Different so we can serve each other

Poatina Morning Tea devotion given today

I don’t feel like jumping on a plane and flying to South Africa
And the request for a suitcase is real.
I have destroyed 2 in my last 2 trips oversees, so if you have a sturdy one that would be great.
Getting read to go to South Africa,
I was really affected by visit to Robin Island.
What would i have done if I was Nelson Mandella
Does life happen to you, or do you make life happen?
In South Africa
White people were in power, and they used that power to oppress the black and coloured people as a way of staying in power.
They were not treated as Human Beings
And yet Nelson Mandela never lost hope
As i was travelling on a bus in South Africa I read the story of Nelson Mandela
The white people were bullies
His people were killed by bullies for over 20 years
And they threaten his wife and children
A horrible place
How would you sustain hope in that situation?
It would be normal to want to give up, hurt others or hit them.
If i got into power
It would be easy for me to retaliate.
I have Been reading Ephesians 4
God has had me in passages for over a year at times
I have learnt 2 things
1 We aare called to love each other, and mend the fences of our relationships
2 We are meant to be different
Some people are really different
And it takes courage to be different (at this point we were laughing at Michael Cleary’s courage to support the English cricket team)
the problem is some people want us all to be the same.- Peer Pressure
Nelson Mandela – was under pressure to retaliate to fight back, and also to conform.
Your song
“Sing the melody line you hear in your own head, remember, you don’t owe anybody any explanations, you don’t owe your parents any explanations, you don’t owe your professors any explanations. You know I used to think the future was solid or fixed, something you inherited like an old building that you move into when the previous generation moves out or gets chased out. But it’s not. The future is not fixed, it’s fluid. You can build your own building, or hut or condo, whatever.”
Bono
Nelson Mandela decided to make a different future
Sing your own song
God gave us spiritual gifts
Fusion has been a bit suspicious of things to dso with gifts
I am good at some things and you are good at other things, we are different
Ken F and i are complete opposites
But we love the differences, and it was lovely to be in Canada with Ken
He can speak in sentences that make sense to people in big roles, and he thinks in structures and boxes.
There is something very important to be able to be different and get along.
We both love God
And both want to serve him to the best of our ability .
That is the great challenge of South Africa.
the team there wants to make it work
So we are doing 6 week training on Fusion life
Dream is a symbol on their flag
Rainbow Nation – everyone is different
We want to help them make this dream become a reality.
the gifts that are given in the church are to build each other up
Others may enjoy the music that you create.
Spiritual gift of craft was given in Exodus, in terms of building the temple.
The purpose of the gift is not to use it for yourself.
It is to help others be all that they can be
I love this village
I have also experienced the most pain here in the village
And i may have inflicted as much on you as well.
In Poatina we are trying to be community
Where every person is seen and valued
“Poatina is not the way that life was meant to be!!”
To let you be you – and use your gifts
Be different
Me to be me and use my gifts
For the sake of each other and also the young people
the temptation is to be selfish
Ephesians – Use your gifts for others
Paradox of life
The more we give, it in that we gain, but the more we grasp the more we loose.
I can’t imagine the challenges in South Africa
But if they can be individual, in South Africa
Lots of discipline
Hang onto the dream
Sing their own song
South Africa can and will change.
We also need to be the same and sing our own song
Ephesians 4 – teaches me a lot
Not simple
But to help each other be ourselves.