Ma Hula

Thank God this station was pumping petrol

Three days ago, Saturday, we arrived at Ma Hula (one with the hat}a small village of the main road. There is a mission house here large enough for a family. Because of the problems in Jos no one was able to come up and prepare the house for occupation. No one has lived here full time for over a year but visitors and volunteers have been here on a regular basis. As you can see from the picture we had to haul up a fridge and a couple of bottles propane for the fridge and the stove.
We left at 7:30 AM. and arrived about 6:00 PM. Included are some pictures of the scenery along the way. Most of the road was good, but the last 60 kl. was broken up pavement we thank God we arrived safely. We hooked up the fridge, Gremar made some soup and we crashed but first I replaced the old truck batteries running the lights with new ones so that we could have lights and run our 12volt fan that night since it was around 83 degrees F.

Our new abode at sunset, the day we arrived

We only Ran it for a little while because it cooled of during the night to the point I got up to find some blankets. It was right at 70 deg. F. this morning with a stiff breeze. A lot of harmattan (dust blown in from the Sahara Desert) has blown in so that the temperatures stays below 100 deg. F. right about 92 today at midday.

Church at the Bible School was great, just like we remember it and it lasted only two hours and started thirty minutes late We felt like we were back in Newaygo.

Monday we did a lot of cleaning and organizing, it was a good day.

Things are now a little organized and put away

Today Tuesday, was spent in Kantagoro duplicating the TLT manual for the students. The first class starts on Thursday and I am looking forward to it. Gremar and Laura will take over the health class to the wives on Friday because the present teacher is a week past her delivery date. God is good everything is working out. Tomorrow I hope to see the classis chairman about a continuing education class for P aastors and evangelists in this area. 

The trip from Jos
Tankers waiting to load on our trip from Jos

We Thank God

We had good flights all the way; GR-Detroit-Amsterdam-Abuja. On all the flights we sat on the window side, two seats together so we were not stuck in between other passengers. Abuja airport was a breeze. No hassle over anything nor was any luggage opened. The Baptist guesthouse was spartan, hot and it turned out full of mosquitoes. We both started to itch and Gremar said I think we have mosquitoes, I didn’t think so because we did not feel anything, the power was off so I found my flash light and sure enough, bug spay on the dresser, a sure indication we would need it. We arrived in Jos yesterday, a lot of burned out houses close to Jos. Sad. We are still under a 6 PM to 6 AM curfew. We are at a walled in compound, a wall 10 ft. toped with razor wire and guards at the gate. Six families live here and we are in the guest house, the generator has been on every evening until 11:00 pm. A second generator is run for the rest of the night to keep the security lights on.

Today we went shopping. We had to park a ways from the shop because the street was blocked by cars and trucks some unloading. After we bought some groceries and for other missionaries we hired a push cart to haul it to the pick up but he could not get through the congestion, so we paid two men to head load the stuff to the pick up which worked well- when in Rome do as the Romans do.

While we are here I have started to read two very different books, one is “The Year of Living Like Jesus -My journey of discovering What Jesus Would Really do” The second book is not a book but a unique kind of Bible: “The Story”- Read the Bible as One Seamless Story from Beginning to End. No verses, or divisions and only 31 chapters. The first book is by Ed Dobson the former Pastor of Calvary Church on the East Beltline and the freeway in GR. He is suffering from ALS disease. How does one pray for healing from a debilitating and incurable fatal disease, he asks? Do we need a huge amount of faith for that prayer or there will be no healing? Or do we pray for healing with the condition that it is according to Gods will? He has chosen to pray the prayer of Bartimaeus: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” P. 74/75. (Mark 10:47-48) This prayer implies healing; he was blind. It is also the pray of the tax collector: “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:9-13). This prayer is requesting spiritual healing. Both prayers are appropriate for all of us; we often need physical healing and always spiritual healing. Both prayers stand in extreme contrast to the prayer of the Pharisee, who thanks God for what he is not and points out to God all the good things he does. The first chapter of The Story is: “The beginning of life as we know it.” It moves from perfection and harmony to disharmony and brokenness; the reality of sin shapes life as we know it today. The two books merge on that point; the brokenness of illness and the reality of sin. There is an answer to it all: Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner, mercy that is based on the Mother Promise: “And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.” (Gen.3: 15) Praise God!

Do you love me more than these?

01/31/10 NCCN 11:00, Matt. 10: 37-42

God speaks to us: Do you love me more than these?

Intro: Jesus words are in the context of sending out his 12 disciples but here in Matt 10 he is sending them to the Israelites. He tells them to be on guard because there will be suffering and discord. He says to them; don’t think I have come for peace because I will turn families against each other. So Jesus’ discourse about family is in the context of believers and unbelievers in the same family. Jesus asks Peter this question when he was reinstated after denying Jesus and this morning Jesus asks us that question as well: Do you love me more than these? More than what? For Peter; his occupation, his fellow disciples, his family? Put in there whatever it is you love most. What do you love most? Jesus says do you love me more than that? That is what this is all about, but we should not think that loving Jesus is at the expense of family. I mean immediate family and only those who believe. Non-believers whether family or not, will always oppose us as believers.

I. Not worthy of Jesus, v. 37

A. Father and mother.

So Jesus says to us: if you love your father and mother more than me you are not worthy of me. You are not worthy of following me. It does not mean that you do not love your parents but you do not allow them to stop your service to God. Example: Gremar’s mother wanted her to be around and if you could look in her heart she would try to stop here from going to Africa. She did not because she was a believer but if she was not a believer she would try to stop her.

B. Sons and daughters.

1. But Jesus becomes more intimate than parents, he includes children. If you love them more than me, Jesus says you are not worthy. Personally, I don’t think God expects service at the expense of our children and spouses.

2. What he expects is that we serve as families. Our families thought we were crazy taken Steve to Nigeria at six months of age. We may even have siblings who think we waste our time at church and are irresponsible giving to the church. We can’t listen to that kind of talk. We must do our service as families. As missionaries and as a pastor we have always done ministry as a family, our kids knew why we did what we did they helped us do it.

Jesus also says…..

II. Take up your cross and follow me. v. 38

A. What does that mean really?

Crosses stand for suffering. This weeks study at family night showed us 5 different kinds of crosses but all of them entail horrible suffering. Jesus is saying; don’t quit following me when it becomes hard, when it starts to hurt us, or starts to cost us. Be willing to suffer if necessary.

B. Take up your cross

So whatever situation confronts, you do not have an option but to do what you are capable of doing. Not more but not less than you are able.

C. Follow me!

But it is not only worship and doing things to help others, it is following Jesus. That means we do what He did, we give of ourselves as Jesus gave of Himself. Pick up your cross and follow me. Do what I would do and do not count the cost Jesus says.

III. Finding and losing your life. v 39

A. He who finds his life

If you are always thinking about yourself, always thinking on what you want or on what you think is right and on what is best for you, then you have found your life and you are holding onto it. If you do that, Jesus says: you lose it. You have already lost it.

B. He who loses his life.

But Jesus says if you give up your life, it may mean giving up your ambitions or your dreams and replace it with what God wants you to do for Him. That is how you gain your life. You let go of it so that you get to keep it. Jesus is talking about spiritual death and spiritual life. Faithful service always means believing in Jesus. To follow Jesus means to let go of yourself completely.

IV. Receiving Jesus and the Father. V. 40-41

A. Receiving a prophet and a righteous man.

If you receive Jesus, believe on Him then you receive God the Father. If you receive a prophet, a church worker, a pastor, fellow church members you will receive a reward. What Jesus is talking about is not salvation but rewards for serving him after we believe.

CONCLUSION: It is not talk but action. Don’t tell me how much you believe in Jesus, don’t tell me how much you love him. Show me! Show everyone! Give that cup of water that Jesus talks about. Serve Jesus as families, get the whole family involved. You will not lose your reward. Amen!

We love you Pastor Case and Gremar

This is the day that the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it

Psalm 118: 21-26

This passage speaks to the writer and to the people of his day: God’s salvation from their enemies both physical and Spiritual.  It speaks to the people of the New Testament, Jesus is the fulfillment of the  passage. He is the cornerstone, what He did is marvelous in their eyes and He is their salvation. The passage speaks to us as well, it is fulfilled in our rescue from the enemy, Satan. It is marvelous in our eyes and Jesus is our salvation. Therefore, we rejoice in every new  day and in every new experience.

This is what Gremar and I are facing as we prepare to travel to Nigeria again. It is  a new day and a new experience to serve God in a specific place with people God has placed there and for a specific time.  We ask that you pray for us as we prepare to travel. Pray for safety and that the Spirit will prepare the way ahead.  Pray for Nigeria as a whole and for peace and reconciliation for the people in and around Jos, Plateau State. Pray for the people we will minister with; the Avadi, Kuhun, Lela and for Rev Matthew and Laura  Lanser  and their son David in Niger State. We will pray for you as well. Contact us at: cgvanwyk5@gmail.com Praise God!