timor-leste

Dili, looking across to Atauro island.

Maubisse

Hato Builico

Liquica

Saw the land...

The land you are ... to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end. Deut 11:11-12

a tais seller

Zito, our translator


one of our helpers... when our 4WD stucked in the mud.

The people...

faith

"Faith never knows where it is being led,
But it knows and loves the One who is leading."

~Oswald Chambers

The Shack continues...

"So why do I have so much fear in my life?"

"Because you don't believe. You don't know that we love you. The person who lives by their fears will not find freedom in my love. I am not talking about rational fears regarding legitimate dangers, but imagined fears, especially the projection of those into the future. To the degree that those fears have a place in your life, you neither believe I am good nor know deep in your heart that I love you. You sing about it; you talk about it, but you don't know it."

http://theshackbook.com/

The Shack

Mackenzie,

It's been a while. I've missed you.

I'll be at the shack next weekend if you
want to get together.
                      -Papa

A Biblical Respond To The Economic Shaking

some notes:

why Timor?

was once asked by someone, why East Timor?
went to Timor Nite on 11th Sept 08 @ SJSM, and ...

Pastor Rick Seaward
1. The Singapore church is responsible for the transformation of East Timor (ET).
2. ET is our neighbour.
3. ET is the poorest nation in Asia.
4. ET is an orphan.
God loves and has compassion on the orphans.
5. God choose the weakest to confrond the strongest.
6. ET is to be a beacon of light in the mist of a muslim neighbour.
7. We are to be a part of the miracle.
8. This is a kairos moment to shape a nation from birth.
9. This is an historic prophetic movement.
10. To whom much is given, much is required.
11. Opportunity & challenge to transform a nation.
12. If not you & your church, then who?

Timor Nite

When God Ran

Benny Hester


Almighty God, the great I am
Immovable rock, omnipotent, powerful awesome Lord
Victorious Warrior, commanding King of Kings
Mighty Conqueror, and the only time
The only time I ever saw Him run

Was when He ran to me, He took me in His arms
Held my head to His chest
Said "My son's come home again"
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said "Son, do you know I still love you?"
He caught me by surprise, when God ran

The day I left home I knew I'd broken His heart
And I wondered then if things could ever be the same
Then one night I remembered His love for me
And down that dusty road ahead I could see
It was the only time
It was the only time I ever saw Him run

And then He ran to me, took me in His arms
Held my head to His chest
Said, "My son's come home again"
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said, "Son, do you know I still love you?"
He caught me by surprise and brought me to my knees
When God ran, I saw Him run to me.

I was so ashamed, all alone and so far away
But now I know He's been waiting for this day

I saw Him run to me, He took me in His arms
Held my head to His chest
And said," My son's come home again"
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice I felt His love for me again
He ran to me, He took me in His arms
Held my head to His chest
Said," My son's come home again"

Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said, "Son"
He called me Son
He said ,"Son do you know I still love you?"
He ran to me
And then I ran to Him
When God ran

God's Deposit!

Scripture
Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of his glory.Ephesians 1:13-14, NIV

I once bought a wonderful old car. It was exactly what I was looking for. I put down a deposit in order to secure the car for when I could collect it. Even though it wasn't fully paid for, it was now mine - the deposit was enough to ensure that when I went to collect the car it would still be there. People often put down a deposit on something they want to buy to secure it for when they can come and pay for it.
A few weeks ago the oldest member of our Ellel Grange prayer team went to be with the Lord. He had joined the team 23 years ago, right at the beginning of the work, just before his seventieth birthday! God had put a wonderful deposit of the Holy Spirit into his life and he served the Lord with great effectiveness all his days. As I was meditating on his fruitful life - and how much we will miss him - I was drawn to this scripture and I realised that God now had full possession of the life into which he had placed a deposit so many years earlier!
It is so encouraging to realise that when a saint passes into the glorious, immediate presence of the Lord, the fullness of what God had planned when he put the deposit into their life has now been realised. Full restoration has taken place, the shackles of the sinful nature have been left behind and the joys of eternity are now theirs. What a wonderful and glorious Gospel!
A friend with whom I was sharing the good news once said to me, "If I believed what you believe, I would be willing to crawl on my hands and knees across a field of broken glass to tell just one person about Jesus!" Praise God, all I had to do was sit with him at his hospital bedside and introduce him to the Saviour. On his last earthly bed he discovered the gateway to eternal life. A couple of days later he was discovering the blessings of God's deposit in his life. One day, I'm looking forward to sharing fellowship with him.

Prayer: Thank you Lord that the deposit you have placed in my life is a guarantee of your ownership and that one day I will know the fullness of sharing eternity with you. In Jesus, Amen

http://www.seedsofthekingdom.com/ 15 Sept 2008

When not enough equals enough!

Scripture
Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and asked God’s blessing on the food. Breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples to give to the people. Luke 9:16, NLT

The amazing story of how Jesus fed 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fish is a personal favourite for many. It’s hard for us to truly understand how the disciples must have felt, when they looked out at the huge crowd, with the words of Jesus ringing in their ears, ‘You feed them!’ From both a physical and practical point of view it was totally impossible – Jesus was well aware of this. He wanted to show the disciples more of who His Father really was.
At the end of their searching for food they were a long, long way short of their target. Yet Jesus was not fazed by this at all. He didn’t complain to His Father about their seeming lack of provision, or tell the disciples to go back out and find some more food. He certainly didn’t look at the practical, realistic viewpoint and tell the people to go home and find their own food. He looked at the situation from God’s point of view, where nothing is impossible, and simply took the loaves and the fish, looked toward heaven and asked God’s blessing on what they did have. The rest was up to His Father. It was, without question, a dramatic miracle – and a giant learning curve for the disciples.
Maybe God is challenging you in your life or ministry. Maybe you’re being asked to do something ‘impossible’. You may not have enough provision. You may be a long, long way short. But, according to this Bible story, that’s not the point. Having done your part, take what you do have, look toward heaven and ask God’s blessing on it. He’s the One who will bring the increase and cause the miracle. Remember, we serve a God who loves to prove that He is who He says He is!

Prayer: Thank you Lord for your amazing provision for the people in this story. Help me to be trusting of you, even when things look impossible. In Jesus' name. Amen

http://www.seedsofthekingdom.com/ 12 sept 2008

God's smuggler to China

Brother Andrew to Brother David
"Then let me remind you that Jesus told us to go into all the world. But where does he say we have to come back again?"

William Willis to Brother David
"Tell me lad, what does your prayer cost you?
The Bible says that when Jesus was in Jerusalem, he wept over it. It also says in Hebrews that Jesus offered up his prayers 'with strong crying and tears'. Is that the way you are going to pray over your mission field?"
"I'm not going to let you go without one more verse, David." It came from Jeremiah 13 - "My soul shall weep in secret places."
Mr Willis concluded: "You mark my words, lad, an intercessor is a man who prays and weeps in the secret place of prayer until God stoops down and dries his tears."

Homosexual

"I have come to the conclusion that the sin of homosexuality - and it is a sin - is not a condition you are born with, but a choice. It is a temptation to people who have been rejected. They have sought for love and are finding it in a counterfeit way, which is lust. In a cruel paradox, rejection leads them to homosexuality, which in turn brings them further rejection from society. And the counterfeit love of homosexuality becomes bondage. Homosexuality is a powerful bondage, but it will never be broken if we as Christians are not able to offer its victims the love and acceptance they were seeking in the first place."

Making Jesus LORD - The dynamic power of laying down your rights -- Loren Cunningham

UPG

"The people I've laid on your heart. I wanted you to see them in a moment of great tragedy when they were most human, most vulnerable, most lovable; when no Communist ideology, nothing on earth except My comforting can ease their pain." ~1976 earthquake Tangshan to brother David

an ad

In the early part of this century, an ad appeared in a London newspaper:
Men wanted for hazardous journey; small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.

The ad was signed by Sir Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer. And thousands responded to the call.

Making Jesus LORD - The dynamic power of laying down your rights -- Loren Cunningham

GoForth 2008

went to GoForth conference on 18th July, Rev Dr Loren Cunningham was the speaker for the evening on Reaching Asia's Next Generation.

An interesting insight, always see Joseph as a faithful man.
... but when he was second in command in whole Egypt, he adopted the Egyptians world view. He bought lands, live stocks, Egyptians for the Pharaoh.

Eventually, Israelites becoming the slaves.

Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
Exodus 3:6

God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
Exodus 3:15

But never God of Joseph...


Blessed to be a blessing.