Thursday, May 29, 2008
Zimbabwe trip sermon
Brothers and Sisters in Christ
James 1.1-4
I want to begin by saying thank you for praying for us while we were in Zimbabwe. I could feel the power of God working in all of us and his protection while we worked there. In about 9 days we conducted an all day VBS, preached 8 sermons and taught about 15 lessons in various churches. We traveled 3 or 4000 kilometers and were safe all the time. Thank you.
I bring you greetings from many Chr. brothers and sisters in Christ from many churches in Zimbabwe. Every where we went we met young people and old who wanted to talk about the US. They wanted to know all about this country, and I was surprised at how much they knew about this country. It was not long before I began to see that even though we were separated by thousands of miles and spoke very different languages, we believed the same thing about our Lord Jesus Christ.
I remember here in the church when I was a teenager; Max Ward Randall came to tell us about flying from South Africa to Rhodesia to open up a mission field there. I asked around some and three or four of the older Chrs had seen Max Randall and knew the churches he started. So the mission money this church sent to the Randalls a half a century ago help start churches in the country now called Zimbabwe.
The passage of scripture I want to use this morning is from James 1.1 – 4. Read. James is writing to fellow believers who he had never seen, but they were his bothers and sisters in Christ. I think we need to understand that. There are fellow believers all over the world speaking hundreds of languages but all worshiping the same God.
The most exciting thing I experienced was participating in the Lord’s Supper in Zimbabwe. The first Sunday I was there I was dropped off at the Town Church in Gweru. The congregation has a new brick building that is not finished, but will be very nice when it is done. The leaders greeted me – mostly in English. There were about a hundred people there when we started, but more came in as the service continued. Most of the service was in the Shona language – the songs, prayer, and announcements. (By the way, they use some of the western songs and tunes, but in the Shona tongue.)
I sat on the platform with two other men and on the table before us were a holder for the small cups and a plate for the bread for the Lord’s Supper. At the appropriate time, one of the elders of the church stood up and read from John 6 just as we did today and then prayed in Shona. I did not understand any of what he said, but I knew we were joining together to commune with God. As they served me and all the others in the church I had tears running down my face. I was the only white person in the church building, but all of these people were indeed brothers and sisters in Christ worshiping God through Jesus Christ.
The next Sunday we were in the western part of Zimbabwe at a church in Hwange. At that service the elder of that church stood and read from John 6 and then prayed in the Tonga language. Again I was overcome knowing we were joining together to commune with God. I also thought about you meeting 7 hours later to partake of the Lord’s Supper as we were doing.
Then my mind went all over the world. Sunday starts in the east. I do not know what country comes first, but somewhere about 9 or 10 in the morning in country after country elders read maybe from John 6 and then pray in hundreds of languages in thousands of churches. Japan, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippians, Korea, China, Burma, India, Russia, Europe, the middle east, Africa, South America, North America, and all the way to the last country before it become Monday. We are part of a huge fellowship of God worshippers.
There are a lot of Chrs in Zimbabwe. The churches buildings we saw are generally small, but they can put 2 or 3 hundred people in a very small place. They are going though very difficult political and economic times. They had an election over two months ago, but the President did not release the results for over a month. He lost, but there needed to be a run-off election between the two top vote getters. The constitution says it should be held in three weeks, but it will be delayed until June or July. No one knows if it will be held or if it will be fair or rigged. The Mugabe government has been extremely repressive and violent and it continues to be that. (White farmer we stayed with.)
Economically it is a disaster. A lady told me that in 2002 you could get 60 Zim dollars for one US dollar. When we got there it was 204 million Zim dollars for one US. When we left it was 250 million to 1. (I have a number of $50 million dollar bills to give way – making you instant millionaires.) It almost does not matter because there is little to buy there. The shelves in stores are empty. We had to go to 2 or 3 different gas stations to get fuel. It was $650 million per liter or about $10 a gallon. We had electricity less than half the time – we had a lot of candle light dinners and they were not very romantic. We talked to a couple of retirees who had a pension when they retired, but with the inflation, their retirement money is worthless. They live on nothing now.
But these believers are tremendously dedicated to God. They enjoy their faith, they love to worship – it is lively and loud – singing and dancing. I have some of it on video in the back. They enjoy their fellowship and share their faith with others. They give at offering time even though they have little for themselves. Their faith has been tested over the years, but as the scriptures says, the tests have produced perseverance, and that perseverance is producing maturity. I enjoyed talking to the few older people in the churches – they with great smiles on their faces proclaimed that God had been faithful to them for 40, 50, and 60 years. There are fewer middle aged members as AIDS has taken a terrible toll on that age group in Zim. There are a lot of kids and so many eager teens in the churches.
They have a Zimbabwe Chr College in Harare and it is educating good young men and women for the ministry. There were about 40 students on campus plus over 100 taking courses by correspondence or by extension classes. These ministers seem to be dedicated to serving the Lord and their congregations.
Again I say thank you for praying for us. You were an essential part of this trip. Please pray for me – I am still very tired.
I hope we can learn from the Zim Christians. They have learned to be faithful in times of testing, and are a model of what the Chr faith can do for people.
Finally, they are indeed brother and sisters in Christ – we worship the same majestic God. Join me in praying for these people as they live the Chr life.
James 1.1-4
I want to begin by saying thank you for praying for us while we were in Zimbabwe. I could feel the power of God working in all of us and his protection while we worked there. In about 9 days we conducted an all day VBS, preached 8 sermons and taught about 15 lessons in various churches. We traveled 3 or 4000 kilometers and were safe all the time. Thank you.
I bring you greetings from many Chr. brothers and sisters in Christ from many churches in Zimbabwe. Every where we went we met young people and old who wanted to talk about the US. They wanted to know all about this country, and I was surprised at how much they knew about this country. It was not long before I began to see that even though we were separated by thousands of miles and spoke very different languages, we believed the same thing about our Lord Jesus Christ.
I remember here in the church when I was a teenager; Max Ward Randall came to tell us about flying from South Africa to Rhodesia to open up a mission field there. I asked around some and three or four of the older Chrs had seen Max Randall and knew the churches he started. So the mission money this church sent to the Randalls a half a century ago help start churches in the country now called Zimbabwe.
The passage of scripture I want to use this morning is from James 1.1 – 4. Read. James is writing to fellow believers who he had never seen, but they were his bothers and sisters in Christ. I think we need to understand that. There are fellow believers all over the world speaking hundreds of languages but all worshiping the same God.
The most exciting thing I experienced was participating in the Lord’s Supper in Zimbabwe. The first Sunday I was there I was dropped off at the Town Church in Gweru. The congregation has a new brick building that is not finished, but will be very nice when it is done. The leaders greeted me – mostly in English. There were about a hundred people there when we started, but more came in as the service continued. Most of the service was in the Shona language – the songs, prayer, and announcements. (By the way, they use some of the western songs and tunes, but in the Shona tongue.)
I sat on the platform with two other men and on the table before us were a holder for the small cups and a plate for the bread for the Lord’s Supper. At the appropriate time, one of the elders of the church stood up and read from John 6 just as we did today and then prayed in Shona. I did not understand any of what he said, but I knew we were joining together to commune with God. As they served me and all the others in the church I had tears running down my face. I was the only white person in the church building, but all of these people were indeed brothers and sisters in Christ worshiping God through Jesus Christ.
The next Sunday we were in the western part of Zimbabwe at a church in Hwange. At that service the elder of that church stood and read from John 6 and then prayed in the Tonga language. Again I was overcome knowing we were joining together to commune with God. I also thought about you meeting 7 hours later to partake of the Lord’s Supper as we were doing.
Then my mind went all over the world. Sunday starts in the east. I do not know what country comes first, but somewhere about 9 or 10 in the morning in country after country elders read maybe from John 6 and then pray in hundreds of languages in thousands of churches. Japan, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippians, Korea, China, Burma, India, Russia, Europe, the middle east, Africa, South America, North America, and all the way to the last country before it become Monday. We are part of a huge fellowship of God worshippers.
There are a lot of Chrs in Zimbabwe. The churches buildings we saw are generally small, but they can put 2 or 3 hundred people in a very small place. They are going though very difficult political and economic times. They had an election over two months ago, but the President did not release the results for over a month. He lost, but there needed to be a run-off election between the two top vote getters. The constitution says it should be held in three weeks, but it will be delayed until June or July. No one knows if it will be held or if it will be fair or rigged. The Mugabe government has been extremely repressive and violent and it continues to be that. (White farmer we stayed with.)
Economically it is a disaster. A lady told me that in 2002 you could get 60 Zim dollars for one US dollar. When we got there it was 204 million Zim dollars for one US. When we left it was 250 million to 1. (I have a number of $50 million dollar bills to give way – making you instant millionaires.) It almost does not matter because there is little to buy there. The shelves in stores are empty. We had to go to 2 or 3 different gas stations to get fuel. It was $650 million per liter or about $10 a gallon. We had electricity less than half the time – we had a lot of candle light dinners and they were not very romantic. We talked to a couple of retirees who had a pension when they retired, but with the inflation, their retirement money is worthless. They live on nothing now.
But these believers are tremendously dedicated to God. They enjoy their faith, they love to worship – it is lively and loud – singing and dancing. I have some of it on video in the back. They enjoy their fellowship and share their faith with others. They give at offering time even though they have little for themselves. Their faith has been tested over the years, but as the scriptures says, the tests have produced perseverance, and that perseverance is producing maturity. I enjoyed talking to the few older people in the churches – they with great smiles on their faces proclaimed that God had been faithful to them for 40, 50, and 60 years. There are fewer middle aged members as AIDS has taken a terrible toll on that age group in Zim. There are a lot of kids and so many eager teens in the churches.
They have a Zimbabwe Chr College in Harare and it is educating good young men and women for the ministry. There were about 40 students on campus plus over 100 taking courses by correspondence or by extension classes. These ministers seem to be dedicated to serving the Lord and their congregations.
Again I say thank you for praying for us. You were an essential part of this trip. Please pray for me – I am still very tired.
I hope we can learn from the Zim Christians. They have learned to be faithful in times of testing, and are a model of what the Chr faith can do for people.
Finally, they are indeed brother and sisters in Christ – we worship the same majestic God. Join me in praying for these people as they live the Chr life.
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