CVM missionaries in Uganda Drs. Tom and Jean Reed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqF--lvzbl4
The Karamojan people and lifestyle - what their cattle mean to them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhmA24G6QI0
Gorillas and tourists chilling in Uganda (not necessarily what i'll experience but a must watch)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eXS0o6r-Wk
Geelong to Uganda
Google image of trip from Geelong (my home) in Australia to Karamoja, Uganda!
Monday 30 January 2012
Sunday 29 January 2012
Why did Jesus tell stories?
Recently I spent a week in Nundle, NSW (near Tamworth) learning how to tell stories.
The ones from God.
You might say "shouldn't you have learnt how to tell stories when you were a kid"?
And the answer would be, yes, I really should have.
So I've never been the best story teller going round; sometimes I start a story and forget why I started telling the story in the first place! It has resulted in me not being able to count the number of times I've heard "then you found $50 right?" it happens that often BUT in saying that being able to tell stories that Jesus told and stories about who God is, stories that are amazingly powerful in so many ways, that speak right to the heart of where you are in life and what you need, stories that leave you thinking about their meaning days later as God works in your life, well now aint that a story!
I still need practise but it's pretty cool how God speaks through these stories, directly into people's lives- they are his words!
"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:10-11
Jesus told the people of his day stories or 'parables' to get them thinking and being challanged about how they are living their lives. The stories he told and the story of his life, death and resurrection still speaks out today so don't be afraid to tell them or to hear them.
Love Melissa xxx
The ones from God.
You might say "shouldn't you have learnt how to tell stories when you were a kid"?
And the answer would be, yes, I really should have.
So I've never been the best story teller going round; sometimes I start a story and forget why I started telling the story in the first place! It has resulted in me not being able to count the number of times I've heard "then you found $50 right?" it happens that often BUT in saying that being able to tell stories that Jesus told and stories about who God is, stories that are amazingly powerful in so many ways, that speak right to the heart of where you are in life and what you need, stories that leave you thinking about their meaning days later as God works in your life, well now aint that a story!
I still need practise but it's pretty cool how God speaks through these stories, directly into people's lives- they are his words!
"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:10-11
Jesus told the people of his day stories or 'parables' to get them thinking and being challanged about how they are living their lives. The stories he told and the story of his life, death and resurrection still speaks out today so don't be afraid to tell them or to hear them.
Love Melissa xxx
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Flights and weddings
First post for the new year and i have news :) I am officially set to go!!! I have booked and paid for my flights and had my third and final rabies shot and with all the others over and done with a good month ago, I am all health-ed up for Uganda's standards and satisfaction ;)
I am leaving on the 21st of March, a Wednesday and so will arrive in Uganda on the Thursday and fly out to Karamoja early on the Friday.
Last weekend I saw the marriage of two good friends from Wagga unichurch, Joel and Elisa (now) Bartholomaeus and this weekend I get to do the same in Moree NSW with Simmo and Kim (soon to be) Pain.
It is so beautiful and awesome to see such passionate love of Christ and of each other as they totally centre everything around Jesus and give him all the glory for who they are.
How often do we say to one another, 'I love you' or more colloquially 'love ya!' but do we mean the true love or is it just something that we say nowadays. Do we mean the love that is patient and kind, that doesn't envy or boast and is never proud? Is it love that isn't rude, self-seeking, easily angered or remembers other's wrong? Love that rejoices in the truth and not evil, that ALWAYS protects, trusts, hopes and perserveres? (1 Cor 13: 4-8)
This is God's love and never fails. This is the love he loves us with when we trust in Jesus and not in our own strength.
This is the love that we who hope in Christ's sacrifice for us should strive for and even when we fail in it we know that God will still love us with this unwavering love.
Romans 5:5-8 "And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Have a great couple of weeks.
Peace out ;)
Mel
I am leaving on the 21st of March, a Wednesday and so will arrive in Uganda on the Thursday and fly out to Karamoja early on the Friday.
Last weekend I saw the marriage of two good friends from Wagga unichurch, Joel and Elisa (now) Bartholomaeus and this weekend I get to do the same in Moree NSW with Simmo and Kim (soon to be) Pain.
It is so beautiful and awesome to see such passionate love of Christ and of each other as they totally centre everything around Jesus and give him all the glory for who they are.
How often do we say to one another, 'I love you' or more colloquially 'love ya!' but do we mean the true love or is it just something that we say nowadays. Do we mean the love that is patient and kind, that doesn't envy or boast and is never proud? Is it love that isn't rude, self-seeking, easily angered or remembers other's wrong? Love that rejoices in the truth and not evil, that ALWAYS protects, trusts, hopes and perserveres? (1 Cor 13: 4-8)
This is God's love and never fails. This is the love he loves us with when we trust in Jesus and not in our own strength.
This is the love that we who hope in Christ's sacrifice for us should strive for and even when we fail in it we know that God will still love us with this unwavering love.
Romans 5:5-8 "And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Have a great couple of weeks.
Peace out ;)
Mel
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