A Weekly World Wide Word of Encouragement to those in the Ministry
PRAISE GOD IT’S MONDAY!
A WEEKLY ‘WWW (world-wide word) OF ENCOURAGEMENT’
TO THOSE IN MINISTRY
A FREE service, currently connecting with Christian leaders from 3,000 denominations and ministries, in 70 countries.
Issue No: 903 Published: 11 Feb 2019
OBSERVATIONS FROM AFRICA
A CONTINENT OF CONTRASTS - THE OLD AND THE NEW
We live in a village situation where primarily, mud huts exist beside a sprinkling of brick or stone homes.
This week we have started a new building to become the Bungoma County Referral Eye Hospital, within the Kingdom Faith Based Hospital complex.
The mixture of old and new ways in the construction, is a picture of how Africa works. Supplies can arrive on huge modern trucks, a donkey and cart, or a 'bodaboda' (motorbike).
Stone blocks for the walls are cut out of the quarry with chisels. Then put on modern trucks for transport.
Cement comes in bags on a truck and is mixed into concrete by hand on the ground.
Foundations were dug in a day by using people power, that is 50 villagers using hand tools.
So what applies on a small scale here is a microcosm of what happens on a large scale throughout Kenya and the continent of Africa.
Huge, new motorway projects exist alongside effectively dirt tracks that pretend to be roads. Huge, modern, vibrant cities such as Nairobi, exist alongside a countyyside of mud huts, where people eke out a subsistence living from the soil, or trade on the roadside under sheets of corrugated iron, selling small quantities of goods to survive.
Yes, Africa is a land of contrasts, a sleeping giant who is awakening, a society being dragged from a tribal subsistence existence into the modern world.
Is this good? Yes, in terms of economic development, but not so good from the societal upheaval and social disruption caused.
The challenge is to develop, without negating the great features of African life. Families, conversation, a happy, relaxed attitude to life, are all at risk of disappearing into the ever so attractive abyss of Western consumerism.
My prayer is that Africa and Africans will negotiate a middle way.
FROM THE WORD
THE WORDS OF JESUS
May we hear what the Lord is saying to us.....
Invitation Advice (Luke 14:12-14)
Given to the host.
“When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, or your brothers, or your relatives, or your rich neighbors, for they may invite you back, and then you’d be repaid. Instead, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, for they have nothing to repay you with, and you’ll be rewarded at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Parable of the Banquet (Luke 14:15-24)
Given to the host.
“Once there was a man who prepared a great banquet, and invited many guests,” Jesus replied. “When it was time to eat he sent his servant out to tell everyone who had been invited, ‘Come, because the banquet’s ready.’ But they all started to make excuses. The first said, ‘I’ve just bought a field and I have to go and see it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I’ve just bought five pairs of oxen and have to go and try them out. Please excuse me.’ Still another said, ‘I’ve just got married, so I can’t come.’ The servant returned and told his master what they’d said. The home-owner became angry and told his servant, Quickly, go out into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’
“Then the servant said, ‘Master, I did what you told me, but there are still empty places.’ “So the master told the servant, ‘Go out on the country roads and lanes, and make people come—I want my house to be full. I tell you, not a single one of those people I invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
The Cost of Discipleship (Luke 14:25-35)
Addressed to a large crowd.
“If you want to follow me but you don’t hate your father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters—even your own life—you can’t be my disciple. If you don’t carry your cross and follow me, you can’t be my disciple. If you planned to build a tower, wouldn’t you first work out how much it would cost, and see if you had enough money to complete it? Otherwise, if after laying the foundation you weren’t able to finish it, everyone who saw it would laugh at you, saying, ‘Look at him: he started building but he couldn’t finish it.’
“What king goes to war with another king without first sitting down with his advisors to work out whether he and his ten thousand can defeat the one marching against him with twenty thousand? If he can’t, he’ll send representatives to ask for peace while the other king is still a long way off. In the same way every one of you who doesn’t give up everything can’t be my disciple. Salt is good, but if it loses its taste, how can you make it salty again? It’s no good for the soil or for fertilizer—you just toss it out. Whoever has ears, then listen!”
(Continued next week)
You can download the complete 'Words of Jesus' here.
OUR AFRICAN EXPERIENCE
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BUILDING THE KINGDOM EYE REFERRAL HOPITAL- DAY 1
A great day for us to finally get underway!
Huge thanks to CBM New Zealand - and round the world - for making this possible.
So here we go!
The last first. Foundations dug in one day with 'people power'! That is 50 villagers!
Final depth gets the 'thumbs up' form one of the many ladies working alongside the men on the site. Equal work, equal pay here! Ladies, would you like a job?
An amazing feat in the 32c heat. Tropical heat, while hot, is not burning as in New Zealand, so you can work in it, for the ozone layer is much thicker.
Thank you all.
THE LAYOUT
The layout. The building is 32x12 metres (approaching 4,000sq. ft.)
The Contractor was helped by some students, who were getting practical experience in this aspect of construction.
KINGDOM VILLAGE PERSONNEL
A big welcome to Maurice and Bennett, the Elder and Secretary of KINGDOM VILLAGE! Seen here with James our (tall) Administrator.
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***DAILY EZINE!*** 'DAVID'S DAILY DOODLINGS' Subscribe Today
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Subscription and back issue link is.....
'THE WORDS OF JESUS' REMAIN AVAILABLE FOR PDF DOWNLOAD
Join the many who have downloaded the 'The Words of Jesus'. I am sure you will be blessed by it, as I have been.
One key element here is the setting out in chronological order (as far as it is possible to do so) our Lord's words drawn from all the Gospels, and the elimination of repetition between Gospels.
You may be surprised by the different perspective this presentation gives you both in understanding of His life and ministry, and in achieving a closer relationship with Him.
Download the free PDF here.....
DAVID'S DOODLINGS
584. 'Tis the oil of forgiveness that lubricates the journey of life.
585. 'Tis only by grace, we run the race.
586. To win life's 'race', start it with a 'g'!
587. Forgiveness first heals the forgiver.
588. Forgiveness heals both the forgiver and the forgiven.
589. To forgive is Christian, to forgive and forget - Godly.
590. Lord; please forgive me for forgetting forgiveness!
CARTOONS FROM TOON FEVER
Visit the Toon Fever website for more cartoon fun..... http://www.toonfever.com
Check it out at...
TUESDAY TEACHINGS
THIS WEEK: A REVELATION OF..... DIVIDING THE WATERS
A revelation based upon the 3 times the waters were divided in the Bible (The Red Sea with Moses,The River Jordan with Joshua and The River Jordan again with Elijah and Elisha.) and their meanings for the restoration of God's church in these end times.
*** ANOTHER DAILY EZINE FROM WWJ!*** 'LAUGHING AT OURSELVES' Subscribe Today
As Christians, if we can't laugh at ourselves, others will! A fun way to start your day. To register today, go down to the bottom of the page link below, click on the subscribe link lao--on@wwj.org.nz (or paste the address in an email yourself and send) Then it's done!
LAUGHING AT OURSELVES
***Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused***
*** Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others. ***
QWIK QWIP: “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was YOU.”
234. Pope in Heaven
The Pope dies and goes to meet St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter escorts him in, and shows him to his mansion. The Mansion is huge, with angels circling the outside, and a massive deck at the rear where the Pope can watch the heavens in his robe and relax in his golden lounge chair.
St. Peter says, "Just make yourself at home, I have some errands to attend to and I'll be back to see that you're settled in.". The Pope eases into his golden lounge chair, and a small angel brings him a cool glass of water to sip, at which point a golden table appears out of nowhere, in just the right spot for the Pope to put down the glass between sips. The Pope is amazed further to find that the glass is always full when he picks it up, never running dry.
As he sits relaxing, the Pope watches other mansions float by on their clouds, and while finding them beautiful, he also observes that his is larger than any of them, as befits a Pope. Then from a distance, the Pope hears this amazing music; He looks to his left, and far away he sees a mansion ten times the size of his. Angels, cherubim, and seraphim are circling it, and then there's that wonderful music.....
As the mansion draws close, the music gets louder, and louder, and as it passes by, the Pope has to cover his ears, because of the sheer volume.
Later, St. Peter returns. The Pope says, "This is really wonderful. I have seen God's own mansion float by! There were angels, cherubim, seraphim, and this wonderful music...". "Wait a minute," say St. Peter. "Was the music really loud?" "Yes", said the Pope.
"That wasn't God's mansion, that was Jimi Hendrix' place." "Jimi Hendrix???!!!" said the Pope. "Why does he have a mansion ten times the size of mine? I was the leader of the Catholic Church!"
"Settle down!" said St. Peter. "We get you Popes in here all the time. We don't get many musicians."
QWIK QWIP: “Let us so live that when we die, even the undertaker will be sorry.”
235. Clerical Clothes
A priest was walking along the corridor of the parochial school near the pre-school wing when a group of little ones were trotting by on the way to the cafeteria. Little Johnny stopped and looked at him in his clerical clothes and asked, "Why do you dress funny?"
He told him he was a priest and this is the uniform priests wear. Little Johnny pointed to the priest's plastic collar tab and asked, "Do you have an owie?"
The priest was perplexed till he realised that to him the collar tab looked like a band-aid. So the priest took it out and handed it to Little Johnny, to show him. On the back of the tab were raised letters giving the name of the manufacturer.
Little Johnny felt the letters, and the priest asked, "Do you know what those words say?"
"Yes I do," said Little Johnny, who was not old enough to read. Peering intently at the letters he said, "Kills ticks and fleas up to six months!"
FREE DOWNLOAD: You can now download the book 'Laughing At Ourselves' in PDF format at LAUGHING AT OURSELVES One of the most comprehensive sources of Christian Humour on the Net with 800 sermon fillers for your entertainment and use at ..... https://www.wwj.org.nz/content/wwj18p47.pdf
Or read them all online at.....
A DAVID MUSING
This week we have started building our Bungoma County Referral Eye Hospital, within our Kingdom Faith Based Hospital complex here in Kingdom Village, Kenya.
It is a real thrill, made possible by CBM (Christian Blind Mission) New Zealand.
The building is a duplicate of the present one, but this time we really know what we are doing, so the build will be so much easier than our first one.
The Clinic building was real pioneering stuff, with many many challenges, from finance to access, to the weather. We have learned our lessons well.
This is much like faith. When we take a step of faith, it is a real challenge, for we have not been there before and have to trust in God. But when we do it again, it is no longer faith but part of our experience.
So God then calls us to a new level of faith, so that we again have to rely on Him.
It is important to go through the steps of faith, building from the small towards the large.
You cannot get to the top rung of a ladder without going up a step at a time. Trying to jump up to the top step through enthusiasm, courts disaster.
But, of course, we must take the first step!
Where are you on the ladder of faith today?
Unltil next week.....
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD
His servant and yours
David Tait
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ABOUT US
WALKING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES is a non-profit, non-denominational, Bible based ministry located in Hastings, New Zealand. A ministry dedicated to developing discipleship, fostering unity amongst God's people to achieve the Great Commission, and in doing so, preparing for Christ's return. It is securely based upon the foundational principles of the Apostles Creed while recognising the wide and rich diversity of beliefs amongst Christians in other areas. In accordance with the Lord's direction, materials produced by the ministry are available, free of charge, to genuine enquirers upon request. The ministry is solely funded by donations, as the Lord provides. A list of materials available (plus some fun!) is obtainable and freely downloadable from our websitewwj.org.nz or by contacting us as follows.
Walking With Jesus Ministries
7 Bull Street
Ahuriri
Napier
New Zealand
Phone: (06) 835 0567 International (+64) 6 835 0567
Email: enquiries@wwj.org.nz
Web: wwj.org.nz
Our role is to bless and encourage those in ministry while promoting co-operation and unity of direction amongst the body of Christ, as emphasised 3 times by Jesus in His longest prayer, immediately prior to His arrest and crucifixion. "... so that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:12, 21, 23-4) Our website is currently being developed to encourage your participation one with another, to share resources, and to enable you to promote events and items of interest to the body as a whole - and have a smile while doing it!
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