Let's help our brothers and sisters in need

Open Doors in Ethiopia: Oct 17 2013

“That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God ….” 1 Timothy 4:10

The child was inconsolable. “They stabbed him to death,” the words rolled off his tongue. Wasihun is just seven, but seemed like an adult. He attentively listened to every word the adults were saying, breaking into tears often. Many children, who have faced similar circumstances, will cry when they see their mothers cry, without really understanding why they were crying. But not Wasihun… He understood completely. During the conversation, he repeatedly interrupted his mother to explain exactly how they had killed his father. His eyes were screaming in grief.

 

An Open Doors co-worker met with this family from the remote district of Hareto, Oromia State in Western Ethiopia, only two days after the tragic murder. This was a bereaved family – a mother and eight children aged 2 to 16 – completely spent by the trauma they had experienced and the bitter grief they were going through. When the crime was committed, there was no one to come to their aid. His wife and children helplessly watched Motuma Kemede die. Motuma’s day started the same as most other weekdays. He got up early and prepared for his job as casual laborer on a nearby farm where he worked throughout the rainy season. In the dry winter months, he worked as a merchant, travelling around to buy and sell items for a minimal profit.

 

Motuma’s family members are the only Christians in this Animist village. The increasingly hostile community knew Motuma for his dedication to the gospel and that he was a member of a congregation in a neighboring village. Like many other Christians in the area, Motuma received repeated insults and verbal warnings to renounce his faith. “It was in the middle of the night when they broke into our house,” shared his widow, Buze. “I was shocked. I didn’t know what to say or do. They shone their torches directly into our eyes, so that we could not see their faces. There were three of them in the house, but others were waiting outside. I heard them shout to each other, ‘Stab him!’ When I asked them why they were attacking us, they shouted at me to shut up. They first hit my husband with a spear over his back. Motuma was lying over Defary, our two year old, to protect him. But they dragged Motuma out of the house by his legs. Right outside the door they continued to hit his upper body with machetes. I was shouting for help, but no one came. They hit me with a stick on my right arm… We were alone... All the children were shocked to see how they killed their father.”

 

Open Doors remains closely involved with the local church in this and other regions of Ethiopia where persecution is intensifying. We helped cover immediate costs for Buze and her children, and have also covered the children’s school registration fees, uniforms and stationary for this academic year. In consultation with the local church, we are looking at ways to help the family in the longer term.

 

Let's take time to pray for those Christians around the world being persecuted for their faith that God will help them to keep their faith and give them the strength to persevere.  Let's pray for children all over the world (Christian and non-christian) that have lost their dad and/or mum and ask God to be their Father and their hope so that they may have eternal salvation.  Let's pray for all their material, emotional and spiritual needs to be met.  Let each of us think of how we can help.  What can we do?  We can write letters of encouragement, we can donate money, we can inform others. 

Click here for ways to be one with those who are suffering for their faith.  This website from Open Doors enables yous to pray with our brothers and sisters and to send them an encouraging message. 

 

 

Oil Pressed

By Odon Bulamba

This is a special Sunday because it’s our first Sunday to meet for 2014 and 2014 is coming with new realities and surprises and things you might not have thought of.  In 2014 we might be surprised to find that God may not have called us to change the world but to learn or to change from what we see from the world.  Many Christians today fight to change the world.  What is the world? Is the world people or is the world animals, or trees or birds.  When people fight the world, what are they fighting?  Many fight against pollution and invest in that which is fine but they forget to learn that in the world satan is the one controlling the world so we have to be careful not to step into the world. 

It’s a privilege to be called a child of God, to be called a disciple of Jesus.  When Christ came down he picked up a few people.  The only ones blessed enough to be chosen were the 12 disciples.  He left those of high ranks, those from important worldly and spiritual positions aside and chose a fisherman, a tax collector and said, “follow me”.  Isn’t it strange, why didn’t He choose those mature in theology or go to every tribe of Israel and take the best from each tribe but instead He only collected 12 people among millions of Israelites He could have chosen from.

Jesus started his journey with the 12 and they saw Him perform hundreds of miracles.  How proud would you be if you were chosen to follow someone who could perform such miracles, how proud would you feel to be a friend of such a man, to sit with Him at His table, to eat with Him and talk with Him? If you know a simple person like John Key (Prime Minister of New Zealand) and you are his friend, you will believe you have a good friend.  If you are the friend of the Queen of England, you will believe you have a very good friend. Being a friend of Jesus is another story. 

Friendship with Christ is a friendship of eternity that gives life forever and protects you for eternity. My first question on 1^st January 2014 was, “who is going to be my friend this year…my true friend?  Is it my sleep, my bed, my neighbors, my Bible?” I have to choose the right friend, the one who will never give up on me and will always be there for me.

One day Jesus met around a table at Passover time with His disciples.  Passover means bread and wine and Jesus had taken the Passover several times since He was a child but this one was a special one.  It wasn’t anymore the bread Moses taught but Jesus had changed the formula and said, “this bread is my body now”.  How will you feel if Jesus tells you this is His body?  They were challenged because the Israelites had been taking Passover bread for hundreds of years since Moses and now they were being told it was the body of Jesus Himself.  They thought it was a simple bread but now it is the body of Christ.

What you saw in 2013, this simple Bible and Word of God is changed in 2014.  It is a new day and we have to take the Bible seriously now and remember that the Word of God is Jesus Himself.  In the same way the disciples took the bread and were now told it was His body and to remember Him and take it seriously, we also have to start a new lifestyle and take the Word of God seriously.

While the disciples were taking the Passover, Jesus told them, the devil is here but the disciples were confused because Jesus Himself had chosen them.  They asked each other, “is it you? Are you the betrayer?”  Jesus said the one who dipped his bread in the same cup as mine is the one.  Imagine if you share food from the same plate and cup as someone else.  If someone sees you do that, they will believe you love that person a lot to share the same cup.  Maybe you are the one who shares everything with Jesus and you are going to betray Him.  How often do we betray our Lord? We tell Him, “I love You, You are My Father, You are My Everything” but then we go behind his back and betray Jim. 

Remember the person who will betray you, it is someone who is next to you.  Even your own body can betray you.  In mark 14:32, the Bible says He told his 11 disciples after having the meal, “come with me” (Judas had already left to betray Christ).  Jesus took the 11 to Gethsemane which means oil press.  It was an orchard for olives and only those fruit trees were in the garden. 

It was late and the disciples should be in bed but Christ took them to the garden and told them to sit as He went to pray.  Imagine being told to go somewhere while your friend goes to pray.  What will you do?  Sleep?  Jesus came back and chose from among you the 11, James and Peter and John and told the three, “follow Me”.  He picked up only three and left the 8 behind.  When we are heading towards oil pressing, Jesus always cuts down the circle in the same way He cut the 5,000 who ate the bread and fish down to 12 disciples and then to 3 who will go deep with Him.  Jesus will have followers but some will only be there for the bread and fish, while others will only be there for the wine and bread, some will only follow for healing or money and some for a good job.  When you need a good job or money or health that is the time you will kneel down and pray but when everything is fine, you live your life as you like.

After calling those three, Jesus went to pray and He could feel the pain of death within Him, He was pressed down.  The olive oil is capable to doing 100’s of things that can help your body meaning the oil from this fruit is a different oil but before to get the oil, the first has to be detached from the branch and pressed down.

Gethsemane was a place to collect the olives and press them to produce oil.  Oil is a sign of anointing.  You want God to anoint you, do you sometimes pray to God for anointment? God will say “yes, but before I anoint you I need to press you, to crush your attitude, your behavior, the way of seeing things in order to produce oil”. 

Sometimes a bishop will take oil and place it on the persons head but the Holy Spirit and anointing is not in that oil.  God wants to see you crushed.  Oil can be placed on a person for healing but you have to know the meaning of oil first in order to understand that placing oil on a person to be healed is only a symbol.

We the church today don’t want to be crushed.  At Gethsemane, 8 disciples stayed behind.  As Jesus was praying with pain in his heart, He stopped and came back to the three He chose and found them asleep, “I told you to pray with Me and you can’t even pray for one hour” (verse 38).  Sometimes I pick up my phone and I can talk to friends for 2 hours or listen to music for 6 hours or go to a party and celebrate all night or play sport for 2 hours.  Hugh can run for 2 hours and Colleen told me she recently climbed a mountain for 7 hours walking by herself.  This is determination.  Everything we do is a matter of decision regardless of the barriers, even if you fall asleep you can tell yourself, “no, I’m not sleeping, I’m praying” and your body will accept that.  Stand up, move around, drink water and pray but if you decide to put your head down for two minutes but you will fall asleep.

Jesus came back to those young men, “why can’t you just stay with Me for one hour, if it were a party you could dance for all night.”  Every church today is good at praising but we are not good in prayers.  When it is time for praying, the number decreases as you can see 5,000 went down to three and even those three found it was a challenge.

You go through a hard situation and you ask people to pray for you but they sleep instead.  Leave those people aside and be like Jesus and continue to pray.  For situations that people are crossing, are you serious or are you joking?: “Lord bless this person amen”.  As Jesus knelt down, the pores opened and he sweated blood because of the pain.  Sometimes you are crossing a hard situation and you ask people to pray for you and they take it like a joke.  All they need to know is the news and once they have satisfied their curiosity they go away and never pray.  Jesus was crying and if you really love Jesus, you will take time to cry and pray with Him.

Finally Jesus came back a second time and found them sleeping again.  When you watch tv, you can see churches worshipping and full of joy but when it is the time to pray, people  are looking at their watches, looking around, and hoping it will finish now because it takes so long only after three minutes.  People can lie on the beach for hours transforming the colour of their skin with the power of the sun but ask them to kneel down for hours to pray to God and they will tell you they are tired or their back hurts.

We are interested in gossip and can talk for four hours but when it is time to pray we feel we should do other things.  Jesus is calling us to put ourselves in the lives of others for 2014.  There is no blessing or anointing without prayer.  Let no one cheat you.  You will never find anointing without praying and praying means to pray seriously.  It doesn’t mean to tell God what we want.  In Mark it says nothing is impossible for God but let Your will be done. To pray doesn’t mean to change the situation but to change me to fit in that situation.  e.g. if I pray for a car and God says no to a car then pray that I will be able to move around without a car.

How often do we need to be anointed?  I want to feel anointed every second and we ask for the Holy Spirit who says, “I am already here with you, just accept to get into the press” and allow someone to press you down to get the oil. Leave your comfort zone.  There was a tv program called Desperate Housewives, which many people loved to watch and if they missed one episode they will ask around to see if anyone recorded it and if they missed one episode they will become angry.  I used to watch the tv program “24” and loved it very much and when kids annoyed me, I would pause it.  How often do we pause our prayer when we are distracted and then come back to the prayer? Zero times.  We are distracted every time, that is why Jesus said to go to your room in a secret place and lock the door and tell Jesus your problems who is the only One who can bring the answer.

You can have a plan but God is above all our plans.  Before I came to New Zealand I was told that my money could be easily transferred electronically from Africa to New Zealand but once I got here, the money was not allowed to be transferred.  I had joy before I left Africa knowing I would have money once in New Zealand but then all my joy for money was flushed down the toilet.  Money is not the solution to your problems because you will only have the money when God allows it even if you are working, therefore God is the solution to all our problems.  Even if you have a good job and believe you will be paid next week, you can wake up in the morning and you are paralyzed so all your plans should rely on God’s hands. 

Make yourself a good prayer person.  Don’t be like the disciples who followed God only for glory but when it was time to pray they slept.  You have to work on your faith, your behavior, your character and when Jesus comes to select his Own, you will be among them.  Only those sealed with holy Spirit will meet with Him in the air and then we have to present our deeds.  Based on what you did you will receive your crown. 

If you are given the gift of healing but you refuse to be pressed, you can touch someone for healing but God will ask what you did with the olive and you will blame others and say the gift never worked but it is your fault because you didn’t have time to pray or press the oil.  How many disciples of Jesus continued to do the work of Christ - only a few continued and those are the ones who continued to pray.  You need to determine yourself, you need courage.  Don’t plan for the evil things in life like Judas did.  Imagine Jesus calling you satan as he said to the disciples at the passover, “satan is here”.  How will you feel to be called satan?  It will be bad on that day when Jesus said I told you to get into the press but you refused.

One time in Zambia I was asked to speak to a big crowd and I asked them to write down what they expect from God and there were thousands of paper but then I asked them “what can you do for God” less than 20 papers came back.  We pray and ask God to make us to be in the spotlight like Benny Hinn but maybe God created you to be in the shadow.  We want to be seen in churches like Joyce Meyer but seek Jesus first, “Lord Jesus tell me where to go to pray and adore”.  Maybe your place to pray is Gethsemane but you prefer to go to the rose garden because it’s so beautiful with many colourful flowers while the olive garden only produces olives. 

How do olives taste straight from the tree? Yuck.  Sometimes when you try to share the Word of God with others, they believe the taste is yuck because the taste doesn’t fit in the  world. 

Be someone who does what Jesus wants even if the world hates you or laughs at you or judges you and leave them behind sleeping.  Because of the prayer of Jesus, we are redeemed, we are transformed, our lives are changed and our nation is changed.  Don’t act in a group and only pray if you are at a prayer meeting.  Don’t look at people, don’t wait for Colleen to invite you, do it yourself.  We can sing by ourselves, we can go to work by ourselves, and so we can add prayer to our schedule and add it to our daily routine. We have 24 hours per day, just give Him a portion of that time to meet with God face to face and let God talk to you.  If you have something to tell Him, tell Him but also let Him tell you too.  Sometimes He doesn’t let the cup pass over as with Jesus.  Jesus asked for the cup to pass Him but God said no.  You need to be ready for God to say no and when you are ready for that, you will have the victory. 

Jesus is coming back soon, do you have a place there?  If you don’t pray, then I’m sorry for you.  Magicians pray to perform what they perform.  Who is that child that never wants to talk to their parents? By talking to their parents they learn from their parents and so we should with God.

Ask God to press you and produce the oil so God can use you, let 2014 be a year of miracles and show people that I belong to you, a year of anointing.  Remember your first love, tell God to bring that back and you need to feemnvl that again, boil in me so I can work for you. 

Encourage Prisoners with a Letter

 

Nguyen Van Ly

Held 903 days

Arrested July 2011 in Vietnam

On Feb. 19, 2007, Father Nguyen Van Ly was arrested in Hue, Vietnam for distributing material “harmful to the state.” In March, he was sentenced to eight years in prison. He has issued statements criticizing the government’s confiscation of church property, lack of seminary training and the influence of the state in church teachings and has been a powerful advocate for Christian freedom.

On March 15, 2010, Father Nguyen was released on medical parole after he suffered three debilitating strokes. He spent 16 months convalescing before the government demanded he return to complete his sentence.

Seriously ill and weak, Father Nguyen was rearrested on July 25, 2011.

Click Here to write a letter to Father Nguyen.  This website allows you to send phrases in Chinese and gives you the correct address. 

Let's remember our brothers and sisters in prison by praying for them and encouraging them with letters.

 

Do Not Fear

By Hayley Boud

 

“Be strong and courageous, do not fear or tremble for the LORD your God is with you.  He will never leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

 

The bible tells us 365 times not to fear.  That means we have one verse for everyday which means that we have to remind ourselves daily not to fear.  This also means that we all fear.  There will be days in our lives where we are worried or afraid…that is natural so we need every day to remind us that God tells us not to. 

 

Why do we fear? What are you afraid of?  Most people are afraid of getting hurt and getting killed.  I would be afraid to get into the ocean if there were hungry sharks circling because I would know they will eat me so I’m afraid to get hurt or killed.  Some are afraid of being hurt emotionally so are afraid of rejection.

 

So…how do we NOT fear?  Usually when someone says, “don’t look down”, that is when we look down.  So when we are told, don’t fear…that is when we fear.  So what can we do in order to help ourselves when we are afraid or worried? 

 

According to the English dictionary to not be afraid means to: Be brave.  How do we do that?  I think it means when we are afraid we won’t let it stop us from doing what we should.

 

Deuteronomy says to be strong.  How do we do that?  According to the Hebrew dictionary to be strong means to be attached to, to be firm, to hold fast, to be supported.  Obviously, if we want to be strong and not fear, we have to attach ourselves to Jesus Himself, to hold fast to Him and be supported by Him.  When we hold firm to the promises in the Bible, we can be strong and not fear because we will know that God will protect us and never let us go through anything that we can’t bear. 

 

This is a command that God is telling us to do.  He could just give us strength but He is saying, “Be strong” that is an action we have to do for ourselves.  Therefore, read the Bible, pray, spend time with God and other Christians and hold fast to the Word of God and Jesus Himself and then you will be strong.  We have to make the effort.

 

What does it mean to be courageous? The English dictionary says courage means: To Disregard fear, & Bravery.  The Hebrew dictionary says this word means good, pleasant, beautiful, excellent, lovely, delightful, joyful, fruitful, precious, sound, cheerful, wisdom. 

 

So if you want to be courageous, you need to be joyful.  This is true, “joy of the Lord is your strength”, Nehemiah 8:10

 

If you want to be courageous, you need to have wisdom.  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”.  You can only have one master, you either fear God, or you fear something else.  Sometimes I fear people or what they will think of me more than I fear God and this makes me lose my courage.  God asks me to do something and I don’t have the courage to do it because I fear people more than I fear God. 

 

Also, if we have wisdom, we will know what is God’s will and we won’t fear once we know His will.  When I took bibles into Vietnam, I didn’t fear at all because I knew that it was God’s will so I had courage.

 

Do not tremble? According to the English dictionary: Shake involuntarily, trembling, Quiver.

 

This is to be completely terrified.  Have you ever reached this kind of fear where you are trembling?  I remember one time driving in the most aweful fog over the Kaimai ranges.  It was so foggy I couldn’t even see one foot in front of me.  I was so scared I was going to go over the edge of the mountain.  It was terrifying.  I just kept saying, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” because I didn’t even have words I was so scared.  When we are trembling, we can remember Jesus and just call on His name because He is the only One who can save us. 

 

It is also important to note that it is a command to not tremble so when we are terrified, we are actually sinning.  Very hard sometimes not to be afraid but we can openly admit to God, “I’m sorry, I know You have told us not to be afraid, but I am really scared, please forgive me”.  And then we can express why we are afraid and ask for God’s help and then declare that we trust in Him no matter what happens in the same way that Esther did, “If I die, I die”.

 

God promises to never fail us.  What does that mean?  The English dictionary: Not succeed, disappoint, neglect, become weaker.

 

In the Hebrew dictionary to fail means to be slack, idle, weak, feeble, to be despondent, to withdraw, to abandon, to desert, to quit, to discourage.  We can trust that God will never fail us, He will never be slack with us or idle (He never sleeps), He is never weak or feeble and he will never abandon us or withdraw from us or desert us or quit us or discourage us.  We can trust that God is the opposite of fail which means He is always working, He is strong, He always responds to us, He is close to us, He is near us always, He stands by us and supports us and encourages us.

 

However, He doesn’t encourage sin.  He supports us so we can overcome temptation but if we decide to sin…we now separate ourselves from God.  So let’s make an effort to stay away from temptations and when we fall, make sure to repent.

 

God promises to never forsake us.  What does that mean?  The Hebrew meaning is to release, to set free, to leave behind, to abandon.  So we can trust that God will never release us or set us free or leave us behind or abandon us, no matter what.  We can trust that God is the opposite to forsake which means He will hold onto us tightly and take us with Him. 

 

This is God’s promise to us.  We can know that whatever happens in 2014, God is with us.  No matter what we face…hold onto Jesus and His word and His promises and know that God will never leave us or forsake us.  Wherever we go, God is with us.  The only place God won’t go with you is to help you sin so make sure to stay away from temptations so that God will follow you everywhere.

The Kingdom of God - the Pearl

By Hayley Boud

 

In Mathew 13:45, the Kingdom of God is referred to as a precious pearl which the merchant was prepared to sell everything he had in order to purchase it. 

 

Does anyone have any ideas about this?  Why does the Bible refer to the Kingdom of God as a pearl?

 

Some think of the pearl as representing Jesus Christ and how precious He is and how precious salvation and the Kingdom of God is.  Others think of the pearl as representing us and how precious we are that God would send His only Son to die for us so that we might enter the Kingdom of God. 

 

Where is the Kingdom of God?  Wherever God’s throne is, that is where He reigns.  If He reigns in you…then you have the Kingdom of God inside of you.

 

What is a pearl?  A pearl is created by a foreign body irritating the shellfish to coat the annoyance with “nacre”. Layer upon layer of nacre creates a beautiful pearl.  The foreign body can no longer be seen, it has been transformed.  This is like the Kingdom of God; the difficulties we face create a beautiful pearl inside us. 

 

It is also interesting that the shellfish that creates the pearl is made of soft tissue and also interesting that the shellfish is alive.  We have to be made alive spiritually before we can create something spiritually beautiful in us.  Without the Holy Spirit we can do nothing and it requires God working in us to create the kingdom of God, a beautiful pearl in us.  It also requires us to be soft, not hard.  When we face difficult people or hard situations we have to remain soft and not allow the problems to make us become hardened like Pharaoh who hardened his heart.

 

Also, the thinner and more numerous the layers of nacre, the better looking the pearl, the shinier it will be so the more problems we face, the shinier we become.  The more difficulties we overcome, the more likely people will see the beauty of the kingdom of God in us and the more our light will shine.  Therefore, when we are tested we can praise God because He is creating the Kingdom of God in us which is so precious that the merchant would sell everything he had to buy it.

 

We don’t appreciate the value of the pearl today because we can culture them but when that scripture was written, the people of that time would have understood it more clearly.  To find a naturally growing pearl inside an oyster is so rare that the pearl in those times was the most valuable gem.  It’s pretty much invaluable = you can’t really put a price on it.  Of course someone can put a price on it by saying, “I’d pay this much for it” but would the owner be ready to sell it?  It’s so amazing to find a naturally occurring pearl that you wouldn’t want to part with it.

 

That is the same with the Kingdom of God, once you have found such a gift, you will do anything to keep it.  You won’t sell it because it is too valuable and no one can put a price on it.

 

The more reflective the pearl, the greater it’s worth.  When choosing a pearl, you try to find the one that reflects your image, like a mirror.  We know that the mirror we have as Christians is the Word of God and we have to look at the mirror to see our own reflection and ask ourselves, does it match up.  When I look in the mirror, I raise my hand and the reflection follows.  When I read the Bible, do I follow it?  Do I mirror the Word of God?  If we don’t reflect the Kingdom of God in our way of living, no one will be attracted to the Kingdom of God. 

 

Also, our lives should be lived in such a way that people will be able to see their own reflection in us.  They will look at us and compare themselves and know if they have the Kingdom of God or not.  If we are living a fuzzy life, they won’t be able to see themselves clearly in the same way a fuzzy pearl won’t show your true reflection.  If we are living one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom of God, those around us won’t be able to see themselves clearly and they won’t know if they are not saved.  They might think they are safe and going to heaven because Hayley is a Christian and she goes to night clubs, or Hayley smokes, or Hayley drinks etc.  We need to be a good example for those around us and reflect the image of Christ. 

 

It is easy to tell the difference between a fake pearl and a real pearl and this is also true of fake/genuine Christians.  Non-christians can tell the difference.  I can remember one time mum saying to dad, “She shouldn’t behave like that if she is a Christian” and dad said, “Yeah, but she’s not a Christian like Hayley’s a Christian”.  Meaning that dad could tell that the person mum was talking about was a fake Christian even though he wasn’t an expert in the matter.

 

Pearls are extremely hard and cannot be easily destroyed.  The only thing that can destroy them is vinegar.  Vinegar will dissolve a pearl and I thought vinegar could represent bitterness.  Remember it is the softness of a person which creates the beauty of the Kingdom of God in us but if we allow problems we face to create bitterness in us, to make us sour, the pearl will be dissolved and no one will see that beauty anymore…just an ugly mess.  When we become bitter, the Kingdom of God cannot be seen, the only thing seen is an ugly person and no one is attracted to a bitter, sour person.

 

Rev 21:21, the 12 gates of New Jerusalem are made of a single pearl.  This reminds us of the suffering that Christ had to endure in order for us to enter the Kingdom of God in the same way an oyster suffers in order to produce the pearl…Christ had to suffer to produce the Kingdom of God filled with Christian believers.

 

Mathew 7:6, “Do not throw your pearls to the pigs”

 

 

 

 

 

What is in your house

By Odon Bulamba

As a child my parents helped me to learn how to speak and they taught me how to be a nice person and how to do everything in my life. For example, if I wanted to touch this piece of paper and mum/dad says no, I knew if I touched it another time I  will be in trouble.

2 kings 4:1 – 7, “The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.” Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. ⁶ When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

There is a time to learn.  From childhood until the day you die, you must keep learning.  God created us so we can learn and understand who He is, what He wants and what to touch and not to touch.  The purpose of a parent to have a child is to teach the child everything they need to learn and to represent the parent so wherever child goes, people will know that this child belongs to this one because they will have the same last name as the parent. 

Because you are here today you have to be proud of your parents. Many people today reject their parents, they won’t introduce their parents to others if they that parent is sick or has problems because they fear what people will say.  I have a friend whose mother has a problem with her leg and we were supposed to pray for her mother and we suggested to go and see the mother but after three years we have not seen her because the daughter is ashamed of her mother’s problems. 

How often are we ashamed of God or reluctant to tell people we belong to God?   Do we represent Him wherever we go?  We take our family name wherever we go, we know we belong in our family tree and even if that family tree that holds you as a branch doesn’t hold good fruit,  if you hold good fruit as one of the branches, people will come looking for you to find something good to eat.

At Michelle’s parents’ house there was a tree that grew fruit.  One of the branches of the tree grew over the fence onto Michelle’s house and I could take the fruit from her side of the fence.  Through you, how many people get fed? To feed people you don’t have to be a son of a pastor, being a child of God is enough.

When Elisha visited this lady, instead of being welcomed with joy, the woman was crying because her husband was one of those learning to be a prophet and now he is dead.  She continued, my two sons who are here, they have to be taken as slaves because my creditor wants them to work for them because I can’t pay what I borrowed.  She didn’t stop to say, hello or how are you, she didn’t greet the man first but instead went straight into her problems.

If someone tells you that, how will you feel?  Maybe you will tell them, “this is not my problem, when you took the money, did you ask me?  That is your business.”  We often don’t think about others or care about their problems.  Yet, how often do you tell God about your problems and how often does God tell you that He doesn’t care or, “stop it’s enough now, I’ve had enough of you”.

The woman didn’t know where or who to go to in her grief but the creditor didn’t care, he only needed what she owed him.  If someone tells you that they reach the stage now to give their children, it means they have tried every other option. How much are you loved by God?  How much do you love your children, how much do your parents love you?  Who would be ready to give your child as slave? Many parents would rather die or become a slave themselves than allow their child to become a slave.

Elisha didn’t answer her problem but instead said, “what shall I do for you?”  The woman probably knew that Elisha couldn’t pay back the creditor but after telling him her problem, she probably was expecting an answer of some sort, not to be asked “what shall I do for you?” because she has already told him her problem .  If you know of someone’s problem you should know how to help.  How can I help you is a slogan around the world and when people tell me that, I tell them the best way to help me is to give your soul to JESUS. 

Elisha continued, “tell me what do you have in the house?”  What do you have in your house?  If you don’t believe that God helps you or you don’t feel the help He gives to you when you cry to Him, God is saying, turn the page, “what do you have in your house?”  This seems like an irrelevant question because it doesn’t match what you are telling God.  You are telling God about your problems but He asks you about your house.  Normally people have chairs, beds, floor in their house but we pass them without thinking about them and they are normal and we give them less value because they are normal.  When you buy a new car you want to drive it around but after 20 years you don’t feel like driving it anymore because it is now old. 

What is in your house?  This lady gave a good answer.  She said, “your servant has nothing in this house, only a jar of oil”.  That is all.  She could talk about her bed, clothes but only a jar of oil which was very small.  The prophet didn’t ask her what type of oil, or do you have any food.  When God asks you, what do you have in you?  I’ll tell God, “I have a lot” and sometimes I won’t be sure what I have in me because God knows better but God insists that I tell Him what I have inside me.

Some houses have stuff that they shouldn’t, clothes that have been there for 40 years and there is a mess in the house, order doesn’t exist and when you ask them what do you have?  They don’t even know what they have.  There is a program on tv about hoarders; they can’t even step in their house because it is full of stuff. Other people come from outside and tell them we have to throw away these things but the hoarders fight back and they don’t even know what they have.  Haven’t you forgotten what God has given you?  The preachings, the songs, the prayers are stocking up without using them.

Many people will say, “today is the cleaning day and give all this stuff to Salvation Army to have a clear space” but us Christians today we don’t even know what is there inside of us.  You might say, “oh, yes, I think I’ve heard that message before” but what did you do with it?  When you pray, what do you do with your prayers?  Maybe you only pray for yourself. 

The prophet wanted to know what the woman had in her house and she knew that he was asking because she would have to give it away so she said oil rather than her family.  What gift will you give a prophet or the Queen of England if they came to your house and asked for something?  You will look for something special. 

Elisha told the lady, go outside and collect the vessels from your neighbors, as many as you can.  Everybody knew this woman had the creditors coming every day.  Who is that neighbor who will lend their vessel?  They will know that the creditors might take it.  This lady didn’t have a good reputation because of all her debt.  Would you offer someone who had a lot of debt something of value to you?  You might not because you will be afraid you won’t get it back.  Even finance companies check your credit before to lend money and they will check regardless of whether you have a job or you are rich.

The lady collected as many vessels as she could outside her home.  God will tell you, the little time that you have given me on Sunday, I want you to go outside and talk to your neighbors and ask for empty containers (our body which was empty until God breathed on it and gave us life).  The word of God is a container and the power behind it is the content.  Someone can have a head which is empty – no brain.  It is the content that matters.  The church today is working like an empty vessel with no content, there are a lot of people but the content is empty.  They tell you they love God, but why do you love God? 

Bring the empty vessel, that is the first step and they have to come from the outside of your home.  How often do you go to your neighbor and tell them about God?  Just next door, not 6km where they don’t know you.  Tell them how great God is for the sun in NZ.  Neighbors in NZ are kind, they talk to you even if you don’t want to talk, they try to provoke communication. 

We have a neighbor who knows everything on our street.  When you pass, she runs to you even though she has a sore leg, ‘hey do you know’ and she tells you everything about the neighbors.  Look how courageous that lady is to come up to us and tell stories.  This is gossip but if you are gossiping for Jesus, then go for it.  Most often we gossip for the things that are not important and put the essential aside.

On Friday I went around this area here giving notices door by door.  One lady said, “this is the first time for me to see a black person as Christian”.  There are many people in our neighborhood who don’t know who you are.  Are you recognized as a Christian in your neighborhood?  My name is Odon but my surname is the name of my Father. 

They collected the containers and Elisha said, ‘once you have the vessels, lock the door behind you and do what you should do”.  After you bring those neighbors in your life, after you have a good relationship built on the Word of God, share the Word of God with them, assist them, support them while the door is locked so they can’t go out into the world again.  Once you close the door, you are inside, what is outside cannot easily go inside and disturb you.  Whoever is outside will have to knock and push in order to come in.  Bless those who bring others to Christ.  Bless those who sacrifice their time in order for empty vessels to be used.  We were empty yesterday and someone told us about the love of God and today people can eat the fruit from our trees.

One person said to me, “I want so much to see God’s glory in my life but I don’t know why God didn’t have a big shop where we can go to buy glory and faith and understanding of the Word of God.  It would be easier to pay at cashier”.  If God could have that shop, we would never work because our money would be enough but you can’t buy grace or the HOLY SPIRIT or even your life, you are called to work.

Adam was told to work and Eve will give birth with pain.  A baby is in the womb for 9 months and sometimes longer.  Look how God is so mysterious and you carry the baby wherever you go and the baby gets all the food and medical attention it needs from inside of you.  If you eat wrongly, you affect the baby.  God has given you a big spiritual pregnancy; you have a big neighborhood inside of you and one day God will ask you what you did with them?  There are many non-Christians, everywhere.  In one day I can talk to up to 100 people just by going to Water World.

The next step was to pick up the oil and fill the empty containers.  Pick up the small anointment you have, if you’re good at singing, sing, if you are good at preaching, preach and those empty containers will fill up.  A small jug filled barrels.  Your little faith can change those who you think would never accept Jesus.  Your little oil will fill up the big container, don’t’ worry about your quantity of oil or knowledge just do what you can where you are.

When there were no containers left, the oil stopped.  How many vessels have you filled up?  In your family, work place?  Maybe zero.  Time is precious. 

A plant is created only once but in that plant there is a power of multiplication through seeds.  You also have a lot of seeds that need to be planted and He has given you the land and the opportunities.  What justification will you give God for your reason for not really doing His work while people are crying to you that their children are becoming slaves: druggies etc.  Children are dying not only physically but spiritually.  Do we ask them what do they have in their house, do we care?  Jesus needs us to talk to them and invite them into his Kingdom.

We will all pray and tell God what you need in your house, in the house of your family, in your nation.