Ghana Get The Word Out There

During our EN Bloem Missions Week, we held a 24hr Prayer and Fast Chain with the emphasis on missions, of course… ;o)  Each participant was encouraged to trust God to imprint a country on their hearts that He wanted them to pray for. Well, for a while now I have had Ghana on my heart. I honestly can’t tell you why… I just know that I was looking at the flag one day while going through a presentation and it kinda jumped out at me. Right away I knew that there was something God wanted to tell me about Ghana.

So here I am, sitting in a garden (I love praying in gardens) and praying about Ghana and God gets me thinking… “What do you know about Ghana?” To tell the truth: nothing. Oops! Google to the rescue!

That flag just kept waving in front of my eyes and I found a site that explained the meaning behind the flag design. Of course all countries have a meaning for their flag, it does represent their nation, after all….. So, this is what I read:

The Red stripe stands for the blood of Ghanaians shed in the fight for freedom from colonialism.

The Gold stripe represents the rich mineral deposits of the country (namely, gold).

The Green stripe indicates the rich agriculture of the area.

The Black star symbolizes African emancipation.

The word “Ghana” means “Warrior King”. Religion demographics are as follows: Christian – 68.8%; Muslim – 15,9%; Traditional Beliefs – 8,5%. Quite a high percentage of Christian believers. Ghana is also considered to be the closest country to what is termed the “centre of the earth”. This had me curious… if Ghana is in the “centre”, what surrounds it? Back to Google…

In short: Burkina Faso with only 4,2% Protestant Christians, 60,5% Islam. Togo with 29% Christians, 51% Traditional beliefs. Côte d’Ivoire with 32% Christian and the rest a mix of Islam, Traditional beliefs and a staggering 16,7% professing no belief in anything at all!

So, here is the interpretation that God placed in my heart for Ghana’s flag, the symbol that represents the country:

The Red stripe – A large percentage of Ghana’s population has experienced freedom through the Blood of Christ! Because of this, Ghana has the ministry of reconciliation, the responsibility to tell their neighbouring countries about freedom through the Blood of Christ.

The Gold stripe – Truth is precious. Like gold bars. Ghana has a rich deposit of the mineral Truth, and it needs to build bridges of relationship with it’s neighbours to get those gold bars across to them!

The Green stripe – Ghana is fertile ground for growth and maturity. Ghana needs to produce the fruit of the Spirit. Fruit producing seed that can be sown in the neighbouring countries for a new harvest of believers to grow!

The Black star – African to African evangelism. African to African discipleship. Africans guiding Africans to the path of Freedom! Freedom from fear, sin and death. Emancipation in Christ!

Ghana is indeed at the “centre of the earth” and Christ wants Ghanaians to reach out to the “ends of the earth”, the countries all around them in need of Truth. Ghana is the “Warrior King” in God’s African army, chosen to fight for the freedom of those around her still caught in bondage to sin and death and separation from the God who loves them so much that He sent His only Son to pay for their transgressions with His life, and end their separation from Him!

Rise up, Ghana! Hearken to the call of your Warrior King! The King of all kings and the Lord of all lords!!

Shalom!

Freely You Have Received... Freely Give!

This morning I read Luke 21:1-4. It's the part about the widow giving two small coins in the offering box. We may view that as a small offering, but Jesus says: "This poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she has given everything she has."

Just the other day I had a lesson in the heart of giving. I popped in at Pick 'n Pay for a bagful of essentials and coming out I saw the car guard standing two spaces away from my car. There were very few cars in the lot and he looked quite forlorn standing there in the dying rays of evening sun. My thought was: 'He wasn't here when I got here, I don't even know if he was watching my car.' Then the Holy Spirit gave me a quick rap over the knuckles: 'Are you giving because he deserves it or are you giving because you just WANT to GIVE?? Did you deserve the Gift I gave you by hanging on the cross in your place, paying the price for your debt?'

Ouch!

I took a R2 coin from my purse and winding down my window as I passed him, I said, "Thank you, uncle! God bless you!" I wasn't prepared for the gratitude I saw in that old man's eyes...

A smile split his face in two and he gushed, "Thank you, thank you! I'm always afraid to ask..."

My heart broke right there! I said to him, "No, uncle, you MUST ask! You work hard all day in the hot sun! You have a right to ask!" But as I drove away I realised that he shouldn't need to ask. We should DESIRE to give, even what we cannot afford!!

This morning I also read 2 Corinthians 8:1  We want to tell you further, brethren, about the grace (the favor and spiritual blessing) of God which has been evident in the churches of Macedonia [arousing in them the DESIRE TO GIVE alms]; 2  For in the midst of an ordeal of severe tribulation, their abundance of joy and their depth of poverty [together] have overflowed in wealth of lavish generosity on their part. 3  For, as I can bear witness, [they gave] according to their ability, yes, and BEYOND THEIR ABILITY; and [they did it] VOLUNTARILY, 4  BEGGING us most insistently for the FAVOR and the fellowship of CONTRIBUTING in this ministration for [the relief and support of] the saints [in Jerusalem]. 5  Nor [was this gift of theirs merely the contribution] that we expected, but FIRST THEY GAVE THEMSELVES TO THE LORD and to us [as His agents] by the will of God [ENTIRELY DISREGARDING THEIR PERSONAL INTERESTS, they gave as much as they possibly could, having put themselves at our disposal to be directed by the will of God]-- AMPLIFIED VERSION (Emphasis my own)

People should not ask us to give... We should ask if we may give, and then give. The DESIRE to give should be stronger than the desire to receive or to hoard or to provide in our own needs.

Freely you have received; freely give...

Shalom!
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Missions Week @ EN Bloem

This past week (6-13 March 2011) we at Every Nation Bloemfontein held our first Missions Week. The focus: taking the gospel to the nations, giving up our lives to disciple the nations, looking outward past our own comfort zone and taking the gold bars of truth to the ends of the earth!!

Through the week we had prayer from 6am to 7am on Bloemfontein’s central “mountain”, Naval Hill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also worked through a devotional that focussed on the heart of missions. What really made an impact on me was the vision that missions is essentially about worship. Missions is not the focus, worship is. Missions is all about worship. Missions begins and ends with worship! Because we worship Christ, we desire to fulfill His heart’s desire and His heart’s desire is for all creation to worship Him! So when the driving force behind our mission is to impart a heart of worshiping God to the lost world, we have found the heartbeat of God’s heart regarding missions!

The week was ended with a guest speaker from Lesotho, Pastor Daniel Tsikoane who imparted the heart of missions with fire and gusto! What an inspiration! I hope to be able to get the podcast of it soon to share with you…

There was a display table for Lesotho, our adopted nation for Church planting, and a few congregation members dressed in their own countries’ traditional dress.

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

The whole thing was topped with a family celebration of cultures and nations at our International Food Evening where 7 countries’ culinary cultures were displayed and everybody had a chance to savour the flavours of Italy, Greece, China, India, America, Holland and South Africa. There was also a selection of coffees from around the world… Funny enough, that was the most popular stall… says something for addiction, doesn’t it…?? ;o)

I will have pictures from the International Food Evening soon to share with you… Until then…

Shalom! ;o)

The Golden Era

As promised… (quite a while ago, hehehe!) here are a few pics of that magical night at the Eenhuis Pageant that I judged.

The crowd having a good time…

There are perks involved in being a judge…

The Green Theme…

The Lion King Theme….

The James Bond Theme…

 

The Golden Era… Ancient Egypt in all her glory!

 

The previous Mr. & Miss Eenhuis… and the newly crowned…

Miss Eenhuis 2011

  

Top class entertainment… Gotta love HipHop!! ;o)

Fun and Games at Madelief Stagedoor!

This is where the rubber hits the road and the coaching begins: Laying the foundations of what is expected. You have a voice… use it to fill that little space in the show that is totally yours!!

 

 

Any questions…?? ;o)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t ask……..

  Learning lines…. the least fun part of being a drama queen…!

 

 

 

Back at the piano to refine the harmonies… though sometimes we need a little help from technology… “There! There! You hear that…??”

 

And of course no show is complete without a few dance moves! So that we can impress the guys, but not before they have impressed us first…. or at least had a chance to try!! Hehehehe! ;oP

 

And naturally we need to leave some time for socialising…!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little chill time after a long hard day’s (night’s) work…. ;o)

Accidental Missionary

Our most important mission fields are the ones we accidentally come across; for the simple reason that these are the places and times that we have no hand in orchestrating. That accidental conversation brought about by a detour taken on a whim, often seemingly foolish!

So here I sit, just having had exactly such a conversation and knowing that the information I received through it was not given to me for my benefit, but entrusted to me for stewarding. While I can do nothing about it physically, I can pray and that is what I did as I walked from the mall to 2nd Avenue..... It's been a while since I used my apostle ponies....!! But here I am, car-less, but full of hope and joy, knowing that because of my car-lessness God can use me in a way that might not have been possible with a car.... ;o)

Being on terra firma instead of rolling along in a bubble on wheels opens one up to so many things we otherwise miss. I find myself in a position of vulnerability that I never experience in that bubble on wheels and it is humbling to realise that all over the city, the country, the world, there are people experiencing that same vulnerability on a daily basis! As I walked the shadows of what could possibly "happen to me" clouded my view of the sunrise, until God reminded me that I have a huge, shining, beautiful angel on either side of me!! So I linked arms with them and continued with an extra spring in my step!

Oh, that we would realise our dependence on Christ's protection and power and life!! So here go me and my angels again... We have a lot to do today.... ;o

Shalom!!
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Milestones Cont…..

Evidently technology and I are not yet seeing entirely eye to eye… ;o)

My last blog was kinda chopped in half when I tried to save and ended up sending it… oops! Anyway… what I was saying is that God has begun to set in place the possibilities for individual and small group discipleship. I receive literally weekly testimonies from the others on the team, Itani and Obakeng of students entering discipleship relationships and giving their lives to Christ! Two students in our Stagedoor group have also given their lives to Christ and I have entered into a discipleship relationship with the HC Culture there, so she can in turn disciple these young Christians.

On Sunday I was invited to do a short motivational speech for the first years at Mannheim Ladies Res on CUT Campus and following on that meeting a young woman approached me for spiritual support. We meet this afternoon to begin a discipleship relationship! She also has a heart for young women, like I do, and I am excited about what God is going to do with and through her life!

There are more relationships growing out of my connection with the HC’s of CUT’s Residences, but there is one thing that characterises all of them: They are each different and unique to the person or group I am in relationship with. Yahweh is a God of patterns and order and He never changes, but His mercies are also new every morning! He is a God of diversity and variety! A God of relationship who created the beauty of individuality! How Great is He!!

So… back to the concept of milestones…

I believe that each unique, individual discipleship relationship that God is entrusting to me, will be a training ground for the next couple of decades of such relationships that I am going to be steward of. One day I will look back and draw from what I learned from the young women I mentored and led to a fulfilling relationship with Christ, their Bridegroom, King and Lord!

He is just soooo amazing, there are no words to describe what He is and what He is doing. Even as I write these testimonies, I realise how inadequate my relatively extensive vocabulary actually is in describing His wonder and glory.

Here’s to the journey each of us in on with God, and to the milestones set up all along the way as testimonies…

Shalom! ;o)