By John, Lenka and team, DR Congo The last four classrooms Our school in Mabala will soon be independent from us! We have already built eight classrooms, but the school needs a total of 12 classrooms—six for the agricultural section and six for the veterinary section. So, we needed four more! With gratitude and vision, the parents of the students took initiative once again and organized the production of thousands of new bricks. The funding of the roof, windows, doors, and cement for the walls, floors and patio came from ADH and ERA CONGO, a company operating in forest conservation in the area. It’s the same company that supported the planting of our school’s palm trees last year. School building construction It started with thousands of new bricks, continued with raising the walls, leaving space for doors and windows with air vents above them, attaching the roof beams like a circus act, and finally attaching corrugated roof sheets. Next up was putting in the bricks for window protection and airflow and plastering the exterior walls to protect against rain. Inside, the walls were plastered and the floors cemented. For this school year, we have enrolled 287 students, 194 boys and 93 girls, in grades 7 to 12. At the end of this school year, the first 26 students will be able to take their final exams! Our school is rated second of all the schools around Nioki, a city with 60,000 inhabitants. This is a major accomplishment and shows that our teachers are doing a great job!
Progress of our schools in Mushapo and Tshikapa Gilbert, our ADH-Congo member in Kinshasa, communicates regularly with us about the school in Mabala. Recently, we asked him to contact our first two schools in the Kasai province to see how they are doing. Here are the latest statistics from these two schools:
Goals Our plan is to build two vocational training centers in two different locations. This will fulfill a long-time dream! We are planning to train young adults from each of these areas with a one-year course to learn a trade in agriculture, including animal husbandry, fish farming, beekeeping, etc. At the end of their training, each graduate of this course will receive a package with seeds and possibly a baby animal, and thus equipped will return to their village to open up their own workplace with the information that they have learned in our centers. One project will be overseen by Jean, who has been our local project manager since 2011. The center will be located east of Kinshasa, on the Plateau de Bateke. The other project will be headed by Joseph, who we have known since the beginning of our activities in the Congo in 2003. This center will be located in Nsioni, almost 500 km west of Kinshasa, toward the Atlantic Ocean. Both of these men have done well with our recent microfinance projects, which gives us confidence that these two new projects should also work out well.
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Verse for Today:
Think about it: HE CLIMBED IN WITH US I read about a grandfather who found his grandson jumping up and down in his playpen, crying at the top of his voice. When Johnnie saw his grandfather, he reached up his little chubby hands and said, "Out, Gramps, out." It was only natural for the grandfather to reach down to lift him out of his predicament, but as he did the mother of the child stepped up and said "No, Johnnie, you are being punished-so you must stay in." The grandfather was at a loss to know what to do. The child's tears and chubby hands reached deep into his heart. But the mother's firmness in correcting her son must not be taken lightly. But love found a way. The grandfather could not take the grandson out of the playpen, so he climbed in with him. Beloved that is what our Lord Jesus Christ did for us at the cross. In leaving heaven for earth He climbed in with us. The Bible says, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." (John 1:14) * THE ANTS Imne a man who loved ants. Out behind his house he had an ant-hill, and every day he would go out and yell at the ants, "I love you! I love you! I love you!" Of course, the ants never got the message since they were ants and he was a man, and humans can't communicate with ants by shouting at them. So the man did something more than just shout. Each day he would bring them sugar, pieces of bread, and other goodies to enjoy. And as the ants devoured the good things he would yell at them, "They're from me. They're from me. I love you, I love you!" Still the ants did not get the message. But in this make-believe story the man had magical powers, and he was able to transform himself into anything he wanted to be. To communicate with ants there was only one thing to do: transform himself into one of them. So he did just that! He became an ant and went in among them. He told all the other ants about the goodness of the great man who had hovered over them. He told them how much that man loved them. The other ants could not help but be curious and asked, "How come you know so much about that man?" To which this special ant replied, "Because I am that man. I became one of you because only by becoming one of you could I communicate how much I care for you, and let you know what I'm really like." Verse for Today:
Think about it: That reminds me of four stories that illustrates this verse. Two are below and I’ll post two more tomorrow. SOMEONE WITH SKIN. There is a small voice that penetrated the stillness of the night. It comes from the bedroom across the hall. "Daddy, I'm scared!" Out of your groggy, fuzzy state, you respond with, "Honey, don't be afraid, Daddy's right across the hall." After a very brief pause the little voice is heard again, "I'm still scared." Always quick with an insight you respond, "You don't need to be afraid. God is with you. God loves you." This time the pause is longer but the voice returns, "I don't care about God, Daddy; I want someone with skin on!" It seems like the logic used by the little child is precisely the reason for the Incarnation. After thousands of years of being unsuccessful in being able to convince his people that he really loved them, our Creator realized that the best way to demonstrate his love for us was to send "someone with skin on." * THE PRINCE AND HIS WIFE In John 1:14 the writer tells us that God became a human being, and that in Him we got a glimpse of what the glory of God is all about. Soren Kierkegaard picked up this theme when he told about a prince who fell in love with a maiden of his kingdom. But he was afraid to go to her as a prince. He thought that if he appeared with all the symbols of majesty, she would be awed and left with no real choice but to marry him. He didn't want her awe. He wanted her love. And so, he took off his princely garments and put on the clothes of a peasant. Then, he went to the marketplace where she worked, got to know her, and wooed her. He went to her as one of her own kind, won her affection, and only then revealed to her who he really was. There is no doubt that the God who loves us took on our nature and became one of us in order to communicate with us. Who could withstand the glory of the Almighty? God had to empty Himself of that (Philippians 2) and take on the form of a human being. It was through this special human being that the fullness of God was revealed to us. And now we know Him. To be continued tomorrow with two more stories. Text for today is from John 1:12-14
Think about it: Just by believing and receiving, we gain the great privilege of becoming children of God. Then it goes on to say the Word became flesh is one of the greatest truths and greatest acts of love the world has ever known. However, we may have difficulty wrapping our minds around these truths. J. Robert Oppenheimer said "The best way to send an idea is to wrap it up in a person." And that is just what God did. The theological word for all of that is incarnation, meaning "in the flesh." Jesus was the incarnation of God. Jesus was the way that God sent His "idea" to humanity; there was and is no better way! One of the early church fathers whose name was Ignatius explained that "by the Incarnation, God broke His silence." Less scholarly as an explanation but equally to the point was the remark of a little girl who said, "Some people couldn't hear God's inside whisper and so He sent Jesus to tell them out loud." The Gospel of John declares dramatically, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." The Word, that living expression of God, tells out loud His truth and sees to it that we are in touch with the power and glory at the heart of Creation. We are brought into the personal presence of the lover of our souls. How great that blessing! How wonderful that gift. To help you to continue to wrap your head around this concept the next two post will have stories that illustrates this concept.
I was driving home late one night listening to the radio when the song “Fix You” by Coldplay came on.
These first two phrases caught my attention, so I began to listen carefully to the rest of the song. And I found that it was as if I was listening to a story—my story.
I drove past my house and kept on driving down the street, then around the block, wondering where the journey of the song was taking me. And then it was clear:
“Lights will guide you home,” I repeated aloud, moved deeply by the power of those words, in that simple, yet profound thought. Memories flooded my mind, filling my heart, and a smile crossed my face. “Jesus,” I prayed aloud, “thank You that Your light has always guided me home.” I sat in the car for nearly 20 minutes, thinking, remembering the many times when I felt lost or alone or confused—times when life had hit me like a ton of bricks. But then the light of God’s love and care was always there to guide me home—back into His loving arms. This light has come in many forms for me—a friend who came to see me at just the right time, making sure I didn’t feel alone; my mom or dad who gave their support and encouragement when I needed it most; a stranger out of the blue who shed some new perspective on my life and thinking; and my husband, whose idealism and passion for life has many a time been like the sun breaking through the clouds on a stormy day. I realized that His light has always shone on my heart. It never turned off, never ran out of power, never dimmed, never had clouds covering its brilliance. Whenever I stopped and looked, His light was always there to guide me home. John 8:12 reads, “Then Jesus spoke to them again, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” I used to picture Jesus like a brightness all around, continually shining in all its brilliance, something like how we would picture God. But now that I picture life a little differently, the concept that Jesus is my light has become all the more meaningful to me. John 1:5 tells us that His light “shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” His light becomes more powerful in the midst of darkness. And in many ways that is exactly how Jesus’ light is to us in the world today. He’s a beacon of hope, a guiding light showing us the way to walk to reach our destination and fulfill our destiny; He’s a warm glow that fills our hearts with love and hope when we may feel unlovely or off course. Whenever we take the time or effort to look up and away from what surrounds us, we can feel His light and His brilliance, guiding us safely Home. — Beth Jordan Text for today John 1:5
Think about it: The word “comprehended” is the Greek word katalambano. It is a compound of the words kata and lambano. The word kata carries the force of something that is dominating or subjugating. The word lambano means to seize or grab hold of. When the two words are compounded, they mean to seize, to pull down, to tackle, to conquer, or to hold under one’s power. Therefore, this verse could be translated, “Darkness does not have the ability to suppress or to hold the light under its domain.” This doesn’t mean that darkness won’t attempt to overcome the light. However, its efforts will be frustrated and unsuccessful because the light of God always prevails, even in what seems to be the darkest hour or the bleakest situation. Darkness simply doesn’t have the power or ability to put out God’s light. If you are a child of the light, John 1:5 makes it absolutely clear that darkness does not have the ability to suppress or to hold the light under its domain. Darkness may try to prevent the light from shining, but it never holds back the light permanently. Eventually it always comes shining through. I know of no great believer who hasn’t faced some kind of opposition as he or she sought to do God’s will. But the truth is that darkness does not have the power to overcome light! Every believer can overcome any attack if he or she won’t quit first. This is true of you and your dream, vision, or calling as well. You may feel hindered from time to time in your attempts to fulfill the call God has given you, but don’t despair. Those hindrances won’t last long. The only way the devil can steal your dream, vision, or calling is if you surrender to him first! If you hold on and refuse to give up, your faith will overcome every encumbrance the devil tries to set in your path! Lord, I thank You that darkness doesn’t have the power to overcome me! It may try, but Your Word guarantees that darkness doesn’t have the ability to overcome the light! I am so thankful that I am Your child and that I live on the winning side! When the devil tries to discourage me, help me remember that in the end, we win! I pray this in Jesus’ name! Text for today: John 1:1-4
Think about it: “A Japanese pastor wrote that the most important message of Jesus birth is that He was born as a babe, weak and vulnerable to the world,” said artist Makoto Fujimura. “A baby is utterly dependent on a mother and a father, and others helping the baby to survive. Imagine, one who would claim to be the all-powerful Creator in flesh, becoming vulnerable and dependent on fallen human beings like us!” What does it mean to call Jesus the Word or Logos (v. 1)? To the Greek mind, Logos meant reason, order, and communication, both spoken and unspoken. To the Jewish mind, it meant the word of God, including both Scripture and God’s powerful word as seen in His creation (Genesis 1). John surely knew and intended both meanings. The miracle of the Incarnation certainly stunned both the Jewish and the Greek mind. Greeks would have been astounded to think of reason and thought as a Person, while Jews would have been staggered that the Lord of Hosts could become the man Jesus. Notice He was not only the Word but He was a man and the eternal Son of God, the Creator and Light as well. As a man, Jesus remained the eternal Son of God (vv. 1–2). He’s the Creator (v. 3) who came to give light and life, the hope of the gospel, to all who will receive it by faith (vv. 4). More on the Light tomorrow. Have you ever walked along the beach and found a piece of smooth glass? When it’s smooth and polished, an ordinary piece of glass seems precious, like something to be showcased in a beautiful wind chime, necklace charm, or the like. The ocean does the same thing to wood. A smoothed and polished piece of driftwood can be changed from a simple branch to the stuff designer furniture and art is made from. Each piece of wood or glass that is smoothed by sand and water is unique, and many have been sold for a small fortune.
Nature is full of examples of harsh circumstances converting something of little worth or beauty into something exceptional and valuable: the pearl, the diamond, the hardwood that grows high in the mountains. Even maple syrup needs cold and long winters for there to be enough sap for production. You can also find a lot of examples of harsh circumstances creating extraordinary people. We can be tempted to feel that it would be awesome if a life of relative ease could fashion in us an understanding of others, wisdom, hope, joy, patience, self-sacrifice, or any of the other qualities we strive to emulate. But where you actually have to go to breed these qualities is not always pretty, and often, not at all desired. Nearly every one of these virtues starts in a broken place. A place you most likely do not want to go to. While I haven’t ever experienced anything extremely traumatic in my life, there have been many times in my life where God took me (sometimes kicking and screaming) to that broken place. It’s been all kinds of things that took me there, like big mistakes that were embarrassing, changes I did not like, personal relationships that ended, health issues, and other things that have roughed up my life the way the ocean waves assault a piece of glass. So what’s my point? You have to be patient. It takes time for the grain of sand to become a pearl, for the lump of coal to become a diamond, and for you and me to develop the gentleness and brokenness that Christ is known for. The next time you feel one of life’s waves crash over you—maybe you’ve tried something and failed, maybe you’ve experienced tragedy or loss, maybe there is something you have had your heart set on that just doesn’t seem to be materializing—whatever your “wave” might be, just remember what it’s doing to you. It’s making you patient. It’s teaching you to endure. It’s drawing out your empathy. It’s showing you that God is the only one who does not disappoint. It’s teaching you a peace that is not based on circumstances. Whatever it’s teaching you, God doesn’t disappoint, and I think you’ll be happy and at peace with the outcome. — Mara Hodler Today I happened to come across a very short but tear-jerking video of an interview with a girl about 12 years old who was suffering from cancer. Throughout the video she sobbed and wept, putting her hands up to her face, wiping away tears continually, while barely being able to blurt out her words. It was in a language I didn’t understand, but I didn’t need to understand it. I could feel her pain and was moved to tears for her. It brought back memories of the times in my life when I cried from deep within.
I have had plenty of tear shedding moments myself. I know that there are plenty of people who’ve been through much worse experiences than me. But I can say that those tears were good for me. They made me what I am today and shaped my life and attitudes in a good way. Those dark experiences hurt and cut me deeply. But they’ve made me more sensitive to other people and their pain, and made me resolve to never purposely hurt anyone, and to try to quickly apologize if ever I do. So, tears can actually be good for us. The ancient Greek philosophers like Aristotle recognized this. They thought that tragedy and suffering had a purifying effect on the individual, which purged out the bad and improved their character. The word they used to describe the process of inner purification through tears and tragedy is translated into English as “catharsis.” And they brought this concept out in their famous Greek tragedy plays. The Bible has a lot to say about tears, and in it you’ll find many accounts of people who cried tears of despair. People just like you and me who went through deep dark experiences that shook them down to the core of their being.
Each of these people is today considered a biblical hero. And yet we read accounts of each one suffering periods of great sorrow. The one thing they had in common was their great faith in God. They didn’t let their tears make them bitter. Instead, they let their tears purify them and they got better. They let their tears draw them closer to God, and this resulted in them being of greater use to Him and others. Jesus Himself cried when His dear friend Lazarus died. John 11:35 simply says Jesus wept. So, even Jesus Himself wasn’t immune to shedding tears. And so, He understands. In fact, it’s when we’re in the depths of our despair that we can feel Him closest to us. Psalm 34:18 tells us: The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Thankfully, crying doesn’t usually last long. There are only so many tears you can cry. Psalm 30:5 says, Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Once you’ve cried it out, you can feel the joy of catharsis. The joy of the cleansing of your emotions, your heart, and your spirit. For now, in this world, that’s the way it sometimes has to be. But one day God will see to it that we no longer have tears. Revelation 21:4, speaking of heaven, tells us that God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. The tears we shed in this life will be a distant memory then. Thank God. -- George Sosich |
AuthorThe goal of the blog is to provide interesting, motivational, soul feeding material. All to help remind us that God loves us all and wants a personal relationship with each of us and will take care of us in times of trouble. I aspire to be a force for good by providing you with positive input. I encourage you to share the blog with others. Archives
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