“Ms D are we going out today?”, were the first words out of my ELL middle school students as they anxiously took their seats.  You could be fooled by their enthusiasm as students who were into their lesson.  As you will see further down the passage, most wanted to escape the idea of being confined to the classroom.  

Seated and waiting anxiously for my response,  I broke the silence by asking them to get out their project’s assignment paper. After going over a few things they needed to have and directions that they needed to follow,  we all filed out the door and started off for Carrier, where they would carry out their interviews.  

The ELL students and I have been working on myths, legends and folktales. To assess their understanding,  I assigned a three-part project on the subject.  The third part of their project, required that they interview an African outside of the RFIS community,  hence the field trip to Carrier.  

Right when we stepped through the school gates, the two boys started complaining and asked us to go back, while the girl asked for more information on the task. One could tell who was going to work hard on the project,  and I was grateful that they were all getting separate grades. One boy had a solid reason for wanting to turn back. We were on a dusty road, and he was quite allergic to dust particles. The other however,  didn’t want to do any hard work. 

The challenging part of the field trip however, wasn’t their whining, but getting people who were willing to talk. Some young mothers and older women said they didn’t know their cultures and it was really saddening. We had people who were afraid of us  and spoke in the language not knowing that their bodily language could be read. They didn’t know who we were and were not willing to give information on their cultures. We got two stories down and will get one more tomorrow.  

The overall experience was a little sad, because all we really wanted information on folktales from their different traditions and the significance to them.

Through the experience,  the students were able to understand that sometimes things do not go the way you expect,  but in any case,  one needs to exercise humility and thank the persons for their time. It’s really no use creating enmity when  we could be friends.

False prophets appeared in the past among the people, and in the same way false teachers will appear among you. They will bring in destructive, untrue doctrines, and will deny the Master who redeemed them, and so they will bring upon themselves sudden destruction. Even so, many will follow their immoral ways; and because of what they do, others will speak evil of the Way of truth. In their greed these false teachers will make a profit out of telling you made-up stories. For a long time now their Judge has been ready, and their Destroyer has been wide awake!  God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell, where they are kept chained in darkness, waiting for the Day of Judgement. God did not spare the ancient world, but brought the flood on the world of godless people; the only ones he saved were Noah, who preached righteousness, and seven other people. God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying them with fire, and made them an example of what will happen to the godless. He rescued Lot, a good man, who was distressed by the immoral conduct of lawless people. That good man lived among them, and day after day he suffered agony as he saw and heard their evil actions. And so the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and how to keep the wicked under punishment for the Day of Judgement, especially those who follow their filthy bodily lusts and despise God’s authority. These false teachers are bold and arrogant, and show no respect for the glorious beings above; instead, they insult them. Even the angels, who are so much stronger and mightier than these false teachers, do not accuse them with insults in the presence of the Lord. But these people act by instinct, like wild animals born to be captured and killed; they attack with insults anything they do not understand. They will be destroyed like wild animals, and they will be paid with suffering for the suffering they have caused. Pleasure for them is to do anything in broad daylight that will satisfy their bodily appetites; they are a shame and a disgrace as they join you in your meals, all the while enjoying their deceitful ways! They want to look at nothing but immoral women; their appetite for sin is never satisfied. They lead weak people into a trap. Their hearts are trained to be greedy. They are under God’s curse! They have left the straight path and have lost their way; they have followed the path taken by Balaam son of Beor, who loved the money he would get for doing wrong and was rebuked for his sin. His donkey spoke with a human voice and stopped the prophet’s insane action.  These people are like dried-up springs, like clouds blown along by a storm; God has reserved a place for them in the deepest darkness. They make proud and stupid statements, and use immoral bodily lusts to trap those who are just beginning to escape from among people who live in error. They promise them freedom while they themselves are slaves of destructive habits — for a person is a slave of anything that has conquered him. If people have escaped from the corrupting forces of the world through their knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and then are again caught and conquered by them, such people are in a worse state at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been much better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and then turn away from the sacred command that was given them. What happened to them shows that the proverbs are true: “A dog goes back to what it has vomited” and “A pig that has been washed goes back to roll in the mud.”

2 Peter 2:1‭-‬22 GNBDK

REFLECTION:

It is s amazinghow God reveals his wisdom to us.  This chapter  relates to the sermon in church. Yesterday in church, the pastor touched  on false prophets and fake pastors who see church as a way to extort people. Rather than leading the people with the truth, they have  twisted the truth such that people have been led astray in worship.  Some doctrines in the Bible have become personal business and they have reduced God’s holy spirit to mere items as water,  handkerchiefs and napkins or serviettes.  The Holy Spirit which is free and rests in any man who believes in Jesus has been confined to the walls of a house, church and rooms. Jesus said in his word that whoever believes in him, he gives them the right to become children of God (John 1:12). Believers rush up and down to seek a miracle,  whereas God has given authority to everyone who believes to do marvelous things because of the Holy Spirit residing in them. He has sent his counselor to counsel us believers and many times in the epistles,  we are cautioned not to grieve the Holy Spirit by what we do with our bodies and the thoughts we posses and the things we say with our mouths.

My prayer is for us to examine the different ways we have grieved the Holy Spirit and to reflect on our lives.  What teachings have been brought to us, which contradict God’s word and we had been too lazy to seek out the truth in the Bible?  Unless you know what is written in the Bible,  you will not be able to decipher the lies told to you by preachers and prophets.

My encouragement would be for you to enhance your knowledge on God, in readiness to question teachings that sound vaguely familiar and yet seem out of place.

May the Holy Spirit be your guide throughout your Christian journey.

Today was one of those days, where you wake up with a feeling that you are about to do something worthwhile.  I had no idea how significant playing volleyball today was, till we were halfway through the tournament.

I love sports and I really thank God for my wonderful talents. Be it basketball,  football or volleyball,  I give it my all. And that I did today without holding back, not because my goal was to win, but because I was having fun. Halfway through the tournament as mama Pauline and some of the street children and orphans came, I began to play with a determination to win the game in support and encouragement for the hard work that she was doing for the children.

In the coming weeks,  I will pay a visit to her and really get an inside view on how she manages these 15 children. Her ministry just demonstrate faith and reliance on God. She barely has food for the children, nor income to sustain them, yet when the time comes for their needs to be met, God provides in mysterious ways. Today, I gave my all in the game to let her know that we both have the same vision and desire to help these young people grow into wonderful men and women in our society.

What can you do to help serve the vulnerable in your community? What has God placed on your heart?

Today started off just like any ordinary Monday,  with enough free time in the morning,  followed by three classes and soccer practice at the end of the day. Adding a twist to the normal schedule,  we took the soccer girls out for bonding and drinks and had a marvelous girl time.

Unfortunately,  I couldn’t say the same for everyone who went through this same day in the Northwest. News reports showed videos of people rioting and going on strike against the government.  While chatting with my sister and twin who are both at the heart of the city 5 minutes walk from where the rioters were, I realized that I had a distant connection to the event. This reminded of a book I am reading, where the main character felt detached from the civil war in Nigeria,  although many Nigerians died. The thought hurt badly, because our supposedly, President may not even be in the country to address the matter. This rioting by the teachers, lawyers and taxi men is just one of many incidents where Cameroonians are acting out against President Biya’s rule. The following link https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OgrbJPJL6AA&itct=CA0QpDAYBSITCMKQv7HGutACFQJaFgodCIYBrDIGcmVsbWZ1SMnr55zOr6v5Hg%3D%3D shows a man in Geneva who accuses the president of staying outside of his country for more than two months in a hotel which costs thousands of dollars,  while roads in Cameroon are broken down. People are starving, while he spends tons of money in hotels and his daughter takes limos that cost $400 dollars one way and she does that 4 times a week to go to school.

Where is the head of state to counsel his men that one does not fire gunshots in the air in the midst of civilians,  especially in a neighborhood to frighten residents?  Who trained these men and told them they had the liberty to frighten unarmed civilians with their guns? The police department needs serious training on conflict resolution skills.

Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn implores the Bible. A few weeks ago, Cameroon mourned with the families who lost their loved ones in the train crash. Last night, I greatly rejoiced with my landlord’s relative who wedded. I however, do not appreciate the torture they put me through all night. If I had known there would be a wedding celebration, I would have slept over at my sister’s place. There was no announcement or warning to neighbours who couldn’t stand the noise. I did understand that it was a celebration,  but they could have reduced the music at least for the sake of conversations,  which I have quickly come to understand do not exist in parties.

I woke up this morning with a pounding headache, the kind that feels like bags of cements slept on the head all night. I am barely able to process my thoughts,  because I am tired and have tasks to accomplish this morning. Closing my eyes and bowing my head to pray is proving a very difficult task with all the music booming up from downstairs.  I however,  forgave these people because it was a wedding celebration and I didn’t want to be a “party pooper”. If it was just a random party, then I would have headed down there last night with steam on my head ad gave them a piece of my mind.

In honesty, these people really lack respect for the neighbors and are justified in their actions,  in that it’s their right to play music as they want because they want to enjoy themselves.  They do not understand how to be a good citizen towards their neighbours,  nor do they know how to excuse themselves for a wrong doing. It’s really saddening because their children grow up with this kind of thinking and actions, such that they are unable to respect their teachers or older people.  The language these young children and teens use, can give an adult a heart attack.  I for one do not stand for that kind of language,  so I correct them right there on the spot.  I don’t beat people’s children,  but I correct them with the right counseling.  It’s at home that I correct my nieces with counseling,  non-verbal action such as sending them to isolated places with specific instructions and beating if they continually insist on disrespecting one another and adults. When discipline is over, I then would sit down whoever committed the offense and explain why they were punished. Gradually,  they understand and are able to recognise their mistakes and to apologize for them.

Very few parents take the time to discipline, correct and give counsel to their children.  Counsel should focus on building relationships with one another,  accepting wrongs and forgiving each other, as well as learning to deal with our differences in a peaceful manner. Conflicts persist because people are ignorant on how to address them,and others are just plain lazy to take the initiative. If parents could take the time to address their children’s manners and attitudes,  these children would become the true future in any country.  Their mentality would be shaped differently,  thus building a spirit of respect,  care, hospitality and forgiveness.

It may sound easy,  because Cameroonians are known for their hospitality.  In truth,  I would say, they can be very hospitable when it interests them, especially here in the center.  Others who come into the city from the countrysides or from the North, south West and North West are generally respectful and hospitable.  However,  once they settle down and become accustomed to the way of life in the center,  they forget their humble roots. A few hold unto those roots, while others wish they could reclaim their roots. Who is willing to give up their time and rebuild the most important values?

P.S: The music stopped and it’s 8:39 a.m. Now I can look forward to sleeping again.  I cannot go to church ⛪.  My mind won’t pay attention.

I woke up this morning and was wondering how I would spend time with God. As I sat quietly, a conversation I had with a friend on esteem flash through my mind. A voice said ‘Share your story’, and that’s when I knew what my conversation with God and the circle of friends reading this would be.

About 12 years ago, I got pimples on my face a year after I hit puberty. That didn’t bother me much, because I had seen my aunt’s pimples treated. Three years later, the pimples aggravated, and I was blamed for pinching them, eating fatty foods, putting too much oil in my food and doing all what nots, which wasn’t true. It didn’t help that I was a sports person, spending half my days playing under the sun. After playing, my face would burn  and peel off. We went and saw a doctor who prescribed some pills. The pills messed up my hormonal system because they were given in line with pills for my knees. So, I stopped the pills altogether. The pimples disappeared for a while and and returned with great intensity.

For a while, I refused to concentrate on my appearance because it brought depression. I wondered what people thought when they looked at my face.  Over the years, people gave me all sorts of advice: do this and do that. I kept asking God, why he could not just take it away. He was able to heal the lame, raise the dead and heal the woman who had been suffering for years. Why couldn’t he just take this away from me?

Four years at university, I refused to let it bother me. Once again, everyone had an opinion on what they thought I should do. A lady gave me a soap bar to use, and it burnt my face completely. Hence, I barred any advice from any jack or jill. However, towards my last year in 2012, I went to see a dermatologist.  She asked me what I used on my face, and if the sun aggravated my pimples. I was not too happy with her for she prescribed to me some pills, cream and lotion and told me to come back after a month when I had hoped for an explanation, a screen test on my face and the reason why I have had these for years. Well, I went home and obediently took the pills, and had my face burnt by the cream and everyone asking me what I did to my face. I was sick from internal bleeding for a week and got a fever, which my body battled with. It was about two weeks later, when one of my dear sisters from another mother was travelling back to her home country, and she wanted a roomie photo. Now looking back, I was not particularly thrilled about the photos because my face looked scared and battered. I felt really ugly and unfit to see myself. To cover my feelings up, I switched into my old self, which used to be ‘Tomboy’. As long as I acted tough, nothing could get to me. That was a lie I kept telling myself.

After I moved to the cooler area of Nairobi, the temperature improved my face along with aloe vera scrub and honey soap that I had found. My pimples began to disappear, allowing me to feel pretty and happy. It started dawning on me that I have for years thought myself ugly because of my pimples. I had defined my happiness based on how I looked and what people thought of me.

I broke down and told God I was sorry. I asked him to take it away once and for all. I was talking and not listening as I have always done half the time. I went back to see the dermatologist, but she was not there and I never went back. My face cleared up and I was able to take a photo like this one below. Everyone wanted to know my secret, but I had no secret to tell. I just explained exactly what had happened, not to mention that I was in the hospital for a week going through other treatments. I do believe those many injections and pills had something to do with the quick recovery of my face. So for 8 months I enjoyed a cleared pretty face.

Just when I was about to travel home to Cameroon, a week before my departure, I went back to the campus I had lived in for 3 years. With the hard water they had, my pimples came back like they never left. O my word. I could not believe it. I am going home and was hoping to show my mother my face without pimples and now I have nothing to show but more pimples. I felt back into depression, although I had smiles on my face. I lost confidence in many things and just wanted to hide my face especially now that I had given up my coping mechanism and just wanted to be a normal lady.

Back home I returned not knowing what my family would say. They didn’t have much time to comment, for I left two months later to England for my masters. While in England, I saw a dermatologist, and he truly took his time to screen my face. As a result, he highlighted that I had severe acne. Severe acne occurs when there’s excessive male hormones in a female. When I heard those words from his mouth and the explanation, the healing process began in me. I no longer blamed myself for the things I ate. Sleeping became easier, and my stress levels went down. He prescribed some pills and a pomade for me. Within six months, there was a great change in my facial appearance, and my self confidence skyrocketed once again.

This time around, I asked God to give me the confidence I needed not from the medications but from him alone. My relationship with God blossomed as my face fluctuated back and forth between acne and clear skin. After the 6 month treatment, everything continued smoothly till I returned home to Cameroon and faced the heat. Gradually, the pimples returned with heat, and I gave up everything. I refused to let it bother me.

Then, I realized that I had accepted my situation and chose to be happy in it. My fiance supported me by sharing his own story. We both had similar stories to share concerning acne. He had also battled through it as a teenager, and it just recently disappeared. I gained more courage to face the friends. As my attitude improved about them, my depression disappeared with no trace. Now, I sing and dance in the face of change on my face. One moment, I will have a clear smooth face, and the next I will be swimming in pimples. However, I still find joy and use my experience to help other girls going through similar issues.

God healed me from the inside out.

Le monde est-il devenu si terrible que l’on n’a plus besoin d’essayer de l’améliorer à notre niveau ?

Parce que les autorités dans notre société sont dégoûtantes, alors, cela ne fera aucune différence si nous devenons souillés. Parce que quelqu’un nous a fait du mal, est-ce bien de rendre ce mal à quelqu’un d’autre ?

Je suis retournée au Cameroun depuis 2 ans et cela me fait vraiment plaisir d’être au pays de mes origines et de ma famille. J’adore mon pays, sa végétation, ses terres favorables à une agriculture durable, ses montagnes et ses petites collines parfaites pour le tourisme dans les différentes cités.

Je viens d’une section Anglophone du pays, de la région de Nord-Ouest et mon village est à une heure de la ville de Bamenda, capital de la région. L’atmosphère d’hospitalité règne dans les rues, les marches et aussi les maisons.  La météo est clémente et l’air est frais, accueillant pour tous les vacanciers qui échappent aux brouillards des villes et souhaitent retrouver une relation avec la nature. Comme dans toutes les rues des villes, il y a les longues lignes des véhicules mélangés (taxi, véhicules privés et les bus) qui cherchent à rattraper le temps perdu dans les bouchons.

Malgré cet environnement très accueillant, je demeure à Yaoundé le capital de la région du Centre, ainsi que le capital du pays. À contrario, la météo y est très chaude et humide, l’air est lourd, et l’hospitalité n’y est pas au rendez-vous, ou rarement.  Les rues, comme à Bamenda, sont bouchés mais les chauffeurs sont pressés plus que les clients. Ils manquent de respect envers les piétons. Au lieu de former un rang, ils forment trois lignes dans la petite rue fait pour la circulation à double sens. Tout le monde est pressé d’aller quelques part. Je me pose alors la question, « Si tu avais un rendez-vous, pourquoi, n’as-tu pas programmé de quitter la maison plus tôt ? »

En essayant de rattraper le temps perdu, les chauffeurs mettent les vies des piétons en danger.  Au lieu d’utiliser les routes, ils utilisent les trottoirs construits pour les piétons. Où les piétons doivent-ils marcher ? Ils n’auront pas d’espace pour échapper aux véhicules. Alors, que va-t-il arriver ? Plusieurs fois j’ai évité des voitures sur le trottoir, parce que les chauffeurs se sentaient comme les rois des rues.

Dans des moments comme ceux-là, je lève les yeux vers le ciel est crié comme David en détresse. « Mon Dieu, écoute la droiture, sois attentif à mes cris, Prête l’oreille à ma prière faite avec des lèvres sans tromperie ! » Psaumes 17 :1. Quand la mentalité des hommes va-t-elle changer ? Qui est là pour protéger les citoyennes de mon pays ? Pourquoi avons-nous les forces sécurité (la police) qui ne connaissent pas leur travail ?

Si et seulement si j’étais autorisée à retirer les permis conduire, je le ferais chaque jour à partir de 16H30 au niveau de Mbog Abang jusqu’au Petit Marché d’Odza.

Plusieurs fois, les chauffeurs m’ont rétorqué qu’il n’y n’avait pas des règles des rues au Cameroun, alors, tout le monde peut faire ce qu’il veut.

OH la colère ! J’étais vraiment irritée pas leurs réponses.  Ils ne se préoccupent pas que les piétons soient en danger. À leur avis, les piétons doivent sortir du chemin pour éviter les véhicules. Pourquoi les piétons devraient-ils souffrir à cause de leur orgueil et de leur stupidité ? Où est le gouvernement de mon pays ? Que pourrais-je faire pour améliorer et changer la mentalité de mon peuple ?

Comme les héros dans la Bible que Dieu avait soutenu pour changer la situation de leur pays, pour le moment, je prie pour mon pays et pour l’opportunité de faire la différence. Le Cameroun de demain réside sur les épaules des jeunes. Alors, je travaille avec les jeunes d’aujourd’hui pour changer leur mentalité. C’est un processus très long, mais, les fruits seront bons demain. Je vais essayer à mon niveau et Dieu fera le reste.

I am neither a theologian nor a philosopher, but I am sure a citizen of this earth filled with a lot of questions. Just like everyone else, I ask the most difficult questions hoping to have a clear cut answer. However, the difference between my questions and others’ questions lies with the fact that my questions are asked with faith and hope, while others ask out of anger, frustration and rejection.

In times as these, where the radio cannot stop dishing out statistics of victims of terrorist attacks, people tend to ask if there is a God. I can’t say how many times I have talked to God on this topic. My conversations with him in the past nine years often go something like this “Lord, you are the Almighty who loves and cares for your creation. You are all knowing and you perceive the thoughts of man, yet why don’t you do the impossible, when I know that you are the God of impossibilities? Why did you not stop the terrorist from killing all the innocent people? Why did you allow such pain on people we are trying to share your love with? How will they accept that you love them, when their present situation has just widened the gap between you and them?”

In the past, I used to as the question “why me” when bad things happened to me. It became so prevalent that one day, a friend challenged me. He said “if you always ask, why me, then to whom would you like the bad stuff to happen to?” I felt like a stake had been driven through my heart. I had never stopped to ask myself such a question. In reality, nobody wants to undergo trials in their lives, yet everyone wants a pain free life, which is not a bad idea.

Where does suffering come from? Many religions have through their own philosophies explained the origins of sufferings. Buddhism for example said it is as a result of man’s attachment to worldly things. Christianity sees suffering as a result of many different circumstances. Christians through the Bible have replicated that disobedience, rebellion and unfaithfulness towards God’s commands, which are the guiding principles to a peaceful society, can all lead to suffering. Hinduism views suffering as punishment for misdeeds committed during their lifetime or past lives. Islam believes it is a way of submitting to the will of Allah. Judaism believes that suffering is caused by a weakness in one’s devotion to God.

The Bible which has become the most precious book in my life, teaches about love. It gives the first command to us, which is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Then it gives the second command, which is to love our neighbours as ourselves.

Based on the reality in our different home countries, we can say that the world has rejected God in their daily lives and refused to understand his desire for us. They have looked at him as one who takes pleasure in their sufferings, rather than one who shares in their sufferings. The Bible says in John 3:16 that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him, will not perish but have eternal life.

Isaiah 53 depicts Christ suffering on our behalf. “Who would have believed what we now report? Who would have seen the Lord’s hand in this?” (Vs 1) Unbelieving as the Israelites in those days, we reject God’s love, his mercy and his peace. Not many people believed and still do not believe the truth concerning God’s presence in every situation in our lives. “We despised him and rejected him; he endured suffering and pain. No one would even look at him- we ignored him as if he were nothing. But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God. But because of our sin, he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received” (vs 3-5).

Isaiah was a prophet who testified to Christ’s suffering whom he had never met, but he knew God and had walked with God doing his best to help his people know him. God has shown his constant love to a people whose hearts were harden and God revealed to him his plan in the future. Out of love, God gave the people hope and that hope was and is Jesus Christ who came over 2000 years ago to fulfil that which Isaiah had spoken of. If we cannot understand such a sacrifice, how can we understand love in its true form? If we cannot understand love, how can we show love in its wholeness? If we cannot show love, then how do we expect the chaos in the world to end?

In the Old Testament (OT), God stood up for the people and defeated their enemies. However, we look at his actions today as an act of murder. Though many do not believe that there was a flood (Gen 6-9), God did annihilate the world of evil, by drowning their unrelenting hearts to turn back to the purpose for which they were created, which was to be in relationship with God. Although God showed grace by delivering Noah’s family from the flood, man’s defiance continued. After the flood, man came up with the brilliant idea to build the tallest building, namely “Tower of Babel” and to call themselves gods. All the while, they kept God aside, refusing to acknowledge their relationship with him. Left on their own, they used one another and created slavery. God punished them by giving them languages, so that they could no longer come up with outrageous ideas that could seriously erode love on earth.

However, these people dispersed and adopted various customs, which widened the gap between them and love. Whatever, they wanted, they took through violent means. They no longer paid heed to God and did as they pleased. Is there a difference between those people in the OT and our world today? Can we say we are different from them?

The continuous resistance to a higher power is a venom in our DNA, which claws at our heart, enabling us to defile the one LOVE we wish to establish. In the book of 1 Corinthians 13, the Bible gives us a vivid explanation of what true love is. Love is patient, kind, and does not envy nor boast. It’s not proud, does not dishonour others, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered nor does it keep a record of wrongs. It does not delight in evil, yet rejoices when truth is spoken. Love protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres and it never fails.

When a seventeen-year-old takes a knife and stabs people on a train, is he demonstrating love? When an eighteen-year-old takes a gun and kills people in a commercial centre, is he showing love? What of 260 girls or more who are forcibly taken away from their futures and loved ones and turned into something they are not? Taking a man’s life because he looks different in colour than you do not demonstrate love, but create feuds. How can we wish for love when we are unable to understand love?

For thousands of years, God has chased after us to help us know the best way to help ourselves and our societies. He had used the flood, used the Tower of Babel and taken out nations.  When we analyse God’s command to the Israelites to rid these nations of everyone including women and children, we should focus on the context. What were the practices? In order to stop the practices, God took out whole nations who were sacrificing young girls and children to their gods, and using young girls for prostitution in their temples to serve their gods. Why would God take out women and children as well? What happened when Saul disobeyed and did not take out King Agag. As a result, Esther in the book of Esther had to risk her life to save her people who were about to be annihilated by Harman a descendant of Agag. Hatred had been handed down through Agag’s seeds. Yet, because we always want to be right, we labelled him as a murder, when he only stepped in to stop the very practices that we fight against today.

What are the practices that we ourselves despise? We despise human trafficking, child prostitution, child soldiering, child marriage, human sacrifices, terrorism, drug abuse, corruption, and you name the outrageous crimes. Why then do we ask God where he is? Do we honestly think God is unware? He has been fighting our rebellious nature from the beginning of time. The mistakes our forefathers made, caused our generations not to establish the kind of relationship God had created from the beginning.

In order to restore that relationship without violence, God gave up his own son to take away our sins. He wants to re-establish our relationship with the world, but because of our devious plans and ambitions, we refuse to recognize his supreme power. Many have gone as far as saying he does not exist, and as a result many reject him with questions such as “if he truly exists, why is he doing nothing to change our situation? If he is all powerful, why does he not stop all this chaos?”

God’s love is not forced upon us. He offers it to us knowing it won’t be easy, especially when our hearts are bent on rejecting him just as our forefathers did and created their own ways of seeing the world. Knowledge and reasoning has eroded God’s presence in our lives, but a part of God remains in us, because we were created in His image (Gen 1:26). Sometimes we do something wrong and our conscience pricks at us. The good news is that your conscience is the part of God, which remains in us no matter how far away we run from him.

In order to rid of the voice inside that gives them counsel, many people devise many evil plans and numb out the good in them. They intimidate others, manipulate and use massive force to subjugate and control them. Rather than loving one another and repenting from their sins, they device philosophies that would suit their actions and justify them. Furthermore, they would choose to become jealous and envious towards their neighbours and set a meaningless race for materialistic gain, which was never God’s desire for us. At the end, those who would like to enjoy some peace and quiet get caught up in the fight becoming a bargaining chip for those who are fighting. What then can we do?

There’s a lot we can do to change the way our society functions. If we are unable to change, we can teach our children the act of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentles and self-control. We could learn from our mistakes and help them change history and not follow in the footsteps of those they see today. They could read into the history of the past and change the history of tomorrow. Help our children understand the word love without dwelling on the sins of the past. Rather than judge children through their parents’ sins, we should help them shape their own characters. Love looks not at the wrongs done in the past (1 Cor 13), but looks at the possibility of change. God has shown it to us in so many ways and we are the ones reluctant to embrace it.

Bad things happen because we have locked up consciousness and developed hideous ideologies that would satisfy our ambitions at the expense of our neighbours, families, friends and country. Every single person should take a look at the demon within them and see how they can fight it. God has been fighting alongside us all, in one way or another and we have been too absorbed with our desires to challenge the inner demon.

I am but a simple observer and I write as my heart leads. I do have the right to write, due to a number of challenges I have encounter in my own life, and have found true love rather than revenge on the world and God. If you hurt others because you have been hurt, then you are no different from the perpetrators.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” Philippians 4:6.

This is easier said than done. In my Christian walk in the past eight years, I have learnt to cast my anxieties on Christ. Yet, I find myself numerous times worried about the very things I just prayed about. This irritates me, because it makes me question my faith in God and I despise such thoughts and feelings. I like questioning things and fixing things that are out of place or are unjust. I get so unhappy with a lot of injustices that are displayed by people who have the power to make a difference. Sometimes, I get scared by my own thoughts, and wonder if God is happy with how I am reflecting and thinking about these things. So what should I do? While reading Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, Susanna on page 431, came up with a genius idea.

Like me, she’s a worrier and she was trying to help her friend Angel deal with her worries. She pulled out a shoe box with a slot on the top and called it her “God Box”. She explained, “when problems prey on my mind, I write them down, fold them up and put them through the slot (on her box). Once they’re inside this box, they’re God’s problem and not mine…I know it sounds ridiculous, but it works. I’m a fixer, Angel. A worrier. I’ve never been able to just let things go. I want to play God, if you will. Every time I do, things go awry. But it reminds me to put faith in God and not in myself. The bonus come when I see my prayers answered.

After a few questions from Angel about her method, Susanna explained that she puts dates on the problems because “I like to know how long it takes God to answer”.

“What if God says no?” asks Angel.

“Then he’s got something else in mind. Something better than what you would think up for yourself.”

Knowing I was exactly like Susanna, I emptied out a memory box I had since I was thirteen years old, and wrote down many things I had been worried about, and they mounted up to twenty-six. I have about ten more to add to the list today. Lately, my sleep has become easier, and I haven’t been worried about the things I placed in the box, because I know God has them in his hands. Now I just need to practice patience. After God answers one, I will open the box and take the prayer out and give thanks to the Lord for his faithfulness, unfailing love and grace.