My 21-Gun Salute

In life you come across and rub shoulders with different kinds of people.
Some of the people that you meet along the “highway” of life leave dents in your life.
Now these dents can be either good or bad depending on how you define good and bad.
I’m referring to the good dents.

In essence I’m talking about people who leave such a positive impact in your life.
They help you discover who you are….
They direct and lead you to The Source of Life…..
They speak prophecies upon your life…..
They are there to pick you up when you slip……

Good friends best sums up what I’m writing about.

I have had the privledge of meeting such people. Most if not all of them have greatly influenced my life.
I cannot pass through life and not take a moment and thank them for what they have done to and for me.

Below are names of people who I salute in humility….
The names are not in any particular order but I’m just going to write as the names flow out of me.

Corky Sherpard – for helping me take my first steps of faith and equipping me into becoming a better leader. The time that you invested in teaching me the Word and Kingdom Principles will forever make a difference in me. “You can only do what you can do…..and keep it simple.”

Traver Mudzonga – dude you are just too much. You are truly a friend indeed. Thank you for being there for me in times of storms and triumphs.

Francis – From you are learnt that I don’t really need to be speaking all the time. Sometimes I just need to hush my mouth and listen. Dude I “persecuted” you enough times during the C.Y.C era, don’t hold that against me bra. I admire how much you let the Word speak for itself in matters of life.

Simon Smith – you accepted me just as I was. Your teachings in worship encouraged me into growing in my own worship time.

Derek & Aurell – Moms and Pops, you rock my world. Thank you for everything that you have done for me.

Craig & Teresa – We are all part of the household of Faith despite our cultural and geographical differences. You have provided a platform for me to spread my wings.

Mark Begarly – you showed this beggar where “to get bread”.

Felix – brother you challenge me in many ways and make me want to learn more about Our Father.

Timon – hey son, you know we cool aight. Keep it real

Jamie – you became like me to guide and teach me into a much fuller knowledge of Christ.

A big shout out goes to all my American brothers and sisters. I salute you all and pray that we will dine and fellowship together once again.

There are many other folks that I didn’t mention, that don’t mean that we not cool or anything, I salute you all.

May you continue in the Faith and raise the Banner up high.

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Catching Wind in Nets

So the presidential elections have been set for a re-run. How nice…
The delayed announcement of the results has caused confusion and “evil” speculation all over the country.

You know how some people get windmills in their heads, and talk of all silly things….
There I was in a bus on my way to Banket. Behind my seat was a smartly dressed gentleman and he was talking to the conductor. At first I paid no attention to their conversation till they started talking about the economic situation of the country.
I bet that I wasn’t the only one listening to their gibberish.
These two men were talking of ruling the nation as if men were to be driven like sheep, and they prated of reforms and systems as if they could cut out the world in brown paper.
They have great heads but with very little in them.

When they talk, one would think that these are the people who could pay off the National debt, and yet in their “shops”, they sell two apples in three days.
They reminded me of the blind man on a blind horse who rode out in the middle of a dark night, and the more he tried to keep out of the ditches the more he fell in them.

Did you hear the one about the so “learned man” who boiled his watch and stood looking at the egg?
I think I speak ( write ) on behalf of the majority who were in the bus that day when I say that these guys do nothing but have wonderful plans of doing everything in a jiffy.

Fine schemes come to nothing; it is hard work that does it, whether in the world or the church….

Be a doer, there is more to words than just saying them.

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Pressed On Every-Side...

Living in Zimbabwe, you have to put up with long queques, fuel blues, shortages of cash and food stuffs, insane prices e.t.c
Add to that list brutality by the law enforcement agents and you have the slightest idea of the “world” that I am living in at the moment.
The question that’s always whirling up in my mind is; What should my attitude be in the midst of all these anomalies.

I think my response to all the evils is splendidly illustrated by the oyster, into whose shell one day there comes a tiny grain of sand.
By some strange circumstance, this tiny quartz has entered into the shell of the oyster and there like an alien thing…..an intruder….a cruel, unfeeling catastrophe imposes pain and distress and presents a very real problem.

What shall the oyster do?

Well, there are several courses open.
The oyster could, as so many men and women have done in times of adversity and trouble, openly rebel against God.

The oyster, metaphorically speaking, could shake a fist in God’s face and complain bitterly:
“Why should this have to happen to me?”
“Why should I suffer so?”
“What have I done to deserve this?”

“With all the billions of oyster shells up and down the shore, why in the name of higher mathematics did this grain of sand have to come into my shell?”

The oyster could conclude;
“There is no justice. All this talk of a God is not true.
Now since this calamity has overtaken me, I’ll throw away all the faith I ever had. It doesn’t do any good”

Yes, the oyster could say that.
So many men and women in Zimbabwe have done so in times of trouble.
But the oyster doesn’t !!!!!!!!

It recognizes the presence of the grim intruder, and right away begins to do something.
Slowly and patiently, with infinite care, the oyster builds upon the grain of sand –layer upon layer of a plastic, milky substance that covers each sharp corner and coats every cutting edge.
Gradually…..slowly…..by and by a pearl is made…..a thing of wondrous beauty wrapped upon trouble.

The oyster has learned –by the Will of God- to turn grains of sand into pearls
Cruel misfortunes into blessings
Pain and distress into beauty.

There goes the answer to my attitude.
The grace of God, which is sufficient, will enable us to make our troubles the pearls they can become.
It is no mere figure of speech.
It is something more than a simile to say that one enters Heaven through Pearly gates.

“Endure hardship like a soldier”
Act like a believer
Live like a Christian so that you can die like a Christian….
With songs and rejoicing.
That’s the true Christian attitude.

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Less is More....

I need not to be rich to be generous, nor have all wisdom to be understanding…

My influence may not be great, but it can be good….

My speech may not be eloquent, but it can be truthful and sincere…

We cannot all have good looks, but we can have good conscience, and having that, we shall have peace of mind….

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Where Is The Love....

I am ashamed that money and position speak to us more loudly than does the simple compassion of the human heart.
May it be to the glory of everyone that not only the strong are heard, but also the weak; not only the powerful, but the helpless; not only those with influence, but also those who have nothing but a case and an appeal…..

May we put our hearts into our work, that our work may get into our hearts.

We give because the sound of crying disturbs us, and we want to be free to look after the things that concern ourselves.

We want peace without pain and security without sacrifice.

We resort again and again to methods that produce only more bitter tears that only add misery and subtract nothing from problems.

What is love?
How should it act?
How can it change me?
...

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Evil in the Mirror

Father,
make me bold enough to confront the face of evil and of wrong, even when it bears my own image…..

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On The Move

Having resided in the small town of Chinhoyi for a number of years,

A time has come for our family to pack our belongings and relocate.

The city of Gweru is patiently waiting for our arrival.

Renowned for its freezing winters, it awaits for us to harbor in and

Give us its chilly welcome.

We are moving out,
We are going,
We are relocating to a much more sophisticated lifestyle.

Goodbye Chinhoyi
Farewell to friends and frenemies.

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For How Long My Zimbabwe.....

The post-election atmosphere has “escalated from a political crisis to a humanitarian one.”
Reports are coming in from the rural areas citing that there have been numerable counts of violence. People have been intimated and their homes set ablaze.

Having had to run around and do a few errands yesterday in town, the look on people’s spoke volumes. Frustration coupled with anger best describes their looks. People had woken up to a Monday morning only to be welcomed by a ridiculous increase in prices.
Basic commodities have long been out of reach for most families. They are no longer “basic” as one would think.

A bottle of cooking oil selling at over $700million?
A loaf of bread going for $50million?
A packet of sugar at $350million?
Its all ludicrous looking at the prices in shops.

Talk about runaway inflation. With statistics pegging our inflation rate at more than
200 000%, one would think that Zimbabwe is war-torn country.
Prices go up by the hour that is if you are lucky to get the product you want on the shelf.

Supermarkets have been reduced to “runways”. One can barely find products in a shop. Trade is now being conducted on the parallel market where no one can put price restrictions. “Put your own price to the product that you are selling.”

The education sector has also fallen prey to the economic “predator”
Schools are scheduled to reopen next week, but it is uncertain whether children will be able to enrol, or whether the schools will open. One wonders if the teachers are going to report for duty. There have been rumours that they will not go to work until their salary demands are met.

Is there a possibility of a war breaking out?
Will bloodshed put food on our tables?

So we wait and hope for the best…..

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Gone Fishing

Last Saturday I decided to go fishing with some of my dad’s friends. It had been awhile since I last took on this hobby of mine.

My skills had become somewhat rusty and so Saturday seemed a good day to rejuvenate my fishing skills..
“Give me an interesting experience,” I had said “and I will clean all our fishing gear when we get back.”

A day of bream fishing seemed a good idea to me. At least it did when we were heading out with the sun shining and the wind blowing and the lake glinting like diamonds.
But then we got to work.

“This is the bait,” Tendai announces opening a tin full of herring. Sort of.
After sitting around all summer, the herring are no longer individual fish. They have become herring slime, a revolting mixture of guck, eyeballs and fins.

And the smell.

The smell hits the back of my throat, tears my tonsils out and goes down to make my stomach feel funny.
While I am “enjoying” the smell, Preston pulls a net he had cast and its full of crabs making a crackling sound like the “devil’s knuckles at the gates of hell”
“No fish in there,” I say smiling.

Meanwhile the tide is running hard and I’m here having my “interesting experience”: sitting and sorting out the bait.
My stomach starts to feel as if its going to escape through my nose.
“ You can vomit over the side if you want”

I want to.

After that life settles into a “nice routine” : run over when a line is pulled up, unhook the fish, feel the boat turn, smell that good herring smell, go over to the side, vomit and start over.
It goes well until I get disorientated and vomit into one of the fish bins.


Everything stops. The boat drifts.


Tendai and Preston look at me.

The day is done. All the lines have been pulled up and checked. We head back home without me even having thrown a line.
Interesting the day was, so I fulfilled my part of the deal to clean up all the gear.

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Post-Election Prayer For Zimbabwe 2008

Deliver us, O Lord, from the foolishness of impatience.
Let us no be in such a hurry as to run without Thee. May we remember that;
It takes time to build a nation that can truly be called God’s own country.
It takes time to work out the kind of peace that will endure.

Slow us down, O Lord.
Remind us that You are in Zimbabwe, as well as above and beyond it.
Remind us that You are not indifferent.
For You are not a spectator God, high and lifted up, serene and unperturbed.
You have a plan, and Your will shall one day be done in Zimbabwe, not alone by those who love Thee and know Thee to be God, but by all.
Sustain us with that hope and encouragement, that our prayer be not in vain when we pray “ Thy Kingdom Come”.

The shadow of Your wing covers all your children.
We are persuaded that in that world of the Spirit in which we really live,
Neither persecution nor peril nor sword shall be able to separate us from Your Love.

We pray for all the people in leadership in Zim. We are deeply concerned that they may know the Your will, and that they may have the spiritual courage and grace to follow it.
Deliver them from all selfish considerations,
Lift them above the claims of politics,
Fill them with Your Spirit.

May you strengthen and empower all political advisers at this time. Bring them too, to their knees in prayer.
May their example and their influence spread, that we may yet have a government of men who know You, The Almighty God, as their Friend, and who place Thy will first in their lives as well as in their prayers.

Lead us to this high adventure.

In The Strong name of Jesus, Our Lord
We pray……..Amen.

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The "Ah Ha!" Moment.

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learnt in life.



“It goes on.”

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The Slow And The Slowest

When the snail was crossing the road, he was run over by a tortoise.

Regaining consciousness in casualty, he was asked what caused the accident.

“I really can’t remember,” the snail replied.

“You see, it all happened so fast.”

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Back For The First Time

Yeah yeah, I know. Its been a long time since I last posted a blog. I have been away. Away from the internet that is. Believe me, I didn’t enjoy it either. I missed you too even though you peeps are too lazy too drop comments on any of my blogs.

So what’s new with me, you might ask. Anything worth mentioning from my months of absence? Anything that Guinness Book of Records would be interested in?
Well, sorry to disappoint you folk. I came back to shore with my boat empty. Didn’t manage to catch any “fish” while I was out “at sea”.

Sometimes you need disappointments in life to realize that you are not in control as much as you would fool yourself in your thinking. I have learnt that if you can’t handle disappointments, you will have a hard time trying to trust God. Don’t get me wrong.
I’m not saying that God will always disappoint you. That’s just so far from truth. The Word says that, He will grant us the desires of our hearts.

Remember the Preacher when he wrote that, there is a TIME for everything. Each and every thing, minute as it may seem, has got to come forth at its proper time. So when God gives you a word of promise, Do not be like the Greek man who ran out of the bathroom butt naked without realizing after he had discovered what we have come to know as the Pythagoras Theorem.
Sometimes it is best if will “wait” and collect ourselves before we go out and shout it to the whole world.
Be encouraged when some of the plans that you have do not come to fruitation. Relax man. There is such a thing as timing. Just like in a game of baseball, you can’t just swing the bat before the ball is thrown at you. ( Talk about being stupid ).
You have got to wait. Even when it is thrown, you wait for the perfect moment to strike it with the bat. When you swing that bat, just as the ball is closer to you and the bat, be rest assured for a home-run.

So we had a youth retreat out at Hunnington Retreat Centre that ran from 4April-7April. Talk about the roof being on fire. We had a “gas” of a time under His Watchful Eyes.
This time around, we were yet again privileged to have fellow brothers and sisters from America.

My heart felt thanks go to Vital Connections for organizing such programs that equip the youth “for the work of the ministry” in AFRICA. It would be so unfair if I end here without thanking the following peeps who were part of the team from the States…. A big thank you goes out to: Matt Korn, Aaron Carriere, Pst. Mike Carriere, Amy Thomas, Kim Heilman, Michelle Rice and Teresa Pippel.
This lovely bunch of sweet people did wonders and served in a worthy manner. They left such a dent down here in Zim and I’m sure the impact is going to ripple effect and cross over boarders both regionally and internationally…..

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P U S H

A cool morning breeze sweeps into my room through the open window and gently caresses my face. I get up from my bed and cover my eyes as the first rays of the sun brighten up my face. I draw open my curtains and something inside me just wants to inhale the fresh air. Two birds fly by chasing each other in what seems to be a fight. Could it be that, the early bird caught the first worm and now has to defend it from other late wakers??
The clouds are dark, pregnant with water and anytime they might empty themselves upon this our small town. The rays breaking through the clouds paint a heavenly picture in my mind. When He returns, will it be as beautiful as today, What is He saying to me through such a beautiful morning, questions start whirling up in my “workshop”.

I can here my niece stomping her feet in another room. ( Her language of not wanting the maid to comb her hair ) I smile, as I recall the many languages that she has managed to introduce to us. Schools open today and in this day she is one of the many “victims”. Its her first day at school, her first day in the first grade. She is all excited and she runs past me just as Taz does when he goes wild.
Its her beginning something that would alter the course of her “river”. She has started something that will take her ages to complete. Many have dropped out from school and I pray that she might to be caught up in the same web years down the line. She has to push on, hold on, strive and not lose her wits. Definitely it will get a bit nasty, but the sun always rises in the morning.

P U S H, is what my friend told me. Pray Until Something Happens. Have at it and have it. Stick to it and succeed; a strong job can be managed by a strong resolution. Till a thing is done, men wonder that you think it can be done, and when you have done it, they wonder why it was never done before. Know your business and give your mind to it.
He is a sorry dog who wants game and will not hunt for it: let us never lie down in idle despair, but follow on till we succeed.
Rome was not build in a day, unless it be a dog-kennel. Perseverance is one of the main things in life. To hold on, and hold out to the end, is the chief matter.
Persevere, say I to you.

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One Happy People

here are some of the shots taken at a summer retreat camp at Lake Chivero, where over 200 youth were in attendance.
The praise and worship was awesome and the Presence of God was magnificent.

I can only imagine what worship will be like in heaven, when i am together with all my brothers and sisters from all four corners of the earth.

Truly we are and we will be "One Happy People"

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Some Things I Know ( part 1)

shot taken by Traver Mudzonga

Every man in public life, every speaker who takes to the rostrum, every preacher who mounts the pulpit has certain reticences.
The modern preacher hesitates to inject personalities into his preaching. He is reticent about using illustrations out of his own experiences or that of his congregation.

But the apostolic preachers and writers observed no such restraints. Their sermons were full of their own experiences.
“ What we have seen and heard, declare we unto you ”, they said. They never tired of telling what the Lord had done for them…..
In simple telling, there was power –sheer power.

This power that made them different, they said, was available to anyone who would believe.
Sins could be forgiven; Christ could come into human life to change natures and dispositions….
To change moods and tempers….
To banish fear and worries…
To remove shame and guilt….
To provide a new dynamic, a new purpose in life….
A new joy and a peace that nothing could destroy.

It was exciting news.
People listened to it.
They did not always agree with the apostles, sometimes there were riots and bloodshed.
We modern Christians are remarkably frank about some things and strangely reticent about others. The trouble is that we are frank about the things that were better left unsaid and silent about the things worth discussing and sharing.

We do not seem to have any great faith these days –in God and His Power. We seem to have little faith in the availability of the Holy Spirit – The Helper – in our daily lives. We have no great convictions
No great passions
No great causes.

Lately I have had a feeling of compulsion to tell a bit of my own story and the convictions growing out of it. I do not know why it was laid on my heart and I do not need to know. For did not Christ say, “Go home and tell thy friends what greast things the Lord has done for thee”?

When a person can say, “I know Whom I have believed”….when he can say: “I know that prayer changes things”, he has done more to instill faith in other hearts than all the arguments since the world began.

What do I know out of the crucible of my own experience?
I know that Christ is alive, and personal, and real and closer than we think.
I have met Him.
I

have felt His presence.

I have seen the changes He can make in me…..in lifting a mood, in taking away despair, or frustrations, in melting my pride, in getting me to do the right thing when I preferred to do the wrong thing.

I know that I am a Christian
Now upon this point, there need be, and indeed can be no doubt or hesitation.
One either is a Christian or not.
One either is a believer or not.
There is no middle ground or compromise or indecision.

When someone asks you if you are married, there is no doubt or uncertainty.
You either are or you are not.
You are in no doubt concerning your citizenship.

So, it is not humility or piety to say that you are “trying to be a christian”……You either are or not.

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Some Things I Know ( part 2 )

Most of the latest discoveries have made war more terrible, and while they have given us many conveniences and comforts, they have made life more complicated, peace more difficult and the human heart more troubled.
Undoubtedly we have improved means but unfortunately, we have not improved ends.
We have better ways of getting there, But we have no better places to go. We can save more time, but we are not making any better use of the time that we save.

Anyone of you can agree with me that we have made far more advances in the scientific world than we have made in the world of morals and ethics.
Spiritually, we have not kept with our progress in the realm of sciences and invention.
If great advances have been made in the realm of the spirit, then either they have not been reported or publicized, or we have chosen to ignore them….else we are forced to the conclusion that they have not been made at all.

We hang on every word reporting the doings of the atomic scientists. We are aware of them and their work.
We lap up every word describing new inventions, and we eagerly discuss and examine pictures of the new inventions, weapons, automobiles and gadgets.

Why is it that we have so little interest in spiritual discoveries – new discoveries of God
Of God working in His world
Of God dealing with His people???????

Why is it that we are so little curious about the discovery of new techniques for living and new ideas that would make for our happiness and the peace of the world???
The scientists have forged far ahead. What they have invented and provided for us has out-stripped our moral character, our spiritual quality, and our religious faith.

But why are there so few spiritual discoveries to match the progress made by science?????
The answer lies in a lack of researchers!!!!!!

Men have been willing to let mosquitoes bite them in the interests of science and human welfare.
How many are willing to give themselves away to take risks in spiritual research?

We cannot do much for the world, until, first of all, we have done something within ourselves.
The longer an orchestra plays, the more it needs to be tuned up.
The further an aeroplane flies, the more it requires ground service to put it into shape again.

But here we are. We have money, we are well-clothed, we are comfortably housed, we have cars….and all the latest gadgets in our homes. But we are spiritually undernourished.
We have neglected spiritual food. Without spiritual exercise, our souls are soft and flabby. The temptation is powerful to become so obsessed with the urgent, brutal facts of the immediate world that faith in the Christ and His way of living becomes like a lovely impractical dream, a pious hope, a frail illusion.
But remember how that lovely dream started in a world mastered by military empire and filled by the thundering tramp of Caesar’s armies, a dream shared by a handful of simple folk. This little group, believing in a spiritual message, accepted the tension of living in two violently antagonistic worlds- ROME’S and CHRIST’S.

The challenge today, pointed and heated by the atomic bomb, is a challenge to spiritual research.

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Scatter and Increase

At a Prize Giving Day with some kids from THE GOOD SHERPARD ORPHANAGE

While so many poor neighbors are around us, it is a sin to hoard. If we do, we shall be losers, for rats eat corn, rust cankers metal, and the curse of God spoils riches. A tight fist is most likely to get the rheumatism, an open hand surely bears the palm.
It is good to give a part to sweeten the rest.
John Bunyan said,
“There was a man, and some did count him mad,
The more he gave away, the more he had.”

I say to you, “Give and spend, And God will send.”
Generous souls are made happy by the happiness of others: the money that they give to the poor buys them more pleasure than any other that they lay out.
What say you, Mr. Reader, to cut a few dollars out of your heap, and send them to help feed the orphans??????????

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A Prayer For World Love

Eternal Father, with so much bitterness abroad in the world – this poor bleeding world, stumbling from blunder to blunder, hollow with graves, hard with hate – may we who own the name of Christ, shed abroad Your Love.
We pray for a deeper vision of the needs of all mankind, and a deeper compassion to fill those needs; for a planting of the seeds of concern for all humanity in our hearts; for a tapping of the wells of generosity.
Help us to live together as people who have been forgiven a great debt.
Help us to be gentle, walking softly with one another.
Help us to be understanding, lest we shall add to the world’s sorrow or cause to flow one needless tear.
Help us to stand for what is right.
help us to be eager to forgive others as we are to seek forgiveness.
Help us to know no barriers of creed or race, that our love may be like Yours.

God help us to be ministers of mercy and ambassadors of kindness for Jesus’ sake.

Amen.

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Stand

A summer thunderstorm. Lightning streaks through a cloudburst. Two cyclists are pedalling as quickly as they can down my street. They are soaked through and through. The thunderstorm rages on. The air becomes very cold. Its now exactly a week into the New Year and nothing seems to be new in Zim……
Here in Zim, many people fear for their jobs and worry about how they are going to provide for their families. Our whole system, entire way of life, has fallen apart in such a short time.
Let me explain, the people here are diligent workers. In the past, when our currency was stable, though people earned low wages, through their diligence many managed to save enough to buy a car.
Suddenly everything changed.
The Zim dollar fell dramatically, and at the end of its downward spiral, the people were no longer able to even buy a car that they had saved for – in fact, they were lucky to be able to afford the basic commodities with their savings.
Suddenly, they found themselves completely without means and on top of all that, they had to find their way through tense political and economic circumstances.
Some have never quite been able to cope with all these changes, so they have fled to other countries. You must not forget: no one receives unemployement insuarance payments, and there are no social benefits. Beyond that, people have to pay for their own medical expences..
These problems we face today. However, The appetite for God’s Word has not been diminished as one would expect neither has it been eclipsed by other cares. There is a massive hunger for God’s Word and true worship.

I am reminded of a familiar passage written by Paul. In Ephesians 6 verse 13 to 18 he says; “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, tha ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Above all, taking the shield of faith ,where with, ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints…”

Let us put all these to work. With this armour we will be able to win the battle. And because we must put on this armour ourselves, I would like to say: let’s do so gladly.
Just think of all that can be accomplished with this armour..
Faith leads to righteousness
Love leads to loyalty and fulfillment
Hope enables us to be patient
Zeal brings us divine success
The fear of God brings us wisdom
Prayer gives us security and peace in the soul
Offering brings us the fullness of blessings
And the Word of God as the Sword of the Spirit will help us in winning the battle.

Therefore let us do as Paul recommended to the Romans. Let us grasp the strength, light, and life that lie in The Word. Let us take on the heavenly substance for our future patrh of faith………

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