Friday - November 8, 2013
Marangu is a beautiful place. It sits on the southeastern foothills of majestic Mt. Kilimajaro, and is blessed with fertile ground and much rain. The days here have been very nice. It has rained consistently at night, and is cool in the morning, but the days have been very comfortable. I have needed a coat in the morning, but by mid-day it is too warm for it and I am ready for short sleeves. The air is damp, and there is no ventilation in my room, so everything in my room has a damp feel to it. A good dehumidifier could take care of that no problem, but, alas, none is available....
Yesterday morning we began a two-day seminar in Marangu for the Moshi District. The men who came from a distance stayed here at the Banana Jungle last night, and I noticed that none of them chose the hut-like rooms that I had chosen.... They all opted to stay in the little houses, instead of the huts. No appreciation for a little originality I guess!
It was a good conference. I covered the same two articles that I had discussed in Arusha with these men. There were excellent questions and edifying discussions. At the end of the conference today, several of the men expressed their thankfulness for the material presented and the time taken to organize the seminar. This is the first time that such a seminar has been hosted in Marangu, and it was requested that this be done every year while I am here.
I had to move from my hut today. It had a few problems. The glass was missing in one of the windows in the bathroom. The water heater had a slow leak. The cold water handle on the shower wouldn’t budge. I biggest problem was the shower. I couldn’t take a shower without getting scalded without fixing the cold water handle. I didn’t want to bother anyone, and I have some experience fixing things, so I set to work on the handle. The problem was that I didn’t have any tools. Not one. I wrestled with it, but it was no use. If only I had my tool box from home, I thought. I could fix this. Finally I had to give up and call in reinforcements. No problem they said. They would take care of it. One person came to fix it, then another. Finally, they were picking up my things and moving me to a different hut. It couldn’t be fixed - not with the tools that were our disposal, anyway.
The same is true with the spiritual problem of sin. We try to fix our problem with all kinds of remedies. We try to cover it up, excuse it, or compare actions with the actions of others, instead of with God’s perfect will. We try to make up for these failures with more “good works” or seek atonement for them by making things right with those we have wronged. But none of these “solutions” fix the problem. There is only one solution to the problem of sin – Christ. And Christ is revealed to us in His Word.
I don’t fix people. I don’t solve their problems. I simply bring them the Word, the most powerful tool of all, and the only tool for the job. The Holy Spirit does the rest.
Work in Africa has many challenges: language, culture, distance, and time available all pose major hurdles to the work here. It is all the more rewarding then when I have the privilege to work with people who hunger for the Word. They are eager to grow and learn more about the God who has created them and redeemed them from their sin through the cross. They long to possess the most powerful tool of all, the only One that can fix their problem of sin.
As a teacher of the Bible, I have confidence that my teaching is not in vain, because I am using the most powerful tool in the world - the very Word of God. The Word that God used to call this world into existence in the beginning is the same Word that God uses still today to create new hearts in those who are dead in trespasses and sins and without hope in this world. This second creation is no less of a miracle than the first! But we often doubt its power because we don’t always see a visible change from spiritual death to spiritual life. We don’t always see the spiritual growth in those around us as we would a full blooming flower burst forth from a simple bud. And yet it does. The Word of God is at work creating and sustaining faith on the inside through the hearing of the Word!
Thank God for that same miracle in us!
In His service,
Nathanael
Marangu is a beautiful place. It sits on the southeastern foothills of majestic Mt. Kilimajaro, and is blessed with fertile ground and much rain. The days here have been very nice. It has rained consistently at night, and is cool in the morning, but the days have been very comfortable. I have needed a coat in the morning, but by mid-day it is too warm for it and I am ready for short sleeves. The air is damp, and there is no ventilation in my room, so everything in my room has a damp feel to it. A good dehumidifier could take care of that no problem, but, alas, none is available....
Yesterday morning we began a two-day seminar in Marangu for the Moshi District. The men who came from a distance stayed here at the Banana Jungle last night, and I noticed that none of them chose the hut-like rooms that I had chosen.... They all opted to stay in the little houses, instead of the huts. No appreciation for a little originality I guess!
One of the little houses that all the other pastors chose to stay in.
It was a good conference. I covered the same two articles that I had discussed in Arusha with these men. There were excellent questions and edifying discussions. At the end of the conference today, several of the men expressed their thankfulness for the material presented and the time taken to organize the seminar. This is the first time that such a seminar has been hosted in Marangu, and it was requested that this be done every year while I am here.
The pastors who met at the Banana Jungle Lodge for our seminar.
I had to move from my hut today. It had a few problems. The glass was missing in one of the windows in the bathroom. The water heater had a slow leak. The cold water handle on the shower wouldn’t budge. I biggest problem was the shower. I couldn’t take a shower without getting scalded without fixing the cold water handle. I didn’t want to bother anyone, and I have some experience fixing things, so I set to work on the handle. The problem was that I didn’t have any tools. Not one. I wrestled with it, but it was no use. If only I had my tool box from home, I thought. I could fix this. Finally I had to give up and call in reinforcements. No problem they said. They would take care of it. One person came to fix it, then another. Finally, they were picking up my things and moving me to a different hut. It couldn’t be fixed - not with the tools that were our disposal, anyway.
The same is true with the spiritual problem of sin. We try to fix our problem with all kinds of remedies. We try to cover it up, excuse it, or compare actions with the actions of others, instead of with God’s perfect will. We try to make up for these failures with more “good works” or seek atonement for them by making things right with those we have wronged. But none of these “solutions” fix the problem. There is only one solution to the problem of sin – Christ. And Christ is revealed to us in His Word.
My new "home" because of the problem that couldn't be fixed...
I don’t fix people. I don’t solve their problems. I simply bring them the Word, the most powerful tool of all, and the only tool for the job. The Holy Spirit does the rest.
Work in Africa has many challenges: language, culture, distance, and time available all pose major hurdles to the work here. It is all the more rewarding then when I have the privilege to work with people who hunger for the Word. They are eager to grow and learn more about the God who has created them and redeemed them from their sin through the cross. They long to possess the most powerful tool of all, the only One that can fix their problem of sin.
As a teacher of the Bible, I have confidence that my teaching is not in vain, because I am using the most powerful tool in the world - the very Word of God. The Word that God used to call this world into existence in the beginning is the same Word that God uses still today to create new hearts in those who are dead in trespasses and sins and without hope in this world. This second creation is no less of a miracle than the first! But we often doubt its power because we don’t always see a visible change from spiritual death to spiritual life. We don’t always see the spiritual growth in those around us as we would a full blooming flower burst forth from a simple bud. And yet it does. The Word of God is at work creating and sustaining faith on the inside through the hearing of the Word!
Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:6-11).
Thank God for that same miracle in us!
In His service,
Nathanael
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