I'm going to Kenya

I'm going to Kenya in a month with Tingting to attend the Littworld Conference. Just as I was going to book our tickets, I read this devotional from John Ortberg on "Walking on Water". Read and be inspired to pray!


The indicator of prayer
by John Ortberg

It is striking to me how – both in Scripture and in present day examples- stories of water-walking are almost always stories about prayer. There is something about getting out of the boat that turns people into intense prayers, because they are aware that they cannot accomplish things without god’s help.

One of my favorite adventures in prayer involves Doug Coe, who has a ministry in Washington D.C. that mostly involves people in politics and statecraft. Doug became acquainted with Bob, an insurance salesman who was completely unconnected with any government circles. Bob became a Christian and began to meet with Doug to learn about his new faith.

One day, Bob came in all excited about a statement in the bible where Jesus says, “Ask whatever you will in my name, and you shall receive it.”

“Is that really true?” Bob demanded.

Doug explained, “Well, it’s not a blank cheque. You have to take it in context of the teachings of the whole scripture and prayer. But yes- it really is true. Jesus really does answer prayer.”
“Great!” Bob said. Then I gotta start praying for something. I think I’ll pray for Africa.”

“That’s kind of a broad target. Why don’t you narrow it down to one country?” Doug advised.

“All right. I’ll pray for Kenya.”

“Do you know anyone in Kenya?” Doug asked.

“No.”

“Ever been to Kenya?”

“No.” Bob just wanted to pray for Kenya.

So Doug made an unusual arrangement. He challenged Bob to pray for six months for Kenya. If Bob would do that and nothing extraordinary happened, Doug would pay him five hundred dollars. But if something remarkable did happen, Bob would pay Doug five hundred dollars. And if Bob did not pray every day, the whole deal was off. It was a pretty unusual prayer program, but then Doug is a creative guy.

Bob began to pray, and for a long while nothing happened. Then one night he was at a dinner in Washington. The people around the table explained what they did for a living. One woman said she helped run orphanage in Kenya - the largest of its kind.

Bob saw five hundred dollars suddenly sprout wings and begin to fly away. But he could not keep quiet. Bob roared to life. He has not said much up to this point, and now he pounded her relentlessly with question after question.

“You’re obviously very interested in my country, “the woman said to Bob, overwhelmed by his sudden barrage of questions. “You’ve been to Kenya before?”

“No.”

“The how do you happen to be so curious?”

“Well, someone is kind of paying me five hundred dollars to pray……”

She asked Bob if he would like to come visit Kenya and tour the orphanage. Bob was eager to go; he would have left that very night if he could.

When Bob arrived in Kenya, he was appalled by the poverty and the lack of basic health care. Upon returning to Washington, he couldn’t get this palace out of his mind. He began to write to large pharmaceutical companies, describing to them the vast need he had seen. He reminded then that every year they would throw away large amounts of medical supplies that went unsold. “Why not send them to this place in Kenya?” he asked.

And some of them did. This orphanage received more than a million dollars’ worth of medical supplies.

The woman called Bob up and said, “Bob, this is amazing! We’ve had the most phenomenal gifts because of the letters you wrote. We would like to fly you back over and have a big party. Will you come?”

So Bob flew back to Kenya. While he was there, the president of Kenya came to the celebration, because it was the largest orphanage in the country, and offered to take Bob on a tour of Nairobi, the capital city. In the course of the tour they saw a prison. Bob asked about a group of prisoners there.

“They’re political prisoners,” he was told.

“That’s a bad idea,” Bob said brightly. “You should let them out.”

Bob finished the tour and flew back home. Sometimes later, Bob received a phone call from the State Department of the United States government:
“Is this Bob?”

“Yes.”

“Were you recently in Kenya?”

“Yes.”

“Did you make any statements to the presidents about political prisoners?”

“Yes.”

“What did you say?”

“I told him he should let them out.”

The State Department officials explained that the department had been working for years to get the release of these prisoners, to no avail. Normal diplomatic channels and political maneuverings had led to a dead end. But now the prisoners had been released, and the stare department was told it had been largely because of ……Bob. So the government was calling to say thanks.

Several months later, the president of Kenya made a phone call to Bob. He was going to rearrange this government and select a new cabinet. Would Bob be willing to fly over and pray for him for three days while he worked on this very important task?

So Bob – who was not politically connected at all - boarded a plane once more and flew back to Kenya, where he prayed and asked God to give wisdom for the leader of the nation as he selected his government. All this happened because one man got out of the boat.

How about you? What are you praying for? Give it six months. I’ll make you a deal - I’ll give you the Bob Challenge. If you pray every day for six months and nothing extraordinary happens, write me. I won’t promise you five hundred dollars, but I will give you a refund on the cost of this book. To the contrary, if something extraordinary does happen, you have to write me and tell me about it.

Walking on the water is not about some great thing you will do. In fact, by yourself you can do nothing of lasting value. It is about what God longs to do with you by his power and grace.
But first you have to get your feet wet.

Chapter 4: Walking on the water.
If you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat by John Ortberg

Ling Nam and curly hair soup

Tonight, Ting and I ate at Ling Nam Greenbelt 1 in Makati to get some chicken noodle soup. We wanted something hot to feel a little better after a long day.

After we were practically finished, Ting saw one black curly piece of hair at the bottom of her soup.

We asked for the bill and called the manager (she looked like the manager)to show her the stray hair.

After paying the bill, we didn't get an apology from the manager.

I was ready to leave a P5 tip.

"It's not the fault of the waiters naman."

Ting has a soft spot for waiters because her father (the late Eduardo Linsangan) was always generous with his tips and kind.

So we left a copy of Buhay Na Hindi Bitin and a P25 tip (would have been P50 but we didn't have any small bills left.)

Rico Villanueva

Signed, dedicated and gave a BNHB to Rico Villanueva tonight. Not the basketball player who played for the Blue Eagles and is now in the PBA.
This Rico is a friend of my bs group mate, Boomer.
He's a banker -- he manages risk (or something like that) for ChinaTrust.
Rico was a guest at our Discussion Group on The Five Love Languages.

Roselle's inspiring story

Watch and be inspired to count your blessings.

For a limited time only

For A Limited Time

READ: James 4:13-17

You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. —James 4:14

On a crisp October morning, our local newspaper featured a stunning photo of sun-drenched aspen trees whose leaves had turned autumn gold.

The caption read: FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY.

The irresistible invitation to take a drive through the mountains to savor the brilliant colors conveyed the urgency of doing it quickly. Autumn leaves that are golden today are often gone tomorrow.Our opportunities to obey God’s promptings are also fleeting.

James warned against an arrogance that assumes endless days will be available to carry out our good intentions.

“You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. . . . Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (4:14,17).

Is there an act of kindness or encouragement that God has urged you to do for someone in His name? How long has it been since that first prompting?

With so many demands on our time, the urgent tasks demand our attention while the important things can be postponed. But a time will come when even the important can no longer be done.When we follow God’s urging with our action now, today will be golden.

— David C. McCasland

If God is prompting you today

To help someone who has a need,

Don’t hesitate, the time is short;

Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

—Sper

Doing what’s right today means no regrets tomorrow.

Keeping promises

Proverbs 25:14 says, “Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boast of gifts he does not give.”

Do you know people like that? They make promises but never keep them. They may say, “I am planning to do it,” but they never get around to it.Be careful about the promises you make. Have you ever told someone you would call back later and then didn’t do it? Have you ever said, “The checks is in the mail,” before it was? Have you ever promised you would pray for someone and then forgotten to? You need to be dependable when you say, “I will return soon” or “We will do it later.”

Keep your word!

Sometimes, as a parent, in a moment of weakness, I make promises to my kids just to get them out of my hair. Do you ever do that? I promise them something that doesn’t even register in my mind. Weeks later I may not remember what I said, but I have learned that my kids never forget anything. Never! When I say, “well, we might, maybe, do something,” they interpret my words to mean we are definitely going to do something. Start packing. You have to keep your promises.

Proverbs 20:25 says, “Its is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vows.” In otter words, it is always easier to get in than to get out. Do you know the number one problem in parent-child relationships? Resentment. And the number one cause of resentment is broken promises.Ecclesiastes 5:5 says, “It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.”

Husbands, what promises do you need to keep? Have you promised to repair a leaky faucet or to help with a special project? What about your kids? Have you promised to spend more time together or to play baseball?When you are dependable, you don’t have to convince people that you are. You don’t have to make a big deal of it. You don’t have to say, “Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.” No, you just say you will do it, and then you do it! Jesus said to let your yes be yes and your no be no (Matt. 5:37). Over time, your track record will speak for itself. Others will feel confident that they can count on you. And God will be making careful notes in heaven.

Let us keep our promises.

Faithfulness really matters in the end. This is our purpose in life. Amen
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From the Purpose Driven Life Blog - August 30, 2008

What a Wonderul World (The good memories of Chava)

Always try to celebrate and remember the good memories that God has blessed you with. Here are some of ours with Chava.