Letter to the Brethren: November 11, 2021

Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

Greetings.

We have been working on reaching people now as well as working on various aspects of the final phase of the work.

Roof, Visits, and Literature in Africa

Deacon Radson Mulozowa reported from Malawi that a new roof was provided for the Nagaga, Mozambique congregation. He sent the following photos of the roof and the group there:

Pastor Sawek sent the following report:

I greet you in Jesus name. We travelled safely to Maasai Land Kilgoris where we were welcomed very well. We gave them some little books we had and they were lacking the Bibles and were requesting the interpreted Bibles in Maasai language so as to enable them to understand them.

They also give us a one month period before we visit together with Evangelist Ochieng.

The Maasai people are God fearing and trustworthy.

We had planned to Meet with Evangelist Ochieng after we came back from the reserve and we managed to give him the report from the North Rift and the Bible reports. He finally promised to fulfill all the promises in December this year in the South Rift.

I am glad for having promised for the same.

We received the books from the Evangelist and Elder Cheruiyot managed to take some to the North Rift region.

I am also happy for the Elder Cheruiyot for all the perseverance all along, as there were a lot of challenges including the unfavourable weather conditions. He also helped alotin translating the Maasai language.

I became glad with Evangelist Ochieng since he promised the Elder Cheruiyot a motorcycle. I had some photos I managed to take with some elders whom we are still talking with.

May God bless you.

Regards,

Pastor Sawek

Deacon Ondigo Ochieng (not related to Evans Ochieng) and I are trying to get more literature available in the Kiswahili language, as known as Swahili. This will assist us in reaching more people in Kenya, Tanzania, and several other parts of Africa.

Received the following report from a pastor of a church in Kenya who was interested in learning more about us:

Dear Pastor Dr Bob Thiel, PhD

Greetings to you from Migori, Kenya. This is to inform you that Evangelist Evans Ochieng managed to briefly visit us Yesterday amidst his very busy and tight Ministerial schedule! He gave us a brief but powerfully encouraging teaching About “CHURCH OF GOD, ITS MISSION AND DESTINY”.

He really encouraged and challenged everyone who was present to spiritually wake up, stir up and faithfully use their God given talents, gifts and abilities in serving God and one another! He emphasized that those God is calling today, He calls with a specific purpose- to be Kings and priests and judges in the Coming Kingdom of God and that we must both do our part KNOWING that Jesus Christ will come with REWARDS to give to every qualifying Saint according to his or her works(Revelation 22:12)

BOOKLETS AND MAGAZINES: He gave us Copies of two Booklets: Continuing History of the Church of God, Where is the True Christian Church Today? and Bible News Prophecy Magazine for January- March, 2021, for study. These are very wonderful and powerful Study materials.

YOUTHS BIBLE LESSONS: I spoke with Evangelist Evans  Ochieng a couple of weeks ago and REQUESTED him for CHILDREN and YOUTH BIBLE STUDY LESSONS and some of your Booklets to use in teaching Children and Youths in our fellowship. I thank God that he managed to pay us a visit Yesterday and to God be the Glory. We are dire need of your CHILDREN and YOUTHS Bible Lessons- LEVEL K, LEVEL 1, LEVEL 2 and LEVEL 3.

I am happy to say that even though we belong to DIFFERENT Church of God groups we can reach out to each other through the Love and Grace of God,  for the building up of the Greater Body of Jesus Christ which is the Church of God, the Pillar and ground of truth! This kind of godly interaction enables God’s people to learn from each other and come to the knowledge of the TRUTH! (Proverbs 27:17, 1Corinthians 12: 4-11, 1Peter 4:10-11). May God bless you all and the work that both of  you are doing in His Vineyard.

Your friend and,
Brother in Christ Jesus,
George Otieno Owato, Pastor@
Holy Anointing Church of God 7th Day

CCOG evangelist Evans Ochieng sent the following report and photos:

Pastor Dr Bob,

Greetings from kenya.

I got the books from printing,  the two books, CHURCH HISTORY AND WHERE IS THE TRUE CHRISTIAN CHURCH TODAY  and January- March magazine.  The rest are still on printing process.

Since yesterday I’ve been moving distributing the books to our congregations.  Like yesterday I was in Migori. I gave books to Granton otieno for Migori congregation. And since Nimrod was feeling not ok,  I gave Granton  books for kihancha to give Nimrod.  I couldn’t mannage to reach kihancha because I was moving to meet brethren at Gribe and Got kachola and muhuru.  Again there was a CHURCH OF GOD which needed our books so I visited them and give them the books.  That church is lead by George owato whom I baptized some years back.  The trip was very good.

Today I went to rift valley to give books for them.  I met pastor Sawek and David cheryot in kilgoris.  I gave them so many books and magazines for rift valley.

Tomorrow I will visit Mbita to give books to our congregation lead by Simon okeyo.

Pray for me because this month I have a lot of work and at the same time planning my trip all over rift valley, Malawi and Mozambique.

Evans.

We strive to go through doors that Jesus opens (Revelation 3:7-9) and do see fruit being born through out literature.

Teach YOUR Children

Family is part of that phase as the following prophecy from the Book of Malachi states:

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
6 And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. (Malachi 4:5-6)

The Bible instructs parents to teach their children:

6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

In 1972, the old Worldwide Church of God published the following related to some ways how to do that:

We receive many letters from perplexed parents who do not know how to give their five-year-old children simple, straightforward answers to their questions about God and the Bible. Here is a typical letter from a member of God’s Church:

Please send any literature you have regarding teaching children about God. Yesterday my five-year-old son, Greg, asked me what God looks like. Of course, I answered him, but only in general terms. The blank look on his little face told me I had not fully satisfied his curiosity. I want to teach him the truth about God, but am not sure how to go about it.

How would YOU have answered little Greg? (See Rev. 1:13-17; Gen. 1:27; Ex. 9:3; Job 1:11 for help.) More important, how have you answered similar questions for your children? Arc you fulfilling your role as TEACHER of your children?

A Test

Let’s find out! Give your child a quick quiz. How many of these questions can your three-year-old answer?

How did the first man and woman come to be?

Who built an ark, and why?

Who is God’s son!

What does God look like?

Where does God live?

Granted, young children vary a great deal in their ability to learn. But as soon as they can put words together to make sentences, they should be able to comprehend these things.

Realize, brethren, that God holds you as parents personally responsible for teaching your children His way! Hear God’s charge: “And you must think constantly about these commandments I am giving you today. You must teach them to your children and talk about them when you are at home or out for a walk; at bedtime and the first thing in the morning” (Deut. 6:6-7, The Living Bible).

Here are a few basic guidelines to follow as you teach your children some of the most precious and vital knowledge they will ever learn!

Portray God’s Word Accurately

Before you attempt to teach your boy or girl a lesson or relate a particular incident from the Bible, be sure you can portray it as God’s Word tells it. In other words — “Tell it like it is!”

To do this, YOU must study God’s Word daily yourself — know what is in “the Book.” Then you will have ready answers to questions like little Greg’s.

Beware of letting subtle errors or misconceptions creep into your teaching. Don’t rely on books ABOUT the Bible. Many “Bible story” books for children are saturated with unscriptural concepts, or vie for their interest with exciting and violent fiction like cheap novels or comic books. Biblical incidents are often taken out of context. Their real connection with the very purpose of life is ignored.

And even pictures are misleading — Biblical characters usually appear in various supposedly “spiritual” positions, generally with arms outstretched toward a rock, tree, or cloud, with far-off, contemplative expressions on their faces. But in reality, Biblical persons were DYNAMIC, ACTIVE, FORCEFUL! And that is what you should convey to your children.

Use an Approach Appropriate for Their Ages

Your children love to hear “stories” from the Bible such as the story of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses and events in the life of Jesus. For example, my three-year-old particularly enjoys hearing about Jesus’ childhood — how He grew up in a small mountain town, was able to enjoy swimming in a nearby lake, and hiking in the surrounding hills. One thing for all to beware of, of course, is excessive fictionalizing. I use this opportunity to point out Jesus’ perfect character — how He shared His possessions with others, was obedient to His parents, etc.

As your child grows older — say he’s eight or ten — teach him how the Proverbs relate to his everyday life. This will take considerable forethought on your part in some cases. But take just one proverb at a time — such as Proverbs 15:18 in The Living Bible: “A quick-tempered man starts fights; a cool-tempered man tries to stop them.”

Before attempting to teach your eight or ten-year-old this lesson, sit down with pencil and paper and think of all the various applications this proverb may have in his relationship with other children, with his teachers at school, with you — in other words, with any and everyone he normally comes in contact with.

Think of WHY and HOW your child will benefit by inculcating the principle of this proverb into his life. Write these points down as you think of them and you will have a very effective Bible study.

Another way to teach the Proverbs is to create hypothetical situations, then ask your child to explain the correct course of action based upon one of the Proverbs. This method stimulates your child to make God’s laws an actual part of his thinking.

Always Teach Spiritual Lessons

Remember this. Your child can know the various Bible characters and stories, but without understanding the LESSONS involved in each incident, he is missing the real value of it. Strive to teach your children this vital, overall principle: OBEDIENCE TO GOD AND HIS LAWS PRODUCE HAPPINESS AND BLESSINGS. DISOBEDIENCE AND REBELLION BRINGS UNHAPPINESS AND PUNISHMENT!

Emphasize over and over in different ways how beneficial and wonderful it is to obey God’s commandments. Stress to your child how GOOD they are for him. ALWAYS stress the positive — the GOOD life that obedience produces. Remember. you are molding your child’s concept of God and His way!

Relate Lessons to Their Everyday Life

When you describe how Adam and Eve disobeyed God, stress how they had to leave the garden and were very unhappy because of their disobedience. Now relate this to your child’s everyday life by explaining that obedience to God always brings good things! And disobedience produces bad things. You can do this in numerous facets of his daily life. This is a language he understands.

Another example you could use would be to show him that God created man!. helpful foods for us to eat. Show him that by caring a well-balanced diet and developing a taste for many foods, his muscles and bones will grow bigger and stronger, which will enable him to throw his ball farther, run faster and jump higher. By this simple object lesson, you have proved in one small way in his little mind that obeying God is GOOD!

But Remember to keep your explanations SIMPLE. Don’t get technical or overly didactic.

Make Lessons Interesting, Colorful and Exciting

Read Ecclesiastes 12:10 in The Living Bible; “For the Preacher was not only a wise man, but a good teacher; he not only taught what he knew to the people, but taught them in an interesting manner.”

How do you rate? How would you describe to your child the way David killed a lion. for example?

Here’s how you might do it: “As David’s sheep grazed peacefully one warm, sunny day, little did they realize the savage danger lurking behind the trees just 50 yards away.

“David looked intently toward the trees. He had seen a faint movement in that direction. He moved closer — to within a stone’s throw of the trees, when suddenly the largest lion he had ever seen sprang out upon a helpless bleating lamb!

“Before the tawny beast could kill or seriously harm the lamb with its powerful jaws, David was upon it — challenging this roaring, snarling creature, this bundle of destructive fury, with flashing, rippling muscles and knifelike teeth!

 “David quickly and silently asked God for strength.

“Suddenly the lion charged. The earth seemed to tremble under David’s feet as he saw the yellow blur leaping toward him, paws outstretched, mouth wide open, ready to snap his neck in one crunching bite!

“David quickly side-stepped the frustrated animal and seized it from behind, killing it with the strength God gave him! Once again God had protected His faithful servant.”

Picture stories in your own mind as you tell them and describe things in detail. BE ENTHUSIASTIC, and before you know it, you’ll be enjoying your stories as much as your children! (Bradley A. Teach Your Children About God. Good News, July 1972)

Yes, we are to teach our children. And there are many ways to do it–but it does need to happen throughout their childhood.