As you pray -4 January 2009

My dear friends

As we bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new one, once again I marvel at the miracle of sustenance. I thank and praise the Lord,

Thank God for the network of support in various aspects that I am privileged to get from His children. Only He has the full list. Thank you to all of you. May He bless and reward you.

This time, I would like to single out my two German translators, Harald Thiede and Johannes Wunderlich. The dedication of these brothers is touching; their efficiency is praiseworthy. May the Lord bless them and their families.

In his introduction this morning Onkel Erlo shared with the congregation some moving examples of what God is doing in people's lives nowadays. We thank God and pray that He marches on in our midst.

Onkel Erlo also reminded us about Hendrik Combrink and Sharon Stegen this coming Sunday. Remember this young pair.

It was such a joy to hear from a dear senior couple from Potchefstroom, Oom Tienie and Tannie Elize Loots. Amongst others, we know them for their heart for missions. This has spilled over to their children. Their son Pieter is a missionary in Malawi and the daughter Marelet is in the Middle East. As the Lord reminds us let us pray for them.

We thank God for the blessed conference (26-30 December) in Bilten, Switzerland. Onkel Klaus Wunderlich sent me some photos and summaries of difference sessions. It warmed my heart to see that people had travelled from as far away as Romania and Russia to be at the conference. May heavenly rains and sunshine bless the good seed of His word that was sown.

Towards the end of the week Onkel Friedel and the team headed for Northern Germany for a weekend of services in Druhwald. It is our prayer that more and more hearts will turn to God. May we as believers grow and be rooted ever deeper in our faith.

We are thinking of Onkel Friedel and the team as they travel to their different homes and countries.

Greetings from Dr Peet Botha, his wife Andra and Jakobus de Wet, who are currently ministering in the USA. They have quite a hectic schedule but they rejoice at seeing God at work. We pray on.

Two stories from eSermons on New Year resolutions struck a chord with me.

"At the beginning of a New Year, a high school principal decided to post his teachers' New Year's resolutions on the bulletin board. As the teachers gathered around the bulletin board, a great commotion started. One of the teachers was complaining. "Why weren't my resolutions posted?" She was throwing such a temper tantrum that the principal hurried to his office to see if he had overlooked her resolutions. Sure enough, he had mislaid them on his desk. As he read her resolutions he was astounded. This teacher's first resolution was not to let little things upset her in the New Year."

We sometimes miss the great opportunities of life because we get sidetracked. I once heard the tale of a talented and gifted bloodhound in England that started a hunt by chasing a full-grown male deer. During the chase a fox crossed his path, so he began now to chase the fox. A rabbit crossed his hunting path, so he began to chase the rabbit. After chasing the rabbit for a while, a tiny field mouse crossed his path, and he chased the mouse to the corner of a farmer's barn. The bloodhound had begun the hunt chasing a prized male deer for his master and wound up barking at a tiny mouse. It is a rare human being who can do three or four different things at a time--moving in different directions."

Central to my New Year's message for Radio Khwezi this time, it was my privilege to share with the Zulu listeners an isiZulu version of M Louise Haskins' beautiful poem 'The Gate Of The Year.'