Hosanna In The Highest

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Whatever You Do For The Least Of These….

On Saturday I had the honour of going along with a group of young women from the Huistechnicon Residence of CUT Campus to take some supplies and the love of God to an orphanage in Batho location here in Bloemfontein. The “Mother” of the home, Magdalena, has been running this home for 17 years, relying solely on the providence of her Heavenly Father. It is a living testimony to the faith of a daughter of Christ and the faithfulness of the God we serve, since this home offers sanctuary to an average of 40 children and young people at any given time, ranging in age from newborn to early twenties. They are seen through school and leave when they are able to hold down a job and support themselves. There has been a new victory lately in the form of a pledge of Government aid to be supplied on a monthly basis in the near future. Seventeen years of holding out in faithful prayer has been rewarded! What an inspiration to know that there are women and men like this, giving a home, a place of safety to the destitute and helpless. May God’s blessing rest on all who have given what they can to support this home and feed and clothe the children living here.

What a privilege to be able to give a contribution of our own, however small, as an offering of thanks to God for His provision in our lives! After we had brought the supplies and spent some time with them in prayer and worship, we played games outside with the children (thankfully the rain had stopped!). In a display of how everything we have is given to us to pass on, I was able to teach the children a dance I had learned from the children of Groblershoop! No boundaries in the Kingdom of God! All round, plenty of fun was had and I look forward to more such visits… ;o)

SHALOM! ;o)

Waiting on God

These are three words that have been coming up in my life with attention-grabbing regularity in the past few months, and I dare say I could have paid more attention to them in which case I might have been saved some trouble… But, as the Word of God comforts us – God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

But I digress… The thing I want to share with you is how those three words’ meaning changed for me. Naturally, the first mental picture we form when we hear the words: “waiting on God” is a person quite literally waiting, not making a move until they receive the signal from God, or strength, or wisdom, or knowledge, or all of the above, to perform a certain task. While on the Groblershoop mission, God gave me another picture of “waiting on God” that kind of revolutionised the way I look at those words now!

I saw myself in Spur where I used to work once-upon-a-time, and lo and behold, who should seat Himself at my bay, but my Father, God Almighty, the owner of the Spur and everything else on Earth. Naturally I am beside myself, ecstatic, in fact! Here is an opportunity to serve the Master! Wow! Not to be missed!

I rush to His table and gush, “Oh, wow, Lord! What can I get for You? No, wait, wait! I know! You are gonna just loooove today’s special!” And off I charge to bring God what I decided He should have today. In my eagerness and excitement I even bring Him the desert first, then the starter and then the main course.

All the while He is sitting there, waiting, like the Gentleman He is, for me to slow down and give Him a chance to speak. His finger is raised and I kind of notice that, but in my headlong rush to please Him (and the manager) I ignore it and redouble my efforts to win His favour with my decisions of what He should have.

Eventually I come to a halt, standing breathless at His table, expecting to hear, in reward for my efforts, the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” but God is silent, gazing at me with a mixture of amusement, pity and affection on His face.

“My Child,” He begins, “Who are you waiting on? Who are you serving?” I am fairly startled at the question, thinking the answer to be obvious. “Why… YOU, Lord!”

“Then why did you not wait to hear what it is that I want you to do for me?”

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

GroblersHOOP!!!

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
(Eph 3:20-21)

The mission to GroblersHOOP was truly beyond anything I could have asked, thought or even imagined! I have said this before and I am pretty sure I am going to say it a few more times in my lifetime… God is faithful if we simply make ourselves available. From the beginning it was evident that we were not the ones in control of the mission, but the Holy Spirit was leading and empowering and inspiring each one of us in the work the Father had given us to do.

The first evidence of this was the fact that almost all of us were there on last minute arrangements. Most had no thought of going to Groblershoop, but had other plans which fell through at the last moment. The way in which God led us further whether in teaching, prayer, devotions or service, was further proof that we were not in control.

I would be amiss if I did not mention that in fact this mission was a huge learning curve for me and in it I learned the value of obedience. What Samuel said to Saul is very, very true: “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” Disobedience cost Saul the Kingdom of Israel, it cost him his crown and the authority God had given him was taken away. Quite a sobering thought…

But what a pleasure to see the Holy Spirit at work in Groblershoop and know that because of this, and not our presence or teaching ability, His Kingdom will come in that place! If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!

The first morning’s EN Team Meeting…

The EN Team and the GoodYear Team… “Teeeeeam! Team-team!”

The EN Team meets the Mayor and Municipal Manager of GroblersHOOP! Inspirational ladies indeed!

YES! JESUS LOVES YOU!!

VICTORY!!!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

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!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

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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Monday, March 14, 2011

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)