Revive (April-June 2018 preview)

VOL 10 NO 2

APRIL-JUNE 2018

BEAUTY

MORE THAN SKIN DEEP

TAKING CARE OF OUR

ENVIRONMENT

Sugar &

spice

RESTORING JUSTICE

IN AN UNJUST WORLD

REDRESSING THE BALANCE FOR WOMEN

E Q U I P P I N G

W O M E N

F O R

M I N I S T R Y

+

M I S S I O N

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Rosy

Kean e

Redre ssing the

M

y two earliest memories of church are very different.

The first was aged four, standing beside my mother and staring up at an image of Jesus hanging on a cross - his feet and hands beaded with thick blood. I was crying as my mother leant down to ask me what was wrong. I pointed to Jesus. ‘Why is he there?’, I asked. ‘Why is he bleeding?’I felt a deep sense of sadness as I learnt of the pain Jesus endured for my sake.

My next memory is of sitting in our Baptist children’s church and using my brand new ‘How To Tell The Time’ watch to shine the sun in the teacher’s eyes. Zing, zing, zing! around the room went the little ray of blinding light, searching for its righteous target.

‘Rosemary!’ The teacher stopped the class to look at me and said, ‘That’s not very nice’.

I have always had a deep sense of the power and presence of God, combined with a wilful, wild and sometimes prideful nature that has to be kept in check by ensuring I ‘walk by the Holy Spirit’ (Galatians 5:16).

I walk incredibly quickly, and when I’m going places with my husband I will often veer off into side streets or blow past the path we should be taking. ‘Do you know where you are going?’, he will ask me. ‘You don’t? Then why not let me show you?’ I sense God asking me that same thing sometimes.

I joined The Salvation Army in Tauranga at the age of 18 because my flatmates were loosely associated with the Army. I simultaneously applied for two jobs: one as a Salvation Army youth intern and the other as a tattoo artist. When I didn’t get the tattoo job (my preferred choice!), I spent the next five years working with young people in The Salvation Army.

My mother then revealed that her parents had belonged to The Salvation Army, as had my great-grandparents, and that she herself had been a soldier (member). My grandfather had been a notorious alcoholic and abuser, while my grandmother stoically attended the corps by his side every Sunday.

My great-grandfather was Indian and became a soldier in The Salvation Army in the early 1900s. Being one of the only Indian Salvationists in New Zealand at that time can’t have been easy. Our family’s Salvation Army history was permeated by great ‘otherness’, secrecy and sadness, and yet somehow God 2 Revive

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had directed my steps back here.

It was in the Church that I discovered I had a deep fire in my bones to preach with the breath of the Holy Spirit. How I long to see the world know Jesus and bow before him!

But to my surprise, it was also in the Church I discovered that as my spiritual gifts and faith progressed, people took great offence at me. I was simultaneously ‘too much’ and ‘not enough’… as a woman. I was too different, too young and too out-there. I was ‘not experienced enough to offer anything’. I became disheartened by strong men who would seek to invalidate and undermine my ministry rather than further it, often because of my gender.

And still, I discovered that while God’s will is for us to work together, he will work justice for himself should it not come through the Church. When avenues were closed through human indecision or weakness, God threw open French doors on the other side of the house!

Domestic violence

New Zealand has the worst rates of domestic violence in the world, and women suffer disproportionately in being murdered or maimed at the hands of their partner. It is so bad that every five minutes the police are called in response to cases of it.

‘It is estimated that one in three women will be ABUSED in her lifetime’

feature Sexual violence

It is estimated that one in three women will be abused in her lifetime. Fewer than 10 per cent of abuse is reported and less than 14 per cent of those abusers are prosecuted (http://rpe.co.nz/ information/statistics). #churchtoo is a social media movement reflecting abuse women have experienced within church walls.

Gender pay inequity

A recent Ministry for Women study in New Zealand shows that up to 80 per cent of the gender pay gap can only be explained by unaccounted for gender bias (http://women.govt.nz/work-skills/ income/gender-pay-gap).

Gendered oppression

Female genital mutilation, foot-binding and cosmetic surgeries utilised in ‘rites of passage’ to womanhood and marital viability are crippling horrors. Girl-child marriages, daughters sold for sex, women abducted or forced into sexual trafficking, aborting female children, Christian ‘caste’ systems where women are subjected to the role of a submissive servant – these are all tied to a low view of women and their economic and spiritual worth.

Pornography

This is not a victimless crime. Studies have shown that viewing the violent, degrading sexual abuse of women through pornography changes the brain’s plasticity and ties women’s pain to men’s pleasure – and the demand for new content increases as the videos are consumed. This perception of women as objects for harm and sexual gratification is outworked not only against the women being filmed but also the women in the pornography user’s everyday life.

Women are being crushed underfoot in ways never intended by God when he formed Eve, but I had never really had to consider these things before I began working in Women’s Ministries two years ago. The more I learnt, the more overwhelmed I became. In deep prayer and distress, I sought the Lord and asked, ‘What do you want from me?’

‘Do you know where you are going?’, God replied. ‘You don’t?

Then why not let me show you?’ And further still God said, ‘Redress the balance’ – ‘redress’ meaning to set upright again or restore. ‘But when has the balance ever been equal for women?’, I asked, and ‘When have women ever lived in harmony with men?’

God replied: ‘In Eden.’

‘Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them’ (Genesis 1:26-27).

In his book The Shadow of an Agony, Oswald Chambers observed: ‘God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sea and sky, and the reason he is not is because he took the law into his own hands, and became master of himself, but of nothing else.’

God calls us to have a radical perception of humankind – where we are one body. And yet we have traded this for a personal pursuit Revive 3

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of authority, power and domination – the brunt of the ensuing violence often being borne by women and their children.

In the book Why Not Women, authors Loren Cunningham and David Joel Hamilton, refer to a ‘berakhah’ – a Jewish prayer that men would pray every morning while in bed: Blessed be he who did not make me a Gentile; Blessed be he who did not make me a woman; Blessed be he who did not make me an uneducated man (or a slave) That’s a pretty bleak indictment for women to hear daily against their sex. And yet, Galatians 3:28 paints a direct reversal of that picture, in and through Christ’s blood: ‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’

God calls us to see the radical reality of humankind – man and woman as equal image bearers of God where the gifts, talents, hopes, dreams and perceptions of both sexes are given equal weight in the Body of Christ.

We need women’s voices to be heard, and as we stand up to be counted, trust that our brothers will recognise this.

We need a future where the mystical, supernatural, beautiful pursuit of God is encouraged. We need thinkers, academics, homemakers, carpet-layers, dairy workers, preachers and prayer warriors to band together, regardless of marital status, experience or the social conventions of women, above all that of needing to be ‘nice’.

The following anonymous poem is purportedly by an eight-year-old girl:

The True Feminine I am not sugar and spice and all things nice.

I am music, I am art. I am a story.

I am a church bell, gonging out wrongs and rights and normal nights.

‘We need women’s voices to be heard, and as we stand up to be counted, trust that our brothers will RECOGNISE THIS’

As small girls and grown women, we aren’t sugar and spice and all things nice. We’re made of sterner and more righteous stuff than that.

Now, please don’t go around shining your watch in your Sunday school teacher’s eye (that isn’t nice), but do embrace the wildness and freedom that Christ brings you – the authority and the cleansing of the Holy Spirit.

You are made of holy source materials.

Sister, will you remember that we came from Eden and are made for perfection? Will you remember that Christ enables us to find the right side up in his presence and power?

Seek afresh the wonder of a small girl at the foot of the Cross, marvelling at how Christ could be broken and beaten for us.

Remember – his victory means the restoration of humankind.

Remember – keep in step with the Lord and we will truly be an Army of salvation.

‘Do you know where you are going?’, God asks. ‘You don’t? Then why not let me show you?’

I was baby. I am child.

I will be mother.

I don’t mind being considered beautiful, I do not allow that to be my definition.

I am a rich pie strong with knowledge.

I will not be eaten.

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Rosy Keane TERRITORIAL SOCIAL MEDIA AND RESOURCES SPECIALIST NEW ZEALAND, FIJI AND TONGA TERRITORY

bible study

Shirley King

A

s a little girl, I belonged to the Salvation Army brownie pack at my home corps (church). In the beginning I was called a ‘tweenie’ and I was required to complete a number of tasks to be enrolled as a brownie.

The enrolment was a memorable event as Tawny Owl presented me to Brown Owl and together we walked a path of stepping stones to an area that was made to look like the edge of a pond. We found a toadstool there and Brown Owl recited a little rhyme: ‘Twist me and turn me and show me an elf, I looked in the water and there saw …’, to which I replied ‘myself ’ (having practised the answer for days). As a brownie I was rewarded with a beautiful gold pin and, in a childlike way, I felt I had ‘arrived’.

There have been many times since when I have asked myself the following questions: ‘Do I know what defines who I am?

Have I accepted myself for who God intended me to be?

Am I who God wants me to be?

How does God accept me? Have I accepted myself as a child of God? If so, what does that mean in the context of my day-to-day living? If not, what holds me back from seeing myself as who God created me to be? In the light of God’s grace and mercy, what do I believe about myself?

I have learnt that how I see myself changes based on how I see the world, interact with others and approach life. Many times I have allowed who I am to be determined by the situations of my life, the comments and opinions

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WHO AM I

?

Accepting Myself as a Child of God

‘Many times I have allowed who I am to be determined by the situations of my life, the comments and opinions of others’

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I am redeemed

of others and my world view. Do you believe that God made a mistake when he made you, or do you trust him, knowing that he has a plan for your life? How then does who we are impact how we accept ourselves as God’s child? When we look at ourselves, do we see the reflected image of a living God? How does what we believe in our journey of faith and about ourselves show up in everyday life?

In my family I accept who I am as daughter, sister, granddaughter, wife, mother, grandmother, aunt and cousin. From a vocational perspective I am a Salvation Army officer, a lifelong learner, coach and leader and, from a faith-journey experience, a child of God. Ephesians chapter 1 (all references in Ephesians and Romans are from The Message) paints a beautiful picture of who I am as a child of God and details the spiritual blessings. Paul, the writer, very clearly declares who we are and how we are to see ourselves in the light of God’s great love and provision for us through Jesus.

Read Ephesians 1:7-10 – ‘Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people … Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making.

He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.’

Consider To redeem means to purchase and set free by paying a price. There were more than six million slaves in the Roman Empire, often bought and sold like pieces of furniture. A slave could be bought and set free by the purchaser and this is what Jesus did for us, the price of that redemption was his blood making us free from the slavery and power of sin.

In our sinful state we are poor, but as a result of our redemption we are rich in every spiritual blessing. I have been chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed and forgiven (vv 4-7).

I have identity and purpose Read Ephesians 1:11-12 – ‘It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.’

Consider We are his daughters and sons and God loves us just the way we are. We need to define ourselves through his eyes, as one beloved by God. ‘Long before we first heard of Christ … he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living.’

Long-range planning at its best.

‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations’ (Jeremiah 1:5). ‘“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm

you, plans to give you hope and a future”’ (Jeremiah 29:11).

In accepting that we are his children comes the responsibility to live out our lives in discovering his will and purpose.

He is the all-knowing, infinite, loving God who is always present. He does not intend that we live defeated and deflated lives controlled by the ploys of others who may attempt to crush us and defeat us. We have been set free from those chains by the redeeming love of the Lord Jesus. He raises us up from the depths of despair to a wonderful life in the Spirit.

We are valuable to him and in that reality we are loved, supported, protected and cared for. We are his children and he embraces us when we are weak. We need to rest our lives near the heart of Jesus, understand who he is and know that he genuinely cares for and loves us.

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open your heart experience the peace of God I am free

Read Ephesians 1:13-14 – ‘It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free – signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.’

Consider Free from the burden of sin, guilt, shame, despair, hopelessness, brokenness and dark nights of the soul, through Jesus we have a God-given inheritance. As sons and daughters, redeemed and set free, we are promised holiness, happiness and peace. We will have victory and hearts filled with contentment and rest, even in the dark times of our lives.

Several years ago our eldest daughter became very ill, resulting in admission to hospital in an induced coma. When I received the phone call telling me that it was necessary for us to travel to Toronto to be with our daughter, I remember asking the doctor, ‘Are you telling me my daughter is dying?’ He replied, ‘I’m very sorry, you need to come.’ When we arrived at the hospital, our daughter was in intensive care, hooked up to tubes and wires and unable to respond to us.

She had no idea we were there and for five days we waited. From the time we arrived at the hospital until she came out of the coma, I recall receiving words of assurance of prayers from friends and colleagues. However challenging the days of waiting were and no matter

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how slowly the healing came to our daughter, I experienced the peace of God that passed all of my human understanding.

On the day of her discharge, the doctor said, ‘We have no medical explanation why your daughter has recovered so well. The outcome could have been different.’ In my heart I knew God was present in that place and in our situation, and my heart was exuberant as I realised in being his child, he brought peace and calm in that storm. As a child of God, I accepted this gift from him.

I am given responsibility Read Ephesians 1:15-19 – ‘That’s why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the Christians, I couldn’t stop thanking God for you – every time I prayed, I’d think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank.

I ask – ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory – to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for Christians, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him – endless energy, boundless strength!’

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listen to his voice reflect on who you are Consider Paul identifies the Ephesians as being engaged in providing not only encouragement but also modelling servanthood to other followers of Jesus, to the point where he declares he could not stop thanking God for them. His prayer for the people is specific that they would know the God of glory personally and that their eyes would be focused so that they would know exactly what it was God wanted them to do.

Growing up in a family of five children, I had specific responsibilities. I knew my place and, for the most part, was happy to complete the tasks that were regularly assigned to me. To the dismay of my parents I would occasionally try to dodge my responsibilities, and they would remind me of the necessity to refocus and keep my eyes on the goal, sending me off with a new sense of mission.

As children of God we need to understand that there is work to be done and that he will direct us to that work. In order to understand what that is, we must communicate with him, actively listening for his voice and heeding his direction. God has a plan for each of us and we have the responsibility to know that plan as the Holy Spirit directs us along the path.

Think about it Your journey of faith should not be a life of history – what God did – but a life of the present – what God is doing. Stop for a moment and thank God for what he is doing

in your life today. Listen as he affirms that you are his child. Open your heart to accept that truth. Lift your head high – you are the child of a King!

Read Romans 8:15-16 – ‘This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children.’

As you reflect on who you are in Christ, his beloved child, consider these truths from God’s word: Flawless (Song of Songs 4:7); Wonderful (Psalm 139:14); Loved (Song of Songs 2:4); Precious (1 Peter 2:4); Radiant (Philippians 2:15); Crowned (Isaiah 62:3); Empowered (Philippians 4:13); Lavished on (1 John 3:1).

As many times as life turns us around and causes us to look at ourselves, we have a calm assurance knowing that we are beloved daughters and sons of our loving Father God.

Major Shirley King CONSULTANT FOR WOMEN’S MINISTRIES RESOURCES CANADA AND BERMUDA TERRITORY

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environment

for future generations Jemimah Ayanga

T

he simple wood burning stove has a very big impact on a woman’s life in Kenya. She uses it every day to cook the meals for her family, as access to modern sources of electricity is often not easy. A woman will also spend many hours fetching firewood, going out each day at dawn and returning at dusk, often having walked long distances to be able to find enough. On arriving home, she uses the firewood in a wood burning stove to prepare food for her family and the next day she does the same all over again.

In traditional African society, people depend wholly on the forest, not only for firewood but also for food, medicine and sustainability. However, current lifestyles are putting this precious resource under threat.

I come from Vigeze, a rural part of the Salvation Army’s Kenya West Territory, where there used to be the large Maragoli Forest which had always played an important role in the life of the community. However, forests such as this are rapidly declining. Factors leading to deforestation and forest degradation include the clearance of natural forests to sell wood or grow crops, weak government policy formation and enforcement, political factors and population pressure. In my community, deforestation is most often caused by charcoal burning, harvesting timber and firewood, and farming activities. The idea of planting two trees for every one that is cut down is not being adhered to, as we place unsustainable demands on our environment.

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Because women are caretakers of their families and responsible for collecting firewood and preparing food, it concerns me that our forests are being cut down. What will life look like for our children and how will they provide for their families? The clearing of forests is an issue not just for now, but also for future generations.

As strong human beings, women are able to have an impact on the environment where they live and play a key role in educating future generations by passing down important values.

Women need to be empowered to take responsibility for their environment, in order to protect the resources God has given.

‘So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it… God saw all that he had made, and it was very good’ (Genesis 1:27-29, 31).

God entrusted the care of his beautiful creation to people and he invites us to partner with him as visible reminders of an invisible God who is at

environment

‘Women need to be empowered to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for their environment’ work in the world. Natural resources are God’s way of providing us with what we need for survival. The Psalmist states, ‘You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does’ (Psalm 145:16-17). It is important to understand that God is the master of creation and that we are held accountable for the way we care for the work of his hands.

As a corps officer (church minister), I am equipped to engage, encourage and empower the people around me to learn, love and – especially – take care of the environment. In my community, I want

to make an impact by raising awareness and helping people to understand the biblical mandate to care for God’s creation by engaging in conversation about threats to the environment.

I believe that we all have a God-given responsibility to care for the world he has given us and inspire others to do the same. We cannot let something as simple as a wood burning stove have such an impact on the environment around us. It is up to us to make a change.

Lieutenant Jemimah Ayanga VIGEZE CORPS KENYA WEST TERRITORY

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my story

BEYOND expectations Komang Wibowo

M

y husband and I currently serve at Denpasar Girls’ Home in the Salvation Army’s Indonesia Territory. After 11 years’ ministry as Salvation Army officers, this is proving to be our most challenging appointment so far.

I found it almost unimaginable that I would return to the girls’ home where I grew up years ago. Many questions came into my mind and I wondered if I would be able to lead those who are older than me. Even though I enjoy serving among children I was fearful of what lay ahead, but God helped me through these words from Jeremiah 1:7-8 – ‘Do not say, “I am 12 Revive

too young.” You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.’ God’s accompaniment in ministry is perfect.

When we arrived at the girls’ home, the first thing my husband and I did was to kneel at the mercy seat (place of prayer) and surrender all to God, because we knew that nothing is impossible with him. Although we had no previous experience of serving in this way, we seek to do the best we can and seem to

complement each other. My husband concentrates on the corps (church) ministry, while I focus on the children’s ministry. The corps is quite large with more than 200 people attending Sunday worship, plus girls from the home.

It is not easy to nurture, educate and raise 40 girls with different characters, ages and backgrounds. There is more to it than merely sending them to school and providing food; what also matters is how the children live within a ‘family’ who love, appreciate and honour one another

‘Many questions came into my mind and I wondered if I would be able to lead those who are older than me’

my story Left: Balinese dancers from the girls’ home Below: Bali girls’ home residents

so that they may grow in Christ and have a better future. That’s our passion for the girls, and I believe that every child should receive good quality education and gain confidence and respect as an individual. We aim to give our best to the girls, despite the pressures of ministry.

At first we had little idea what to do.

We longed to meet the girls’ educational needs, provide them with good nutrition and comfort, and help them to develop life skills, but with limited finances and the high cost of living, we had to learn to focus and depend on God each day.

One thing that we often do with the girls is to hold hands and pray, seeking God’s mercy and grace. We believe the Lord answers our prayers and provides what

for us seems impossible. We praise God because he opens the way according to his will, and his provision is beyond our expectations. God uses people we do not know to draw their attention to our ministry with the children. There have been many challenges and tests of faith that we and the children have faced, and although worries and fears often colour our ministry, we know the truth of God’s Word: ‘Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us’ (Ephesians 3:20).

I have found that God’s formation in my ministry and personality is extraordinary. Nurturing 40 girls towards becoming successful, God-fearing people

is not an easy task, much as we long for them to be equipped for life and become independent so that no one will look down on them. We remind them that they are precious in God’s eyes and reaffirm how God can change lives.

From our experience we tell them that Jesus is wonderful and his help is always timely in shaping our lives and ministry.

Captain Komang Wibowo BALI GIRLS’ HOME INDONESIA TERRITORY

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