The Warari Bible School Connection,March,2013.
Rev. Case and Gremar Van Wyk
Contact cgvanwyk5@gmail.com Support crwm@crcna.org
Recently, the week before exams, the school set aside a day for fasting and praying. We began at 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM and from 4:00 PM- 6:00 pm. We spent the day singing, dancing, praying, and listening to short messages.
The principal kicked off the day with a message from Ezra 5: 1-5 The returning exiles from Babylon started to build the temple again at the prophecies (preaching) of Haggai and would not stop, “The eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews…” The message: God watches over those who listen to the Lord their God and put their trust in him. Those who attend this school have plenty of opposition from their traditional African relatives. At times even their Christian relatives oppose them as well for perusing something as frivolous as education at the expense of their farming and I suppose the help they are lacking on the farm. Life for many Ava’adi revolves around making money farming.
Students were designated to pray for the school, for the new Primary/Nursery School, for schools in general, for the students and the upcoming exams. For people in this area to see the importance of education. Please join us in praying these prayers.
The next message was on Daniel in the lion’s den. Daniel’s fearless faithfulness in serving God in spite of the consequences. That is a powerful message for this place and at this time. A message that people need and understand in this environment of oppression. Students have a hard time getting land to farm even with a lot of it left fallow. The monopoly of produce dealers locally prevent people from getting a fair price for their crops and makes it more difficult for students paying school fees. The uncertainty of indiscriminate bombings and killings that go on in the North and are spreading into other parts of the country brings on fear and discouragement.
More students were assigned to pray for the country, for the leaders and for the safety of all of us here in this area. For the local leaders. We thanked God for the calm we have enjoyed, thanked Him for a very good 2nd terms full of blessings and we thanked Him for healing those who were ill. Please join us in praying these prayers.
Margaret one of our fellow teachers preached on the Armor of God Eph. 6: 7- 17, 18 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” That God would prepare us spiritually and that we would prepare ourselves as well by putting on the whole armor of God in our daily lives and in our work at this school. A timely message for this small emerging church and this barely established Bible School under persecution at every turn.
More students prayed: For the evangelism going on and for the Youth for Christ (KYK) planning to reach out to a village this Saturday. For the leaders of the church and for the evangelists, for other outreach programs like Water Wins. Please join us in praying these prayers.
After the break we started again at 4:00 PM. Hezron, one of our fellow teachers preached on Matt. 21:18-21, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer”. The secret of prayer is as Jesus tells us: “if you believe and do not doubt,” you will move mountains! The question posed to us: “do you believe Jesus”?
Students prayed for fellow students especially for the pregnant wives and for the new babies on the compound. They prayed for protection from evil powers and principalities and for assurance of Christ’s presence. Please join us in praying these prayers.
I presented the last message, Jeremiah 1:4-9 How often do we think about what God says to Jeremiah and what he says to every Christian? “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart, I appointed you as a…” whatever it is God calls you to do! How many excuses have we brought to our calling? Jeremiah: “I am only a child.” Us: “I am not able, I am not suited, I am not educated, I don’t have the desire, I am afraid”, and you could go on and on. God counters every excuse and meets us in our doubt as he did with Jeremiah. “ I have put my words in your mouth and I appoint you…” Yes! God appoints you and God equips you! That is a message we all need.
Heavenhigh 
Thank you for the updates.
Thank you for the specifics to lift the ministry of His servants in prayer. We will continue to lift you up in our prayers – you, the people you serve, the land and the people in power and that the Lord God Almighty reigns and continues to show His power at work in your corner of the world as well as my corner of the world. Godspeed as you finish your term strong in His power.
The Lord be with you and may His Spirit empower you.
tdk
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“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me[a] for anything, I will do it.
—Jesus of Nazareth
Do you remember asking Jesus for the BIG stuff when you were a little kid? You asked Jesus to give you three ponies ( a black one, a brown one, and a white one) for Christmas. You asked Jesus to bring back your favorite GI Joe after he washed down the street drain in a storm. When your dog, Tippy, died you asked Jesus to bring him back from the dead. When you heard about all the starving children in the world, you prayed to Jesus to leave an envelope with one million bucks inside on your doorstep the next morning so you could feed all those starving kids.
So why don’t you ask Jesus for the BIG stuff anymore? He said to ask for anything and he would do it!
Answer: When we get a little older we realize that Jesus didn’t really mean what he said. What he meant to say was this,
“If you ask anything in my name, I will do it…if…it is my will to do it. If it isn’t my will, I won’t.”
So as we get older we stop asking Jesus for the big things, the hard things, because we have learned that Jesus never answers those prayers. Ok, maybe once in a great while Jesus answers a big or hard prayer but it is always something that could have happened by chance anyway, isn’t it? Even really rare things can happen by chance. But Jesus never resurrects Grandpa or Grandma from the dead, no matter how hard we pray, does he? Jesus never reattaches a severed limb from an amputee, does he?
No, Jesus doesn’t answer those prayers. That is asking Jesus for just a little too much, isn’t it, dear Christian? That is why when you get older you only ask Jesus for the easy stuff: To bless your food. To give you a “nice day”. To keep your kids safe.
And when it is time to go to bed at night, you get down on your knees by your bed and you ask Jesus to bless everyone in your life; you thank him for having let you and your children live one more day…and then you fall asleep into your pillow…to wake up in the morning…to repeat the same prayer…full of easy requests, so you don’t ask too much of Jesus…who promised to give you anything that you asked for.
But, maybe you’re not asking Jesus for too much. Maybe the reason Jesus doesn’t answer the big or the hard prayer requests is because Jesus can’t hear you. Jesus can’t hear you…because Jesus is dead.
Dear Christian: You are an adult now. Just as you stopped believing in imaginary beings called Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, it is time to stop believing in and praying to an ancient man/god who died 2,000 years ago. The “Virgin Birth”, the “Resurrection”, etc., are ancient folk tales. Jesus doesn’t answer your prayer requests any more than Santa and the Tooth Fairy answered your requests to them when you were a kid.
It’s a silly superstition and nothing more, friend. The fact that Jesus doesn’t answer your “big” prayers is proof.
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Dear Lutheran blogger: I am sorry to see that you appear to have lost your faith! Those of us who follow Jesus ask Him in faith even very little faith, like a mustered seed. Faith is a gift from God: Without the faith of the Holly Spirit instills in us we cannot believe. Ask for that one big thing, the power of the Holly Spirit. Jesus will give it to you!
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