August 2007 - Posts
And Jesus said "let the little children come to me and do not
hinder them for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." When he had
placed his hands on them, he went on from there.Matthew
19:14-15
The Dinka are a very dark skin population and tend to have very sparse facial
and body hair. I love working with the little children, watching them as they
come into the clinic for visits. I love to look into their eyes as their mother
stops and sits down with them. You can see them gazing at me with curiosity. I
tried to imagine what is going through their minds. Often as the younger
children sit in the mother's lap, they will reach out and stroke the hair on my
forearm - you can just see the little wheels turning inside his mind: "Mom, not
only is this guy white; he's got fur." I gaze at these beautiful children,
frequently deeply saddened. I realize that for the lack of a simple mosquito
net, they may well contract malaria and die. For lack of a simple immunization,
they may contract polio or pertusis and die from a disease which is easily
preventable. For lack of clean water, they can get diarrhea and dehydration and
die. But even more importantly than their physical health is the fact that these
children may die before knowing about Christ. They are so young, beautiful and
innocent. My heart just breaks when I think about their future. But I do have
hope: hope that it can be different, hope that through groups like CEF and other
NGO's working in Sudan, Chad, and in other countries we can make an impact - one
life at a time and provide clean water, medication, immunizations, mosquito
nets, and most importantly, the story of Jesus Christ.
Mike McMahon
Children are a gift from God, they are his reward. Psalm 127:3
Prayer Power
Lord, be with the children all over the world. Draw them close to you,
protect them, put a burden on our hearts to do all that we can to reach out and
help them. In Christ's name, amen.
I can do all things through Christ Jesus, who strengthens me.Philippians 4:13
The burden is great: sickness, suffering, accidents, poverty, starvation,
tragedy abounds all around us. In the medical clinic, it frequently seems like
endless days and endless crowds of patients waiting to be seen. It is so easy to
get overwhelmed. At times like this, I remember the story ,"The Star Thrower",
written by Loren Eiseley in the 1960's. Allow me to paraphrase the story and
share it with you: In the northeastern United States, along the coastal region
of Maine there was a great northeastern storm which blew in. For many days, the
mighty winds roared, seas churned and the waves crashed upon the beach. Finally,
the storm cleared and calmness returned. A man went for a walk on the beach to
survey the damage and to see what had washed ashore. As he was walking down the
beach, he saw thousands of starfish washed up all over the beach along with many
shells and miscellaneous treasures from the ocean. As he looked further down the
beach, he could see a man walking towards him. The man would walk up to the dry
sand, pick something up, wade out into the ocean, throw it into the ocean, and
then return and do it again. He would do this over and over and over again.
Finally as he got closer to the man, he could see what he was doing. This man
was reaching down, picking up a starfish, wading out to the ocean and throwing
it back into the ocean. Walking up to the man, he asked - "What are you doing,
how can you possibly think you are going to make any difference? There are
thousands and thousands and thousands of these starfish washed ashore." The man
calmly looked at him, smiled, reached down, picked up one starfish, walked out
into the ocean, and threw it back in. He turned to him and with a smile said,
"Made a difference to that one." To me that is the way we need to look at life.
We need to reach out to one soul at a time, one individual at a time, one life
at a time. If we look out and see the magnitude of that which is before us, it
is easy to get overwhelmed. If we do as Jesus did, seeing each as an individual
and take one life at a time, that is a Godly perspective.
Mike McMahon
Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time
we will reap the harvest if we do not give up. Galatians
6:9
Prayer Power
Lord, help me to never give up in working for you and your kingdom and to
reach out to try and touch one life at a time. In Christ's name, Amen.
And then he said to his disciples, "the harvest is plentiful
but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send out
workers into his harvest field."Matthew
9:37-38
The latest data I could find on Christian missionaries was from 2002. The
world population is approximately six billion people. There are now
approximately 140,000 protestant missionaries. Approximately 64,000 of which are
from the United States but only 6% of these missionaries to go Islamic
countries. It is sad when we consider the greater than one billion Muslims in
the world and the very few number of missionaries who are reaching out to them.
I remember the story in Luke 16 of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man went
down to Hades and Lazarus ascended into the heavens. The rich man from Hades
begged for Lazarus just to put his finger in the water and put a drop of water
onto his tongue and to send a message to his brothers so they could avoid his
fate. I remember reading somewhere the story, that if we could truly imagine
what it would be like to be present when one lost soul is cast out from God's
presence and has to descend into hell for an eternity, it would change out lives
and cause us to want to reach out to others and share with them the saving grace
of Jesus Christ. Lord, we as Christians and our churches, need to awaken from
our apathy, to see that there is a lost and fallen world around us and that
literally millions are dying without the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
Lord, we trust in you and your justice, in your mercy and your wisdom. Lord,
we pray that you will help awaken us from our slumber, give us a passionate fire
inside of us to reach out to those who do not know you.
Mike McMahon
"You can't go on heavenly missions without heavenly fire." - D.
L. Moody
Prayer Power
Lord, we pray for all the people who do not know you. Lord, we pray that they
may come to know you. Lord, help us to reach out to them in whatever way that we
can to share your story with them. In Christ's name, Amen.
Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of
believers fear God, honor the king.1 Peter
2:17
My father spent 24 years in the army and retired as a chief master sergeant.
He was raised in rural Pennsylvania, lived through the depression, lied about
his age to get into the army, went through World War II and Korea and along with
others of his generation worked to rebuild our country after World War II. My
father insisted on respect. In our house there was always, "yes ma'am, no ma'am,
yes sir and no sir" or the consequences were not good for your physical health.
Unfortunately, disrespect has risen in our culture where it is epidemic. Respect
for elders is a strong feature of the Dinka culture. I remember meeting Bishop
Nathaniel Garang on my first trip to Werkok, Sudan. Bishop Nathaniel Garang is a
relative of John Garang, who was the leader of the SPLA resistance movement in
southern Sudan for greater than 20 years. John Garang has, unfortunately,
recently died in a helicopter accident. I observed that when the Dinkas would
meet Bishop Nathaniel Garang, they would take their left hand and place it over
their right elbow, bow, and shake hands. Why do they do this ? To show respect.
This is the way they show respect to their elders. They cherish their elders as
a storehouse of wisdom and experience. How truly different that is here in Sudan
than amongst our culture in America.
Mike McMahon
"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant that I
could hardly stand to have the old man around, but when I got to be twenty-one,
I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years." - Mark Twain
Prayer Power
Lord, help us to learn to show proper respect to everyone. In Christ's name,
amen.
Brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as
I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. My message and my preaching were
not with wise or persuasive words but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power
so that your faith may not rest on man's wisdom but on God's power.1 Corinthians 2:1,4-5
During my trips to Sudan, I have been asked to preach at several churches. On
my first trip to Sudan, I flew into Nairobi, Kenya. I had a two day layover stop
in Nairobi, so I was on my way to stay at the Methodist Guest House and then fly
up to Sudan. At the airport, we rode into town in a van provided by the
Methodist guest house. I rode up front and started a conversation with
Dominique, our driver. Dominique was a bishop at the local Pentecostal church.
He asked me if I had any plans for church the next day, as the next day was
Sunday, and I told him that I did not. He asked me to go to his church and I
gladly accepted. When we arrived at the Methodist Guest House that night, he
told me he had been praying as we were driving to the house and he had felt that
the Lord wanted me to deliver the message at his church the next day! After
several deep breaths and a bullet prayer to Jesus, I accepted his offer. I
prayed about what message God wanted me to share and God gave me peace as I
realized that the message was His, all the power was His and all I had to do was
faithfully tell His story as best I could. The next day, we rode to a small
wooden church in a poor part of Nairobi. There were simple wooden benches, the
earth for a floor, no windows but a beautiful spirit was present in this church.
I read the story of Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus. I emphasized how
important were Paul's two questions for all Christians to answer for themselves.
The first question was - Who are you God? The second was - What do you want me
to do? I talked about how important it is to truly known God and to love God
with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and then find out what is God's
will for your life. What does he want you to do? As I spoke in English and it
was translated in Swahili, I did not worry. I knew the power was not with me but
with the word of God.
Mike McMahon
My word that goes out from my mouth, it will not return to be
empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I
sent it.Isaiah 55:11
Prayer Power
Lord Jesus, thank you for providing the Bible, your holy living word for us.
Help me to truly understand your word and to be able to faithfully share it with
others. Help me to hide it in my heart. Thank you Lord Jesus. In Christ's name,
amen.