Rejoice, O Nations

Here’s an encouraging video from the 5th graduation ceremony for Africa Renewal Christian College, which I recently visited:

HT: Jeff Atherstone (American pictured above in giant hat). Love you, Jeff!

http://crossonmyback.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/rejoice-o-nations/

A Little Redneck Theology: A Diary of Verse

A Little Redneck Theology: A Diary of Verse

A Spiritual Journey of Poetry

Authored by Sis. Kimberly M Hartfield

A Little Redneck Theology in Verse is a companion volume to A Little Redneck Theology and Other Stuff from a Southern Baptist Ordained Evangelical Female Minister, written by Kimberly M. Hartfield. It is a book of Christian based inspirational verse written during a three year time frame, a record of Kimberly’s spiritual journey, spoken of in the latter title. Many of the poems in this volume are based on Scripture and many have cultural and political inspiration and messages. A Little Redneck Theology in Verse is not a book of ordinary poetry, but poetry that will convict, challenge, and inspire you to greater spiritual growth.

Related articles

• A Little Redneck Theology – On Sale Now (gofishministries.wordpress.com)
• December 2011 Newsletter (gofishministries.wordpress.com)
• Go Fish Ministries, Inc. News Letter Jan.1, 2012 (gofishministries.wordpress.com)
• Go Fish Ministries, Inc. News Letter Feb.1, 2012 (gofishministries.wordpress.com)
• 5 Poetry Websites You Can Go To Catch The Best Of Verse (makeuseof.com)

http://gofishministries.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/a-little-redneck-theology-a-diary-of-verse/

The Wrong One….

If you catch a look, a sideways glance,

It wasn’t just by happenstance.

Don’t you be deceived my dear,

If his behavior seems quite queer.

He’s been sent from hell to you,

If you accept, that’s it! You’re through!

Well, not completely through, you see,

Mistakes are allowed for you, for me.

Boaz will come (From the book of Ruth),

You don’t have to settle for that uncouth.

He doesn’t care about your needs,

Breaking you down is how he succeeds.

There’s something wrong within his mind,

And that is why he reflects unkind.

Damage, destruction, despair, and depressed,

This is how he wants you dressed.

It’s not your concern what makes him so,

Get away, get away, before he steals your soul.

His modus is to break, to take, to destroy,

You don’t have a man, what you have is a boy.

Oh, he talks big and bad and puffs his chest out,

But if one bigger pokes him he deflates, he’s a lout.

Please wait for the mate who was made just for you,

On his worst day, it’s still a great day; and he’s so worth it, too.

“But the wait is too long, I can’t make it,” you say,

Accept the hand of the lout, and you’ll pay live long day.

by C. Blue….. www.thesummitdevelopment.com

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http://thesummitdevelopment.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/the-wrong-one/

The Lonely Road….

You are not alone when you want to quit,

And you face some things that don’t quite fit.

There are some of us who are assigned to fight,

And we won’t give up, you can use our might.

We will lift you up, we will right the wrongs

You can use our strength, it won’t take long.

We aggressively pray, we kick in doors;

It’s not God’s will for you there on the floor.

Lift your head and dry your eyes,

The Great Almighty has heard your cries.

You may have power and know no lack,

But in secret places are on your back.

He cares! He cares! And He has sent me,

I bend over you and say one! two! three!

I pull you up and sit you down,

And remind you God’s love has no known bounds.

He cares, I care, you will be free

If you only respond to the one! two! three!

by C. Blue….. www.thesummitdevelopment.com

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www.thesummitdevelopment.com

www.facebook.com/thesummitdevelopment

www.twitter/thesummitdev

http://thesummitdevelopment.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/the-lonely-road/

In Complete Surrender

It’s not because of what I can do… It’s not because of my intelligence… It’s not because of my charms… It’s not because of my talents… It’s not because of my doings… It’s all because of what YOU, my, LORD, can do!

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Yesterday was a very challenging day for me. I went to do my demo teaching at the Christian school I was hoping to get in to. I am not an education graduate, but I have the passion for teaching since my university days. I came from the corporate world and was used to presenting to heads of companies. In my presentations, I was always confident – I never felt nervous before doing any of them. I was just so used to talking to people of higher stature that it was a part of me already.

Yesterday, I had to face about twenty-five  5th graders, the school’s head master, the vice head master and the class’s teacher. I was informed of this audience a week ago as I was advised to prepare my lesson for the demo teaching. However, I never felt the kind of anxiety I had the week, especially that of yesterday, in my entire working life! I was never nervous prior to a presentation. But yesterday was very different. I was jittery, excited and anxious all at the same time. I can’t calm my nerves and I kept praying for grace. I just felt that it was a very big responsibility to face these children because I’m gonna affect their education. I felt like I’m gonna impact them big time with what I’m gonna do and I better not screw up and make them understand the lesson – their actual scheduled lesson for the day!

And so, I did the teaching demo. The kids were great! They were very participative and smart as well! But I only had 30 minutes to discuss a very rich topic about history – which, mind you, I had already cut short from 65 slides to just 35. After the class, the kids were asking me if I’m gonna be back to teach them. It was heart warming actually since I felt that they liked me. The question is, did the school heads like me?

When I got out of the classroom, the vice head master was waiting for me. She told me that I seemed very nervous during the class. And I told her that indeed I was but that I felt the class was great. And with that, she gave me the usual lines of employers: “We’ll give you a call, alright?”

Photo Credit: Getty Images

And now, all I can do is fervently pray that somehow, God will sway them to hire me But then as I was praying, I thought that “Hey, you can stop worrying about the results. You’ve given it your best shot and so now trust the Lord to do the rest. After all, He’s the Big Boss of all Bosses!” I was comforting myself with that thought so I won’t go gaga over thinking when I’ll get the call.

I had to remind myself that it’s not about me, it’s about Him up there. I don’t have to fret nor worry for I know that He knows my heart. I just want to surrender to His will. That’s why I kept telling myself “Wherever you want to plant me, Lord… It’s all up to You!”

Lord, I don’t want to nag You anymore about that school hiring me. I just want to let go of it and just rely on You. I surrender it to You, God. You are the Master Employer of all and so it’s up to You whether You’re gonna hire me there or not.  I will still honor and worship You even if things don’t go my way. Like what You said in your word: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well…” Matthew 6:33 (NV) 

I will continue to seek You, Lord and lay my worries upon the foot of Christ‘s Cross. I will be liked the Israelites in Jericho who obediently kept their mouths shut for 6 days, just believing in the breakthrough awaiting them. I put my trust in You, Lord. I believe in Your plans for me and my family – plans to prosper us and give us hope

To You, my God, I surrender this concern. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

Related articles

• Through You, Nothing is Impossible! (momentswithabba.wordpress.com)
• Surrender (arirjames.wordpress.com)

http://momentswithabba.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/in-complete-surrender-2/

ICS farewells founder

By Frank Rai Families sharing pork meat and other foods from the mumu during the farewell party in L

http://ohepng.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/ics-farewells-founder/

How Polly Flinders Ruined My Life

Not My Private School. Not Even Close. Not Even A Little. (Image via Wikimedia) I was a private scho

http://paltrymeanderings.com/2012/02/04/how-polly-flinders-ruined-my-life/

All Is Natural In Kenya

In my wildest dreams, I would not have thought I would be writing to anyone from Kenya.  However, here I am! In the far reaches of very rural Kenya, just a hop, skip and a jump from the Uganda border.

About 7 months ago, my friend, Nancy, was sharing her experiences in Kenya with our women’s group at church.  One thing lead to another and I have now been here for 3-1/2 weeks.

Nancy had come to teach music at a school founded by another friend.  The school is in a very poor rural area where $ 1 a day is above the average wage.  The people at the school, Heritage Academy, work constantly to give an education to the children of the area, many of whom come from the poorest homes in this area.

The women and widows are doing their best to support their children by taking whatever work they can get here and there to provide food and shelter. Many of the men have died of HIV-related problems, as have numerous women, leaving children to be cared for by grandparents or other extended family. Day to day living is a monumental chore. Children and adults alike may or may not have a meal today. The women give whatever food they can afford to their children, often sacrificing their own welfare in the process. We all would make whatever sacrifice would be necessary for our children or grandchildren, but to actually see the sacrifices on this scale defies anything I could have imagined before coming here!

This falls under all things natural because what could be more natural than giving all for your children?  Yet something inside me asks “Could I really do this?”  I want to think I could.  But could I really?  Could you?

And then I look around.  The men, women and children think nothing of walking miles to get to where they can get a few hours of work. They walk to a little local shop and buy ground maize to make ugali, a dish roughly similar to our Southern grits, but usually thicker and eaten with the fingers. It is the staple here, but still often not available if one cannot find any work.  We’re not talking do with less until the paycheck comes of Friday.  We’re talking literally starving unless Mom can get a little work sewing, cleaning or whatever.  I can hardly imagine!

But on a little brighter note, Heritage Academy is about 5 years old and is run by people who truly care about the kids; but they also care about the rest of the family & their welfare, too.  The school is run and staffed by people, mostly from Kenya, who share a Christian faith and live it daily.  They give 110% and more to the kids and their families.

The families who can pay for the children’s education do so. All schools here (and there are many), charge for their services. Government education is available, but it is not free as we Americans are used to.  Those who cannot pay face the dire prospect of little to no work when they are old enough, work which pays barely enough to survive, if that.

Heritage Academy is working to reverse this all too common situation for as many families as they can.  All of the children are given lunch every day at school.  That is NOT the situation in other schools.  The smaller ones here get porridge in the morning.  For many, these meals here are the only food they will get.

Their education is above average and is carefully monitored by the staff, all the way to the school’s Headmaster, Director and President/Founder (the friend of my friend, from the US).  If a child is doing poorly, the issue is addressed and steps are taken to help.  These people really care about the kids!  Theirs is not just lip service.

Often, children’s progress is school is linked to issues at home …. just like in schools everywhere.  But the problems here may be that Mom is ill and the child must take over care of younger siblings instead of being able to concentrate on school.  Or worse.  The stories are never ending.

Enter Heritage Academy.  And this brings us to my part of the story.  The outreach begins by giving training, and in some cases, jobs to the mothers of the students.  The theory is that if Mom can be given a skill she can use, she will be able to better care for the kids.  What a concept!  Teach someone to fish instead of just handing them a fish for dinner tonight!

And these women are eagerly learning “to fish”.  With the loving help of many people, both Kenyan and American, they are becoming very good “fisher-persons” (for my seldom-seen nod to political correctness)!

Another lady came when I did who is a retired school teacher from the US. She holds 3 Master’s degrees and is teaching sewing to mothers of the children so they can have a marketable skill.  The classes have been meeting in a dormitory on campus.  The classes use treadle machines since no electricity is available.  But we are all thankful for the classes and this chance for a better life for these women.  After school, this dorm houses several girls both from families of privilege and those who are so very disadvantaged that there would otherwise be no hope for their future. All are treated alike. They have school uniforms, 3 meals a day, a warm bed, a “dorm mom” who sincerely loves each one of them and one of the best educations they could receive.

My classes are a little more varied.  In the morning, I first teach art to the children. The instruction is rotating to different classes, giving the children a little different look at the world.  Just to let the teachers among you know, the average class size is well over 40 students.  Then I walk a half mile or a little more to the site of the outdoor classroom we are using to instruct mothers and grandmothers in pottery and soapmaking.   These are skills they will be able to use to produce goods which can be sold.  The school also helps to market the wares they produce.  They are bright and avid students.   A website is available, but under renovation, for some pictures and information about the school:  www.VillageProjectAfrica.org.

We are all working toward one goal: bringing a bit of sunshine into the lives of the people of this little corner of Kenya by helping them to help themselves.  What more rewarding occupation could I have chosen to spend two months doing in the cold of January and February?  By the way, it’s near 90 degrees daily here and I have a little bit of a sunburn!  But that hasn’t kept me from my appointed rounds.  Sunshine and new friends that I can help to give a new start in life.  Is this perhaps what has been part of my purpose for being put on earth to do all along???

More from Kenya later … please come back!

http://itsanatural.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/all-is-natural-in-kenya/

Hebrews 13:8, "On That Upon Which We Can Depend"

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” -Hebrews 13:8

"Christ on the Sea of Galilee," by Tintoretto. oil on canvas, c. 1575-1580

As I have mentioned before, and indeed will probably mention again, Hebrews remains one of my favorite Books in the Bible. Chapter 12 especially was instrumental at leading me to the Lord. This particular verse I didn’t stumble upon until later, after the initial encounter, but it certainly added to my realization that God was real and not some made up thing, though I honestly thought for a while if I was putting it all in my head myself and I struggled with this, but when resolution came it pushed all doubts out of my mind. This verse is beautiful in form, in simplicity, and in meaning. I will tell briefly about some of my testimony and why this verse is so important to me.

For a time, during a particularly dark period in my life, I cried out to God for deliverance. He answered me not in just resolving my troubles, but He also spoke to me. As much as I would like to hear from Him again in like manner, to this day He hasn’t spoke to me the way He did in those dark days. I don’t know why, though I am sure He still does, but not in the same “hearing” sense.

Let me explain a little what I mean by “hearing.” When the Lord speaks to you in words its usually not a booming voice that comes out of the sky. It is a booming voice in your heart, mind a spirit. In fact, looking back I am not so sure that it wasn’t audible, but it was powerful. At the risk of sounding like I am some esoteric mystic, its really hard to describe unless it has happened to you. At any rate, in one word spoken from God I felt that I would be delivered, and I truly was by His grace. What was spoken and in what context I will save for another time, but I will say it was directly linked with Hebrews chapter 12.

The second time the Lord spoke to me was a time when I finally understood what Christ has done. It humbles one to a Godly sorrow, and it was in the midst of this sorrow, and me asking why, stating that I wasn’t worth the torture He suffered and it should have been me  instead, something only a Christian can understand (it is commonplace within the faith), that He answered: “I would do it yesterday, today and tomorrow.”

"Christ on The Cross," detail from the center panel of the Isenheim Alterpeice, by Matthias Grunewald. oil on panel, c. 1512-1515

At this time I was far from being a biblical scholar, and still am, but the Word was absolutely foreign to me, which is my shame because I did go to a Christian school, but my conversion was long after. When I eventually did come across this verse sometime later, I almost fell out of my chair, for the Scripture and what God spoke to me (I made sure to write it down) are in essence, identical. As far as I knew then and know now, I had no previous knowledge of this verse, I was never the sort to engage in any sort of memorization except the best places to go party.

There are a couple other times God spoke to me, but the last time He did, it was a little less positive. He indicated that due to a situation I was willingly walking into that, if I continued, I would, “suffer.” Indeed I did, and backslid heavily. Yet, the Lord by His grace has called me to Him once more. Looking back, its seems so amazing that I am tempted to think perhaps I was nuts, or somehow arranging past circumstances, either consciously or subconsciously in a way to make it appear I was in touch with some hard to reach mystical realm. However, my volumes of journals testify to the reality of the occurrences, the words given to me, and there are even witnesses that can testify to it as well. In full disclosure to the reader, I am actually quite hesitant about sharing all of that and posting it to complete strangers. In fact, I feel a little sick to my stomach due to the influence of my old friend cowardice.

With that foreknowledge, let’s turn to the verse. In life everything can at times feel like it is out to get us. The trust we place on people and possessions is so powerful that when we are let down, when we find our bank accounts lacking, and when people we thought would be there aren’t, our hearts get hardened, so that the resulting pain may never be felt again. We feel in essence that a hardened heart will act like a giant Tylenol that will elevate the pain in our lives and spirit. It doesn’t, for out of that only comes self-destruction and despair.

Christ went through the most ghastly experience, by being tortured and mercilessly put to death on the cross, but even in His suffering He did not harden His heart against man, nor does He even regret what He went through! In fact, He would do it tomorrow if it were required, but as He said, “it is finished.”

Christ is a truth we can rely on when others fail us. This doesn’t mean that we will always get what we want or that we will be spared pain, rather realize that because of what Christ has done pain isn’t eternal for those who believe upon Him and we will someday receive a gift that is beyond description and beyond what we could even dream to want, salvation in eternity with our Lord and all those who we know in Jesus Christ.

The banks may fail, but we can always bank on Christ. His blood is still flowing over us, cleansing us of the tarnish of sin and iniquity, just as it was decreed at the beginning and as it will last forever. We won’t have absolute happiness until we get there friends and cross the finish line, but in our silly “little” suffering, we can take heart that the Lord is there to comfort and guide us. We have a God that cares for us, is interested in the little things we go through day after day, and is eager to hear from us. Such a Lord no other can boast, but we can boast in Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and forever, and who would do it all over again yesterday, today and tomorrow.

"Christ on The Cross," by Albrecht Altdorfer. c. 1520

http://brandondevotional.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/hebrews-138-on-that-upon-which-we-can-depend/

Spirit Week at Canyonville Christian Academy

This week started out pajama day. You had to come to school in PJ’s. It was a lot of fun because on the same day we made banners for each class, and we also made banners for the CCA gym, but the teachers had to vote for which one was the best. Today we had, backwards day. You have to wear backwards at least one thing in order for your class to get points. We went to the Chapel and had a mini competition of touching something and saying what you thought it was and the people that participated were bind folded. This week is going a lot more fun. YAAA!!!!

http://ccaspirituallife.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/spirit-week-at-canyonville-christian-academy/

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