Envy

Church on Sunday was great.  We were so thankful for the flexibility and availability we have right now to set aside time to focus on my Mom and Al’s visit, but are excited to jump back into ministry after our little break.  George picked up where he left off in James and taught on Sunday morning.  He began by reviewing what we have learned so far and encouraged them to do what we are learning.  Don’t be an empty vessel that hears and lets it fly right out, like water poured into a container with holes.

After the service, we stayed at the pastor’s house for lunch.  We had missed hanging out with them.  Pastor Zac had been gone doing a pastors training school on the other side of Tanzania.  He came back the day before my Mom and Al came.  We saw him briefly at church last week, but looked forward to catching up with him further.  George and Zac had a chance to revisit their vision and brainstormed ministry ideas.  It was exciting to hear them talk and begin to get things in motion.  They will be meeting next week to put ideas down on paper and start acting on them.  One of their main focuses will be youth camps.

In the afternoon, we reassembled for the discipleship class and women’s group.  We had a few new people, making it one of our largest classes yet.  I’ll have to have George do a guest blog about the discipleship class.  It’s half in Kiswahili and I am usually in and out with Eli so I miss a lot of it.  I know they have lots of good discussions.  George is really good at facilitating groups and getting everyone involved.  People are being challenged and living for Christ daily.

The topic for my group was envy.  A friend from the US mailed me an awesome devotional inspired by Proverbs that I’ll be using for the class.  It is full of wisdom.    I decided to talk about envy, because it’s a topic that applies to everyone, especially women.  Many of the women in the group are high school and college age and I know envy and jealousy causes problems between friends that age.  It’s such a selfish emotion and one that can cause a lot of damage.  We looked at what the Bible says about envy, how it destroys the body, but a heart at peace brings life.  Then we strategized about how to battle it.

It was a good class, with both seriousness and humor.  We ended with praise reports and prayer requests.  One woman reported a huge praise.   There was something she had to do that she feared.  We prayed for it a lot and she did it with no problems.  God really answered her cries.  It was wonderful to hear her share that.

We left church Sunday evening feeling revived and excited, thankful for the work God is doing through Yesu Anaweza.