Facilitator: Llewellen
The question “What are we grateful for?” was posed to the group and each person present was given an opportunity to reflect. Llewellen and Jenni have been reading “For the love of his brothers” by Brother Andrew. It is about one man willing to stand in the gap by taking bibles into Communist Russia while the church is fleeing out of it. There is an urgency about making a difference while there is time & opportunity. In the face of persecution God is in control no matter what, especially if you are willing and able.
Llewellen asked for prayer requests from the group. We prayed for salvation, healings, life directions, the misguided church, politics and criminals, JP & Rita, children’s ministry, other gospel workers and own staff. Psalm 25 was read.
Llewellen asked that everybody read the blog on a weekly basis and leave comments where applicable.
Paulien invited all believers to stand in unity as of Monday 18 May up till Thursday 28 May (10 days) as a heart preparation to focus afresh on the work of the Holy Spirit. Monday 18 May is the 40th day after Passover and is Ascension day (Acts 1:1 – 8). According to Acts 2:1 the believers waited together for 10 days for the day of Pentecost, which is 50 days after Passover. We are looking at a partial fast, especially from the media (tv, newspapers, magazines etc) and withholding from certain food groups in order to put the flesh down – the idea is to step up on prayer and Word meditation - you are welcome. On Thursday we break the fast by having a meal together and celebrating the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We are gathering from 5pm (to help beat the traffic for some), breaking the fast by having supper together and worshipping afterwards (7pm) at the following address: Tempio de Evangelico, 88 Silwood Road, Bramley – it is one street south from the main intersection of Corlet Drive (M1 offramp) and Louis Botha. Go through the boom and the church is on the right hand side – very safe! Come expectant! You are welcome to call Paulien 072 202 5752/011 485-2925.
Maralize asked Llewellen how does one find one’s calling. In finding destiny for your life/individual calling, 4 main points were discussed:
1. A person has to be in/part of a caravan of people moving in the same direction – working together to achieve more.
2. Join something that hits target/bulls eye – do something meaningful – get involve in skin contact 2, widening the neck. Go alongside somebody who is already making a difference and that is strategically accurate. JJ commented: remember to weld the bar to the end of the truck! Get busy in your area/life and put your hand to the plough now.
3. Have a world Christian prayer life – take responsibility for the whole world. Psalm 2:8, Matthew 18:14.
4. The Telescope vision: think of yourself as a captain on a ship and coming to a group of islands. How do you know which island has the provision/calling you are looking for? Take out you telescope and focus on one island at a time. Look closely for what you are looking for. The process is that of ownership, when beliefs are tested, faith is built in you and others – allow for the council of men (2 Jews, 3 opinions). Different islands together make up your calling, each one contributes to faithfulness, establishing kingdom principles, shaping your spiritual journey where change brings progress as well as the discomfort of changing your world view. Have a net for your calling – the net has to be available anywhere, anytime for all occasions.
Wednesday
FOR THE LOVE OF MY BROTHERS - BROTHER ANDREW
We had a great meeting. Started off with fellowship and sharing with each other. Ansie facilitated. After dinner we got into Brother Andrew's book "For The Love Of My Brothers". This book is really inspiring. I, (the blogger for the evening) am currently reading it and thoroughly enjoying it. A quote from the book which is really interesting is "If we do not go to the heathen with the gospel, they will come to us as revolutionaries and occupation armies". He said this when speaking to the Czechoslovakian church just after the Russian army had invaded their country. During the last nine months the Czech church had enjoyed a reasonable amount of freedom under Alexander Dubcek. But the Christians, rather than seizing the occasion to go to Russia with bibles and preachers, went instead to the west to buy new clothing, bicycles, tape recorders etc. They had been taken in by the materialism of the west and forgotten their big brother in the East. Makes you think.
Some of the things that came up through our discussion of the book were: The Paralysis of Analysis - So many of us spend all our time "waiting" for God to reveal his special call on our lives. It is so easy to get caught up in the paralysis of analysis that we fail to act. God's end, his purpose for us is the process. His purpose is for this minute, how can we serve him today. What men call training and obedience, God calls the end... if we realize that obedience is the end, then each moment is precious. If we get busy now with whatever we can around us, He will lead us to where He want to place us. Brother Andrew started "Open Doors" after reading Rev 3:2 "Strengthen what remains", referring to the struggling church in Sardis and in V8 "I have placed before you an open door which no-one can shut". Neither of these verses said to him "Andrew, I am appointing you to be a bible smuggler to Russia". Those verses awakened him to the vast need of Christians behind the Iron Curtain and he acted on it. Brother Andrew made a point that if thousands of christians had been doing what he was doing, by risking imprisonment to go their suffering brothers and sisters behind the Iron Curtain, a book would never have been written (God's Smuggler) because it would have been common knowledge. But the church worldwide would be so much stronger as a result. How he wishes that Christians would stand up and go to where God needs them.
Brother Andrew lists ten steps in his book to moving forward which are really good. But, you will have to read the book to gain this valued knowledge/wisdom.
Please cast your eyes to the red board on left of blog for details on a course that Alison will be presenting shortly.
Some of the things that came up through our discussion of the book were: The Paralysis of Analysis - So many of us spend all our time "waiting" for God to reveal his special call on our lives. It is so easy to get caught up in the paralysis of analysis that we fail to act. God's end, his purpose for us is the process. His purpose is for this minute, how can we serve him today. What men call training and obedience, God calls the end... if we realize that obedience is the end, then each moment is precious. If we get busy now with whatever we can around us, He will lead us to where He want to place us. Brother Andrew started "Open Doors" after reading Rev 3:2 "Strengthen what remains", referring to the struggling church in Sardis and in V8 "I have placed before you an open door which no-one can shut". Neither of these verses said to him "Andrew, I am appointing you to be a bible smuggler to Russia". Those verses awakened him to the vast need of Christians behind the Iron Curtain and he acted on it. Brother Andrew made a point that if thousands of christians had been doing what he was doing, by risking imprisonment to go their suffering brothers and sisters behind the Iron Curtain, a book would never have been written (God's Smuggler) because it would have been common knowledge. But the church worldwide would be so much stronger as a result. How he wishes that Christians would stand up and go to where God needs them.
Brother Andrew lists ten steps in his book to moving forward which are really good. But, you will have to read the book to gain this valued knowledge/wisdom.
Please cast your eyes to the red board on left of blog for details on a course that Alison will be presenting shortly.
God Grew Tired of Us
On Saturday some of the members of the fellowship attended a messianic passover at Mark & Pauline's home. It was a very special celebration and Jesus is at the centre of it all. As the day got a bit long only four of us had fellowship the evening. Mario and Jordan braaied the meat to perfection and Alison provided some salad and Ansie the pudding to finish it off. This had is in the mood for a movie...
In 2001, 3,600 “lost boys”, were invited by the United States to live in America. The film follows three of the boys who uproot their lives and once again embark on a journey, leaving behind thousands of other refugees who, in the course of their traumatic odyssey, have become their adopted extended family. They must now learn to adapt to the shock of being thrust into the economically intense culture of the United States, learning new customs, adapting to new and strange foods, coping with the ordeal of getting, and keeping a job, or multiple jobs, while never forgetting the loved ones they left behind in Africa.
The culture shock begins with airplane loudspeakers and process
ed food and continues as they orient themselves to refrigerators, running water, and fluorescent-lit supermarkets. It's fascinating to witness their wonder at Western customs, and even more gripping when the film monitors their spiritual temperatures. Things are tough as the boys juggle multiple menial jobs; for the first time, they find themselves well fed, yet painfully isolated from the brotherly fellowship that once enabled their survival. They face hints of racism and are perplexed by Americans' obsessive need for privacy and anxious about loved ones struggling in Africa. Yet John, Daniel, and Panther–each radiantly charismatic and thoughtful–meet their challenges, fuelled by a desire to help others. Though they were bred in unspeakably dehumanizing circumstances, their integrity and honour are impeccable, raising profound questions about the conditions necessary to create a civilized society
We watched the DVD 'God Grew Tired of Us'. In 1987, Sudan's government pronounced death to all males in the south resulting in 27,000 boys fleeing to Ethiopia on foot. In 1991, they were forced to flee again, this time to Kenya more than 1000 miles away. During the five years they walked in search of safety, thousands died from starvation, dehydration, bomb raids and genocidal murder. Finally, 12 000 made it to relative safety in Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp.
In 2001, 3,600 “lost boys”, were invited by the United States to live in America. The film follows three of the boys who uproot their lives and once again embark on a journey, leaving behind thousands of other refugees who, in the course of their traumatic odyssey, have become their adopted extended family. They must now learn to adapt to the shock of being thrust into the economically intense culture of the United States, learning new customs, adapting to new and strange foods, coping with the ordeal of getting, and keeping a job, or multiple jobs, while never forgetting the loved ones they left behind in Africa.
The culture shock begins with airplane loudspeakers and process
ed food and continues as they orient themselves to refrigerators, running water, and fluorescent-lit supermarkets. It's fascinating to witness their wonder at Western customs, and even more gripping when the film monitors their spiritual temperatures. Things are tough as the boys juggle multiple menial jobs; for the first time, they find themselves well fed, yet painfully isolated from the brotherly fellowship that once enabled their survival. They face hints of racism and are perplexed by Americans' obsessive need for privacy and anxious about loved ones struggling in Africa. Yet John, Daniel, and Panther–each radiantly charismatic and thoughtful–meet their challenges, fuelled by a desire to help others. Though they were bred in unspeakably dehumanizing circumstances, their integrity and honour are impeccable, raising profound questions about the conditions necessary to create a civilized societyWOW! What a movie. It really was not what we expected. It left us sitting deep in thought after the credits have rolled.
Monday
FEEDBACK FROM THE 4TH OF APRIL -
Awesome fellowship once again. We had some visitors, Wayne, Marlise and their children Jordan and Cara (a homeschooling family). This was really great and they certainly added to evening. Wayne is a horse dentist and is blessed and doing really well. They are at a place in their lives however where they want to go from success to significance. They realise that "things and money" are meaningless in the grander scheme of things.
Mark mentioned that he realised how we in the western world live. We build up to a nice big house, debts paid off etc and when we finally "get there" we start downscaling for retirement and eventually move into an old age home. Where is the sense in that? Marlise asked the question "How do you develop the passion for that thing that God has for you? How do you find it?" We had several answers to this. Get on your bicycle and start pedalling. Get busy and you will find your passion. Get into a caravan of people travelling in the same direction (iron sharpens iron), develop a world christian prayer life, put your hand to the plough and use your telescope of vision. Wayne asked the question "what do you do if God has blessed your business and you are debt free, how do you get involved?" This brought up a discussion on investment in the kingdom, in things with eternal value.
Mario brought up a movie that takes place in India which really touched him. This caused him to question whether we are really serious about laying down our lives for the unreached. Malcolm shared a bit of where he is at and read to us from Job 12 and 13 which just made us realise that God is truly in control.
Another thing that came up was animals and how much money and time we spend on them. There are some people who give their lives to saving animals. This obviously brought on a discussion on world view. All very interesting to say the least. A real hodgepodge of subjects or should I say a potjie pot. That of course brings us on to the food which was yummy!
Mark mentioned that he realised how we in the western world live. We build up to a nice big house, debts paid off etc and when we finally "get there" we start downscaling for retirement and eventually move into an old age home. Where is the sense in that? Marlise asked the question "How do you develop the passion for that thing that God has for you? How do you find it?" We had several answers to this. Get on your bicycle and start pedalling. Get busy and you will find your passion. Get into a caravan of people travelling in the same direction (iron sharpens iron), develop a world christian prayer life, put your hand to the plough and use your telescope of vision. Wayne asked the question "what do you do if God has blessed your business and you are debt free, how do you get involved?" This brought up a discussion on investment in the kingdom, in things with eternal value.
Mario brought up a movie that takes place in India which really touched him. This caused him to question whether we are really serious about laying down our lives for the unreached. Malcolm shared a bit of where he is at and read to us from Job 12 and 13 which just made us realise that God is truly in control.
Another thing that came up was animals and how much money and time we spend on them. There are some people who give their lives to saving animals. This obviously brought on a discussion on world view. All very interesting to say the least. A real hodgepodge of subjects or should I say a potjie pot. That of course brings us on to the food which was yummy!
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