like to offer feedback on PPT for Kids? Write to your editor: Editor@presidentialprayerteam.org.
 

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