Thursday, 21 January 2010
Kenya 2
I’ve just been reading through the Kenyan National curriculum for ‘Christian religious education’. This is for all pupils who are not practicing Muslims or Hindu’s, who go to separate classes for RE. Whilst in the UK Christian teachers must be careful about sharing their personal views due to fears of indoctrinating children the Kenyan government are actively nurturing young Christians. In Standard 8 it’s an objective to ‘pray for Christians undergoing suffering’ ‘appreciate the leading power of the holy spirit’ and ‘be ready to suffer for Jesus Christ’. Its not just the older children either; in Standard 4 they must ‘desire to follow Jesus Christ’ and ‘appreciate that Jesus Christ has power over nature’. It’s amazing just how much they can do when England is a Christian nation and we end up being so wrapped up in being politically correct. My personal favourite is for Standard 3 children (who only attend school in the mornings) specific objective D = ‘worship God always’! yes their equivalent of key stage one children have to worship god always. Lets just pray that the children have support in developing their personal faith and its not just academic learning.
Kenya 1
Well its Sunday evening and Im just about getting used to being here. We started the day with a 3 ½ hour church service! I understood very little of it but it was a great experience. There was a girl there that had to go through some sort of forgivness exercise. From what I could work out she had either got married not in the church or had got married to someone her parents didn’t approve of. It took about half an hour for her to express how sorry she was and then for the parents and the church elders and every man and his dog to publically forgive her. Then each member of the parish youth was introduced as it was their monthly service and this took another 30 mins. By the time the sermon started we had been there 2 ½ hours although fortunately for me that was in English and translated into Kiswahili. At the point that they stated a public showing of how much money each person had given to the youth project we decided to leave. Although we couldn’t go home as we were expected for a meal. We went outside and Arwyn started sharing bible stories with the children. it was great to see such interest from them even though few spoke English. I also had the first person ask to touch my hair. Wherever you go in Kenya people should ‘Musungu’ meaning white man yet they rarely see ginger hair and never as long as mine. Anyway they got away with shared responsibility as a Doris asked on behalf of her friend Sharron, and they both promptly fell about with laughter.
Then came lunch. I dread to think what it was, but some kind of fatty meat with a huge bone, which could only have been a knee or skull, but they’d given us their best so it was only right of me to eat up.
Nothing much else to report from today, had my first shower. Suitably exposing but adequately hot and we didn’t loose power half way through which is always a bonus.
Xx Hannah
Then came lunch. I dread to think what it was, but some kind of fatty meat with a huge bone, which could only have been a knee or skull, but they’d given us their best so it was only right of me to eat up.
Nothing much else to report from today, had my first shower. Suitably exposing but adequately hot and we didn’t loose power half way through which is always a bonus.
Xx Hannah
blogging
Hi Guys,
Sorry for my distinct lack of blogging. I feel I should offer some sort of explanation for this although Im not really sure of the real reason. Id like to think its because Ive been talking to God more and to real people so I haven’t felt the need to share with the imaginary world although its more likely that Ive been busy and got swept away in my worldliness.
In November I went out to Kenya (blog to follow) and in just under 3 weeks Im going back out there to teach at a primary school and help at an orphan program. Im hoping to have internet access out there so look out for further blogs about what Im learning over there xxx.
Sorry for my distinct lack of blogging. I feel I should offer some sort of explanation for this although Im not really sure of the real reason. Id like to think its because Ive been talking to God more and to real people so I haven’t felt the need to share with the imaginary world although its more likely that Ive been busy and got swept away in my worldliness.
In November I went out to Kenya (blog to follow) and in just under 3 weeks Im going back out there to teach at a primary school and help at an orphan program. Im hoping to have internet access out there so look out for further blogs about what Im learning over there xxx.
Glory and purpose
Purpose it’s that little flame that lights a fire
Purpose it keeps you going strong
Everyone else has a purpose so what’s mine?
Got to find out, don’t want to wait
Got to make sure that my life will be great
Got to find my purpose, Got to find me!
These words come courtesy of Avenue Q, unfortunately most of the musical isn’t so prolific and parts are a little dodge, but the words do have a message. They are words Ive listened to over and over again but never stopped to think about till now. After reading a book ‘Calm my anxious Heart’ I was spurred on to write a list of aims or goals for my year and choose a verse of scripture to accompany them. Im not saying you should necessarily do this but I certainly found it helpful.
It may surprise you that now im going to criticize my list. I now see that, although valid, they are all about me. In the Christian life our aim should be to glorify God in all that we do. I could argue that all my aims are Godly and so should bring glory but by making it about me I miss out on directly worshiping my maker.
So how do we Glorify God? Well I certainly don’t feel qualified to answer such a question thoroughly but we can begin by simply raising God up. By making him bigger in every situation brings glory to him. For example, if we were to worry about a situation, that it may not go well or that the consequences may harm us, we are not glorifying God. Yet if we say that God is bigger than the problem; that you trust that he is capable of working his purpose out; or that we are happy with everything and anything god gives us, we are glorifying God by acknowledging how big and powerful he is.
Take some time out from your busy schedule of moaning and life to look at the might and power of God. He made the heavens and the earth and is worthy of Praise. Amen.
Purpose it keeps you going strong
Everyone else has a purpose so what’s mine?
Got to find out, don’t want to wait
Got to make sure that my life will be great
Got to find my purpose, Got to find me!
These words come courtesy of Avenue Q, unfortunately most of the musical isn’t so prolific and parts are a little dodge, but the words do have a message. They are words Ive listened to over and over again but never stopped to think about till now. After reading a book ‘Calm my anxious Heart’ I was spurred on to write a list of aims or goals for my year and choose a verse of scripture to accompany them. Im not saying you should necessarily do this but I certainly found it helpful.
It may surprise you that now im going to criticize my list. I now see that, although valid, they are all about me. In the Christian life our aim should be to glorify God in all that we do. I could argue that all my aims are Godly and so should bring glory but by making it about me I miss out on directly worshiping my maker.
So how do we Glorify God? Well I certainly don’t feel qualified to answer such a question thoroughly but we can begin by simply raising God up. By making him bigger in every situation brings glory to him. For example, if we were to worry about a situation, that it may not go well or that the consequences may harm us, we are not glorifying God. Yet if we say that God is bigger than the problem; that you trust that he is capable of working his purpose out; or that we are happy with everything and anything god gives us, we are glorifying God by acknowledging how big and powerful he is.
Take some time out from your busy schedule of moaning and life to look at the might and power of God. He made the heavens and the earth and is worthy of Praise. Amen.
Life and death
What do you want out of your life?
What do you want to do before you die?
What would you regret if you died tomorrow?
At a first glance these may seem like very morbid questions but bare with me. I was challenged by these questions a few months ago when studying Philippians. Paul says ‘to live is Christ and to die is gain’. Well I really struggled with this concept. Ive always wanted to teach, since I was about 5 years old, and so dying after my training but before I have a full time teaching job wasn’t something I thought of as gain. I just wasn’t in a position to see dying as beneficial, I wanted to live a full and happy life and achieve all my goals (also Ive always wanted to receive a telegram from the queen when I reach 100). Anyway, Id forgotten about it but when preparing to go to Kenya the idea resurfaced. Going to a county that’s not safe makes you think a bit more about life and death. But this time when I started thinking I realised that if I went out there and something did happen then it would be an enormous gain! I would die serving God and because of Jesus Christ I would be able to enter into eternal life in the presence of him. Now Im not saying I want to die or that I expected something to happen but I just felt the need to prepare myself. It also made me realise how much I hold onto material or worldly things. Jesus says to store your treasures in heaven and to fix your eyes on Gods priorities, yet, I just seem to be worried about what I want. When I was baptised I said I wanted to live my life for him so that’s what Im doing. I haven’t got it sorted but Im on the right road.
What’s the most important thing in your life? Have you got your priorities straight?
What do you want to do before you die?
What would you regret if you died tomorrow?
At a first glance these may seem like very morbid questions but bare with me. I was challenged by these questions a few months ago when studying Philippians. Paul says ‘to live is Christ and to die is gain’. Well I really struggled with this concept. Ive always wanted to teach, since I was about 5 years old, and so dying after my training but before I have a full time teaching job wasn’t something I thought of as gain. I just wasn’t in a position to see dying as beneficial, I wanted to live a full and happy life and achieve all my goals (also Ive always wanted to receive a telegram from the queen when I reach 100). Anyway, Id forgotten about it but when preparing to go to Kenya the idea resurfaced. Going to a county that’s not safe makes you think a bit more about life and death. But this time when I started thinking I realised that if I went out there and something did happen then it would be an enormous gain! I would die serving God and because of Jesus Christ I would be able to enter into eternal life in the presence of him. Now Im not saying I want to die or that I expected something to happen but I just felt the need to prepare myself. It also made me realise how much I hold onto material or worldly things. Jesus says to store your treasures in heaven and to fix your eyes on Gods priorities, yet, I just seem to be worried about what I want. When I was baptised I said I wanted to live my life for him so that’s what Im doing. I haven’t got it sorted but Im on the right road.
What’s the most important thing in your life? Have you got your priorities straight?
Sensible worrying
Do not worry about anything but present your requests to god by prayer and petition present your requests to god
What does worrying solve? I suffer for being a major worrier. Sometimes I can pass this off as being a realist yet other times I simply worry. I don’t like it when I don’t know what’s going to happen and I do like to be in control. What I am slowly learning and trying to put into practice is that the worrying actually solves nothing. In fact more often that not worry about a situation makes it worse that the initial problem. What the verse of scripture above explains is that its not the worry that achieves anything. Instead we need prayer, we need to give these things that might worry us to him and allow him to deal with them. As a result of reading a book on worry/anxiety I have created a box and placed it next to a pile of paper. The idea is that instead of worrying about things this will be an active method of giving things to god. I can write down the situation (note that it’s the situation and not the worry I write down) and put it in the box. Now obviously I need to pray alongside this action but I believe it will help in my giving thing to god to handle rather than me worrying about it. I trust god can handle each situation so now I am trying to but the belief into practice.
The only difficulty with this is then leaving it with god. Far too often we metaphorically put things in the box only to take them back out again and continue worrying. My challenge for myself this year is to put everything in the box no matter how small or trivial it sounds and to leave it there. We must not sit around expecting everything to happen on its own but we neither gain anything from worrying. The verse from Philippians continues.
And the peace of god that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
All too often we remember the first half yet forget that we are given the joyous consequences of acting in this way. If we are able to stop ourselves worrying and we give each situation to god we are free the receive the peace that he sends and by doing this our hearts and minds will be guarded in Christ. Do we enjoy the anxiety that comes when we don’t give things to God? I certainly would rather receive peace than be troubled with worry and anxiety. In this respect it seams silly that so often I keep things to myself and prevent this peace.
This post (although rather long) is called sensible worrying, but what I hope you understand from having read right to the end is that worrying isn’t sensible! It doesn’t move us any closer to the solution or prevent the problem. Sensible worrying is taking steps to avoid to continual worry and being practical in overcoming the worry and allowing Gods peace flood your life.
What does worrying solve? I suffer for being a major worrier. Sometimes I can pass this off as being a realist yet other times I simply worry. I don’t like it when I don’t know what’s going to happen and I do like to be in control. What I am slowly learning and trying to put into practice is that the worrying actually solves nothing. In fact more often that not worry about a situation makes it worse that the initial problem. What the verse of scripture above explains is that its not the worry that achieves anything. Instead we need prayer, we need to give these things that might worry us to him and allow him to deal with them. As a result of reading a book on worry/anxiety I have created a box and placed it next to a pile of paper. The idea is that instead of worrying about things this will be an active method of giving things to god. I can write down the situation (note that it’s the situation and not the worry I write down) and put it in the box. Now obviously I need to pray alongside this action but I believe it will help in my giving thing to god to handle rather than me worrying about it. I trust god can handle each situation so now I am trying to but the belief into practice.
The only difficulty with this is then leaving it with god. Far too often we metaphorically put things in the box only to take them back out again and continue worrying. My challenge for myself this year is to put everything in the box no matter how small or trivial it sounds and to leave it there. We must not sit around expecting everything to happen on its own but we neither gain anything from worrying. The verse from Philippians continues.
And the peace of god that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
All too often we remember the first half yet forget that we are given the joyous consequences of acting in this way. If we are able to stop ourselves worrying and we give each situation to god we are free the receive the peace that he sends and by doing this our hearts and minds will be guarded in Christ. Do we enjoy the anxiety that comes when we don’t give things to God? I certainly would rather receive peace than be troubled with worry and anxiety. In this respect it seams silly that so often I keep things to myself and prevent this peace.
This post (although rather long) is called sensible worrying, but what I hope you understand from having read right to the end is that worrying isn’t sensible! It doesn’t move us any closer to the solution or prevent the problem. Sensible worrying is taking steps to avoid to continual worry and being practical in overcoming the worry and allowing Gods peace flood your life.
When the going gets tough, the tough...
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is gods will for you in Jesus Christ
Pauls instructions seem so simple, so easy to understand yet often so difficult to follow. The important thing to remember is that when times get tough we mustn’t get going. Running from god never solved anything (reread Jonah if you don’t believe me). What we really need is prayer. We need to ask god to be with us in our difficulties and learn to thank god through our difficult times. So many older Christians have told me that it is in those difficult times that we draw nearer to God and learn the secret of trusting in him. We must also accept that although we may not understand that this is Gods plan for us and his plan is for us to prosper and not to harm us (Jeremiah 29). This in itself should be worthy of our praise!
But its not easy to play the Pollyanna game and see the best in every situation. How easy do you find it to say thank you to God for what he has done for you. My challenge to you is to spend a 10 mins each day for a week to write down 10 things to be thankful of for that day. It doesn’t matter how big or small the things are that your thankful for, the important thing is to train ourselves to thank God whether we have had a ‘nice’ day or not. Every day is Gods teaching day, but can you make it a God thanking day?
Pauls instructions seem so simple, so easy to understand yet often so difficult to follow. The important thing to remember is that when times get tough we mustn’t get going. Running from god never solved anything (reread Jonah if you don’t believe me). What we really need is prayer. We need to ask god to be with us in our difficulties and learn to thank god through our difficult times. So many older Christians have told me that it is in those difficult times that we draw nearer to God and learn the secret of trusting in him. We must also accept that although we may not understand that this is Gods plan for us and his plan is for us to prosper and not to harm us (Jeremiah 29). This in itself should be worthy of our praise!
But its not easy to play the Pollyanna game and see the best in every situation. How easy do you find it to say thank you to God for what he has done for you. My challenge to you is to spend a 10 mins each day for a week to write down 10 things to be thankful of for that day. It doesn’t matter how big or small the things are that your thankful for, the important thing is to train ourselves to thank God whether we have had a ‘nice’ day or not. Every day is Gods teaching day, but can you make it a God thanking day?
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