Zone Visit.

Following our trip to Rwanda we spent a week in service in Arusha then we headed to Dar Es Salaam for the zone visit. Brother Ellison from Brooklyn gave a very encouraging talk, "What Do You Seek?" He has been travelling around Africa and Tanzania was his 4th stop. Here are the notes from his talk..........


He gave the illustration about looking in a mirror. When animals look in a mirror they don't recognise themselves. But humans do. Perhaps at times we aren't happy with what we see and we walk away and try to forget about it. Or perhaps we don't notice negative things about ourselves. We don't want to look within. It takes someone else to tell us our faults before we recognise them. So is it nesessary to to make a personnal examination? If the answer is no, it's like saying that we would be willing to live without a literal mirror! Yet, as humans, we are glad we can look at ourselves and check ourselves so that we know what others see.


Everyday this system is a rainy day for Christians. If left unchecked, we can quickly become unrecognisable as a Christian. Heb 4 v12 tells us that, 'God's word is alive and exerts power'. We must use the bibles light to reflect our spiritual image so that we can check ourselves as with a mirror. How does it shine? How do we view the light? Are we quick to make changes? It's important to makes changes quickly as small problems are easier to solve than large ones. To illustrate, a ship must take a course to get from A to B. In order to arrive the captin must use a compass and stick exactly to the course. If he allowed the ship to drift just 1 degree off course, the further he travels the further off course he becomes. What if we walked just 1 degree off Jehovah's course?


How do we make decisons? Do we think about how they affect Jehovah? Do we have to be mature to make good decisons? Consider the example of Karen a 7 year old who lived in Cuba. The custom to enroll 7 year olds in the communist army was in effect. When the official entered her classroom and announced that it was a 'happy day for the students' because they would all become members, she raised her hand and said that she could not accept. The official was stunned and took her to the principals office. The principal yelled at her saying that he wanted 100% enrollment and he would have it, and asked why she would not join. Karen explained that she meant no disrespect but that her loyalty was to Jehovah. The official told her that if she refused to join he would have her parents thrown into prison. Karen responded, 'What do my parents have to do with this. It's my decison. Put me into prison.' Impressed, the 2 men took her back to the classroom and told the class,"we want all of you to be as zelous in your convictions as Karen is." Karen was able to see how her stand affected others. She proved that she was concerned about how her decisons affect her relationship with Jehovah.


As we continue to test ourselves we become mature. Jehovah does not provide a list of 'do's and dont's'. He provides principles that make it easy to make decisons. To illustrate: If the doctor tells you that you can't eat pie and icecream due to health problems, then a friend offers you a piece of chocloate cake, how do you reason? "The doctor didn't specifically mention chocolate cake!" Just as the doctor didn't list every single thing we should not eat, so to, Jehovah does not list all the things we should avoid. But, he gives us principles and guidlines to protect ourselves. We only benefit if we listen!


Does the fact that we are elders, pioneers, missionaries mean that we are spiritual? We must understand God's way of thinking and not allow fleshly thought to control us. For example, John, a young publisher lives next door to an inactive family. Stevie, the young boy of the family, and John sometimes play together. One day Stevie invited John for dinner. He asked his mum and she said he could go as long as he came straight home afterwards. John sat at the table with the family and they all began to eat. John just sat there. After a few moments he asked, 'aren't you going to pray?' The family replied, 'we don't do that here.' To which John replied, 'But that's what my dog does!' A dog does not show appreciation for food, he just eats. What do we do naturally?


If we were to imagine our spiritual and fleshly sides on a see saw, which would be higher? We must maintain control. So the next time we look in the mirror, ask, 'how do i look?' Be quick to make corrections. Allow your spiritual person to remain in control and develop a relationship with Jehovah that will last now and forever.