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March 2009
PRISONERS OF HOPE
INSIDE THISISSUE

Editorial.........................\u2026 \u2026 1 Dear Laodecia.................\u2026.2 Dead Bur y The Dead......\u2026.3 Mission Spotlight............\u20265 Lift Up Your Heads........\u2026.6 Literature Distribution...\u2026.7

Don\u201ft Blaspheme........... \u2026..8
Social Purity..................\u2026..9
Sweet Vegan Delight.....\u2026.10
EDI TORI AL..BR N. NKOMO
Over the last few days I have been dwelling upon a sermon that got me thinking, as all good sermons

should. The preacher stated how it was that his father used to leave home every morning, after prayer, with eight pieces of Adventist literature. He would take it upon himself to distribute these to people that he met during the day. Eight pieces of literature a day, for a number of years, represents a significant effort to reach out to others for Christ.

What has obviously been foremost in my mind is the question, \u201cHow much do I do for Christ on a daily ba- sis?\u201d The question that has been troubling me is, \u201cHow much do each of us do on a day to day basis to share with others the Word of God?\u201d Yes, our lives should be a witness, but I fear that we have begun to hide be-

hind that fact as an excuse not to verbalise the love of Christ for a dying world.
One of the most common excuses that I have heard over the years is that some of us are naturally shy and
that we find it very difficult to speak to people and therefore \u201ccannot be expected\u201d to be able to share the

glad tidings of Jesus with others. What we need o realise is that we are all called to spread the gospel mes- sage. What we need to realise is that we cannot take the message to the world in our own power, but that we need to step out in faith after pleading for the Holy Spirit. As simplistic as it sounds, no matter how shy we are to speak to others about Christ, if we ask that God send us the H oly Spirit as we approach someone and we by faith open our mouths to speak sweet truths, He will work through us to reach others. I f for

some reason, we still feel and fear being tongue-tied, then we should be involved in the literature ministry,
which I will touch upon below.

The preacher mentioned some practical ways in which two Adventists are using means at their disposal to reach out to the world. The first, the owner of a shoe factory, includes in every box of shoes that leaves the premises, a piece of our literature. The second, the owner of a plant t hat assembles pressure cookers, does the same with every pressure cooking leaving their plant. These are two simple ways that these people use to distribute literature and they got me thinking of practical ways that we can use to do the same. These are designed to give us ideas and I challenge each of us to seek other ways.

The first issue is that we should always carry on our person some Adventists literature to distribute. This
already means that we have the intention to do something. We cannot distribute what we do not have.
1) Whenever you either fill up your car or dine out and you tip the fuel attendant or the waiter, why not
\u201ctip\u201d them with both cash and a booklet that has the ability to attend to their spiritual life?

2) Often, especially in smaller shops that many of us visit, the cash register attendants have some worldly magazines that they read to while away the time. Why not offer them some heavenly material that they can read and benefited for this life and the next.

3) Some of us have the misfortune of having to visit doctors when we are beset by various ailments, why not leave, amongst the magazines in the waiting room, some of our literature on healthy lifestyle and living so that others may discover the truths that we hold onto regarding our health message.

4) Have you ever wondered how it is that a large number of hotels around the country, in South Africa at
least, have Gideon\u201fs Bibles in the rooms? Where were we when they got permission to deposit these
Bibles, and are we willing to organise bulk purchases of SoP books that can sit alongside the Bibles? I n
any case, you and I can ensur e that ever y time we stay in a hotel r oom we leave a copy of one of our
SoP books in the drawer for the next visitor and also some literature for those that will change the bed-
ding when we leave.

5) Many libraries in around us are begging for books and they are more than willing to accept our books to be loaned out to the various communities. All we have to do is to drop off the books at the library and they will take care of the rest.

6) We have a wonderful resource available to us in the form of the Voice of Prophecy. Our individual

churches, via our suggestions, should get involved in acquiring VoP material. We should then intro- duce systematic enrolling of students whereby, every week, each of us are required to give an enrol- ment card to someone, or else bring to the church the name and address of someone that you would like enrolled.

These are a few, but not exhaustive, ways in which we can practically get involved in evangelism and my

prayer is that we will add to these and think how we can get involved in spreading the truth about our risen and soon coming Saviour to a dying world. The one thing though, to remember throughout the process, is that our duty is to plant; and to pray that the Holy Spirit attend to the germination of the seed in the heart.

www.thenkomos.com
DEAR LAODECI A...BYSR T NKOMO
Dear Luke Warm,

How are you? I\u201fm ok, just busy working on a presentation.
My family is fine, the kids are talking too much for me, there\u201fs
constant jabbering unless they\u201fre asleep, which is when I get
time to study. I\u201fve done all my compulsory assignments al-
ready and I think I\u201fm on track. Homeschooling is a pleasure
right now because they\u201fre still at a young age, we just do one

or two official school activities during the day then the rest of the time they play or we cook together. I hope your family is well, please greet them for me.

I hope you had a blessed Sabbath, mine was blessed indeed
and I think God that we have this day of rest and fellowship.
How was the sermon? Who preached? I didn\u201ft go to church
this week, I stayed home with one of my friends who wasn\u201ft

going to be able to make it to church for a few weeks. You have no idea how wor - ried I am about your state. Testimonies to the Church volume 1 is very clear that

we are our brothers\u201f keepers, but I don\u201ft
see much \u201ekeeping\u201f going on amongst
us. My new friend has had a tough time,
and no-one has taken the time to know
her properly. I t seems as if no-one cares
for each other. I know the Bible did
prophecy that among the members, the
love of many would wax cold, but the

MANY part had never clicked till now. Now I see it. Please pray for them, her husband will be going for a job inter-

view very soon and I pray that it works out, because it seems
that they only have themselves, to rely on, unemployed as
they both are. So much for this General Conference Resolu-
tion from the 1880\u201fs \u201cThat we strenuously urge the offi-

cer s of ever y chur ch, and of the Sabbath-school, and the missionary society connected therewith, to meet together for prayer and counsel, as often as once a

month; and that proper steps be taken by the officers
to ascertain the standing, both spiritual and
tem por al, of ever y m em ber , so that assistance m ay
be rendered when necessary [Oct. 23]\u201d
Sadly, that has gone to the place where all the evangelistic

zeal has gone\u2026Now it seems that individuals have to do the
seeking out, and we\u201fre not doing a very good job either! I
don\u201ft think we know what it is to sacrifice for others. Maybe
it\u201fs because we don\u201ft care about each other anymore. Have we

let the cares of this world choke out any true love and interest
for others? And some others that do take the time to talk to
you, don\u201ft really talk TO you, but rather, AT you. They come
with assumptions, and never ask how you really are. I know it
took me a while to realise that some people have company
cars, not their own personal cars, yet people assume that just
because one has a vehicle, those people are well-off and don\u201ft
have a care in the world. So I guess that\u201fs what\u201fs happening-
that people just assume\u2026It\u201fs the same with the assumption
that stay at home mothers do it because they can afford it.

They don\u201ft see the tears we shed because we can\u201ft get our
children that container of yoghurt they\u201fre asking for. They
don\u201ft see the tears we shed because we have to ask others for

money to buy our children jerseys when winter comes rolling
by. The sadness at not being able to afford all the
homeschooling equipment they would like to enhance their
children\u201fs learning and playtime experience. The Bible re-
sources they will never be able to buy\u2026
But that\u201fs nothing compared to those
who don\u201ft even have a husband who\u201fs

working. How do they survive? At least we have family members who help feed and clothe us and our children. What

about immigrants and refugees who
have nothing and no-one? I remember
an elder at church saying that we stay in

our cliques and don\u201ft talk to others. I
remember thinking \u201cWell, that\u201fs a gener-
alization because I don\u201ft do that. I do try
to find those who I don\u201ft know and en-

gage with them. So obviously there are
many others that do it too. You can\u201ft be
a Christian without loving each other-that doesn\u201ft work!\u201d
But ,that was till l I visited this friend I mentioned in the
other paragraph. Do you know what it\u201fs like to stand outside
church and have no-one say anything kind to you? And not
only that, to have those who do talk to you, making sarcastic
comments? When someone feels so unhappy that they end up
walking to a far away church to try and find fellowship, then
you know you have failed as a church. I remember my hus-
band, receiving a text message from a stranger, asking if it\u201fs
right that no-one greeted him. The man had taken his num-
ber from the bulletin\u2026Maybe it\u201fs because it\u201fs never happened
to others. I know what it\u201fs like because it happened in Kenya.
Out of a church of more than 2000 members, we can count
on one hand the number of people who were friendly. Maybe
that experience has helped me to fully understand the isola-
tion this friend of mine went through. Do you know what it\u201fs
like to have no food in your cupboard at all? To need to bor-
row money just to buy bread? And to have no hope of any
money at any time?
2
At least those who get salaries know that even though their
expenses are larger than the amount they get, at least they\u201fll
have food on the table. What about those who are unem-
ployed and are trying to find honest, non-Sabbath-breaking
work? Where\u201fs their hope, if not in us, their fellow brothers
and si sters?
Remember what Matt 25 says? Beginning at verse 31 \u201cWhen
the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy an-
gels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall
separate them one from another, as a shepherd dividethhi s
sheep from the goats:33And he shall set the sheep on his
right hand, but the goats on the left.34Then shall the King
say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world:35For I was an hungered, and ye

gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fedt hee? or

thirsty, and gavet hee drink?38 When saw we thee a
stranger, and tookt hee in? or naked, and clothedt hee?39
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto

thee?4 0And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, I nasmuch as ye have donei t unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have donei t unto me.4 1Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from

me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and hi s angels:42For I was an hunger ed, and ye gave me no
meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:4 3I was a

stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.4 4Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?45Then shall he an- swer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, I nasmuch as ye didi t not to one of the least of these, ye didi t not to me.

46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but
the righteous into life eternal.
How will we wake each other up to our duties, if we can\u201ft
take care of each other here in the family? Is it any wonder
that we have very few Adventist orphanages in our land?
And it\u201fs not because we\u201fve adopted these parentless chil-
dren either. My heart breaks for the suffering ones. And for
us, because we will have to face a day of reckoning. What
will our excuse be?
While you ponder on these words, let us please pray for
each ot her to have our eyes opened so t hat we can see
where there\u201fs a genuine need. Please pray that we will all
have willing feet that will go the extra mile to help others.
And please pray that we will all have loving hearts that will

act prompted by principle, not by avarice. And don\u201ft ever
forget, you\u201fre in my prayers \u201cLuke\u201d, you and the rest of the
\u201cW ar m \u201d family. God bless

3
LET THE DEAD BURY TH E DEAD\u2026..BY BR E PREWITT
Continued from last edition:
Punctuality and decision in the wor k and cause of God ar e
highly essential. Delays are virtually defeats. Minutes are

golden, and should be impr oved to the ver y best account.
Ear thly r elations and per sonal inter ests should ever be sec-
ondar y. Never should the cause of God be left to suffer in a
single par ticular , because of our ear thly fr iends or dear est

r elatives. "And he said unto another , Follow me. But he
said, Lor d, suffer me fir st to go and bur y my father . Jesus

said unto him, Let the dead bur y their dead: but go thou and pr each the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them fare-

well, which ar e at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and look- ing back, is fit for the kingdom of God." [LUKE 9:59-62.]

GW 92, p. 248
Before we take these principles too far, it would be well to
acknowledge that \u201csecondary\u201d is not \u201cfifthdary.\u201d Our duty to
our families can not be lightly regarded. The man that feeds
not his own is worse than an unbeliever. We can do our
duty to our families and still do all that must be done for the
world.
No ear thly ties, no ear thly consider ations, should weigh
one moment in the scale against duty to the cause and wor k
of God. Jesus sever ed his connection fr om ever ything to
save a lost world; and he requires of us a full and entire
consecr ation. Ther e ar e sacr ifices to be made for the inter -
est s of God's cause. The sacr i fi ce of
feeling is the most keen that is re-
quired of us; yet, after all, it is a

small sacr ifice. You have plenty of friends, and if the feelings are only sanctified, you need not feel that

you ar e making a very great sacr i-
fice.3T, p. 500
This testimony was written to a particular man. It may not
be true for all that we \u201chave plenty of friends.\u201d We may not
all have the same sacrifices to make. But of all God requires
\u201cunselfish and willing service.\u201d Sister White continued to
write to the gentleman:
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