Let’s start with

The Bad….

The last of the roofing material were delivered to Matlakeng last week, so it was with big expectations that I drove there on Thursday morning. At last we were on the home stretch with this building and I was really looking forward to getting it finished so we can get John and the smaller kids in there and move on to other projects.

But that excitement did not last long. I was a little puzzled when I stopped and saw a pile of really short pieces of corrugated iron and roof beams sitting next to the house, but was sure there was an explanation for them. And there was, but not the one I would have liked to hear.

The people who we paid to transport the material to our site had problems with their big truck, so they did the delivery in a smaller truck. We ordered the roofing tin and wooden roof beams so that one length would go all the way from one side to the other, so it is easier to seal the roof. They could not fit these long sheets on their truck soooo

……they cut everything in 3 pieces!!!

People doing business here are all just barely surviving, so telling them they need to replace our cut up stuff is not an option. So, like many times in the past, we had to step back and figure out how to make this puzzle come together without having to buy more roofing material…

…….if only they had rather just cut it in half…..

The Good…

While that was being processed in our minds, we went to visit Matlakeng 2, and as always  it was a blast. The kids were “reading” the books we gave them last year. They had to look at the pictures and make their own story. Some real funny stuff came from that. Then too, they had to show off a bit, they love to do that, and it is all on video below.

Love their table….

They have started digging out behind the existing building to make space for their new day care.

From there we had an appointment to meet with the villagers from Futong. They had their monthly indaba where everyone meets and discusses problems they have for the chief to (try and) solve. They wanted us there to report on what they have done so far and to make sure we are all still heading in the same direction with regards to their day care.

They were real chuffed with themselves for the sand stone already collected, but that is only a real small part of what is needed. So although I encouraged them to go and collect a lot more, and they enthusiastically agreed to do so, here too I foresee things happening REAL slow.

The Ugly…

 As we slowly made our way out from Futong the ugly hit us.

The front suspension of the truck collapsed.

Considering the roads it runs on it is probably not unexpected, but still not fun. I slowly drove it home as it was crabbing all over the place. Today the parts arrived and it is in for repairs, which gave me the opportunity to catch up with all the stuff I’m behind on, like this post.

More Good…

We’ve been praying for quite while that God would provide someone to help out at Leratong. We need someone to live up there, look after our things and help teach the people of the village.

This past Sunday Pastor Sam Moloko visited Faith Hill and showed his wife where they would stay, should they join us. They both seem excited about the prospect of living in Leratong and ministering amongst the people there.

God willing, he may start working with us soon.

…………………………..

When the odds seem stacked against you, and you cannot see how what you are going through can possibly be part of God’s plan, never loose faith in where He is leading and always be willing to wait on him, however long it takes.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight”. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Today we were in Acts 12:

Here we have Herod going all out to crush the Christians. He scored points with the jews when he had James beheaded and now he had Peter in custody. To make sure Peter does not get away he posts lots of guards and then chain him between two guards. Peter knew there was humanly no way for him to escape, but he also knew the church were praying for him and I am sure he did the same.

Now, if it were me, I would worry just a little bit. Within a few hours they were either going to behead me, or feed me to the lions. There would be no way I would be able to get my brain to shut down long enough for me to fall asleep.

But Peter had complete faith in the Lord. He slept soundly. So soundly that the angel had to poke him in the side to wake him up!

I pray God will give me the faith in His complete control in everything, that I can too, like Peter, sleep soundly in the knowledge that He is in control, even though circumstances looks bleak.

Following on from last week, we see through the life of Stephen, another characteristic God values in those He uses.

Forgiveness

We see here how Stephen lays into the priests and instead of defending himself, he shows them how crooked they are and how crooked their forefathers were. As could be expected, they did not like this, and drags him outside and started stoning him. As he is dying, and this is the important bit that shows us much of his character, he still finds time to pray that God would forgive his killers.

Jesus made it clear how important forgiveness is when he said this in Matthew 6:

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

That is real easy to understand, no grey areas, no chance to read between the lines or misinterpret. Also, neither is it just a suggestion, but it is a cold hard fact, that if we don’t forgive, we cannot expect forgiveness.

This is why God could use Stephen, the guy who started out as one of the chosen to wait on tables. The one who now were able forgive his murderers. His slate was clean, he lived in forgiveness and he showed forgiveness. He was useable.

I have to stand back and look at myself in the mirror, and ask the question ” Where is there un-forgivenes in my life”, for if I want to be really used by God, my slate too needs to be clean.

       Completely sold out…

We are in Acts 5, and as you all know it is the story about Ananias and Sapphira. Even though I’ve read it many times and have heard many sermons on this, as always, the reason they died made me wince ever so slightly. They did not die for telling a blatant lie, it was not as if they said they did not sell the land at all. But they died for telling a half-truth.

You know, those fibs that falls from our lips so easily, those white lies we don’t even have to think about…They died because they told one of those…..Scary, isn’t it, when you think how easily we drift from being sold out to just selling out.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg.

When we go back to Chapter 4 we see that the group of Christians they belonged to tried (not with great success I may add) to implement a communist/communal way of living. What stands out to me is not whether it was a good concept or not, but that they did this to be able to put all their focus on spreading the gospel and living holy lives. They were so serious about their faith and their walk with God that not even those half-truths/fibs/white lies could be tolerated amongst them.

That is being serious about your faith, that is about being sold out!

We read that they performed many signs and wonders, people got healed and people got saved, BUT no one else joined the group. And let’s face it, I would’ve been a bit scared to be part of that group too, to be honest.

Then, as we go into chapter 6, we see what flowed form being sold out to this level, here was an awesome result of their holy style of living. We read that when men had to be chosen to serve food and wait on tables one of those chosen, was Stephen. The Bible tells us that he was chosen because he was “ a man of faith and of the Holy Spirit”. I would add that he was someone who was not scared to take on a job of no importance. Many of us would shy away from doing the mundane things, the unimportant things, the things nobody notices, but not Stephen.

And God blessed him for his willingness to get stuck in and get that unimportant job done. God blessed him for being sold out, and when we next read about Stephen we read about him doing great signs and wonders. We read about him being given so much wisdom through the Spirit, that not even the learned and respected members of the Synagogue could match him. We read about him being so filled with the Spirit that they had to stone him to keep him quiet, and even in dying, he mirrored the One he was sold out to.

Being sold out, I read this, and I know I don’t have the slightest clue what it means to be REALLY  “sold out”.

Please Lord, help me to sell out less, and be “sold out” more.

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And they took knowledge of them,

that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13

This week we are in Acts 3 at church and I found this verse striking. Studying it further, I found Spurgeon wrote about it too, thought provoking when we look at ourselves the way people see us.

(by Charles Spurgeon)

A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ. You have read lives of Christ’, beautifully and eloquently written; but the best life of Christ is His living biography, written out in the words and actions of His people.

If we were what we profess to be, and what we should be, we would be pictures
of Jesus; yes, such striking likenesses of Him, that the world would, when they once beheld us, exclaim, “He has been with Jesus; he has been taught of Him; he is like Him; he has caught the very idea of the holy Man of Nazareth, and he works it out in his life and daily actions.”

A Christian should be like Christ in his boldness. Never blush to own your religion. Be like Jesus, very valiant for your God.

Imitate Him in your loving spirit; think kindly, speak kindly, and do kindly, that men may say of you, “He has been with Jesus!”

Imitate Jesus in His holiness. Was He zealous? So be ever going about doing good. Let not time be wasted; it is too precious.

Was He self-denying, never looking to His own interest? Be the same.

Was He devout? Be fervent in your prayers.

Had He deference to His Father’s will? So submit yourselves to Him.

Was He patient? So learn to endure.

And best of all, as the highest portraiture of Jesus, try to forgive your enemies, as He did; and let those sublime words of your Master, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,” always ring in your ears.
Forgive, as you hope to be forgiven. Good for evil, recollect, is godlike.
Be godlike, then; and in all ways and by all means, so live that all may say
of you,

“He has been with Jesus!”