First Friday Letter

The World Methodist Council

Greetings from the General Secretary

February 2023

Time seems to be running away from us, and we are forced to play catch-up. We are into the first week of February with many New Year’s resolutions either broken or yet to be implemented.

I was privileged to spend the Julian (1 January) and the lunar New Year (22 January) with family and friends. Both these occasions are times for taking stock of one’s life, putting the past behind and setting a new course for the future.

During our family celebrations which was also an occasion to intern my mother-in-law’s ashes, two Biblical words came to mind hitherto/thus far and henceforth/ from now. As we erected a memorial stone to honor the legacy of Freda Mostert, a registered nurse who delivered more than a thousand babies in the area, we were very aware of Samuel’s words at Ebenezer; “Hitherto, the Lord has helped us.” (I Sam 2:7) In gratitude for her work and witness, the family decided, henceforth, to grant an annual bursary to young women in the community to study nursing.

You may not be able to engage in such a bold initiative. Still, it is not too late to acknowledge that hitherto the Lord has brought you. The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world, and no doubt you have changed with it. Please seize the opportunity to make a fresh start and chart a new course into the future to serve God and your neighbor more faithfully.

Many churches in the Wesleyan tradition will renew their annual Covenant, first prayed in 1755. I am often awe-struck by the renewal of the Covenant Prayer in which we boldly commit to being part of God’s dream for the world. The concluding words of the prayer declare;

I am no longer my own, but Yours. Put me to what You will, Put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for You or laid aside for You, exalted for You or brought low for You; let me be full, let me be empty, let have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal.

And now, God glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, You are mine and I am yours. So be it. And let the Covenant which I have made on earth be ratified in heaven.

Amen

I trust that you will enjoy this edition of the First Friday Letter and that we can count on your support.

Blessings, Ivan