HE SHALL BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR… MIGHTY GOD…EVERLASTING FATHER…PRINCE OF PEACE ISAIAH 9 V
Names are really significant, names are who we are, its our identity, and this is why names are such a big deal in the Bible. In the prophecy of Isa 9v6 Isaiah says when He shows up this is who He is going to be in your life, when you hear those names hope already begins to dwell in your heart…
WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR…. it means direction its not like a physiological counsellor its wisdom, its guidance, its saying God will give you direction if you seek Him.
MIGHTY GOD ….this speaks to the strength and protection of God, God has got your back and is bigger than you think…He is mighty.
EVERLASTING FATHER …. This is saying that the founder of everything is your Dad, you are part of a family that has a great heritage, you have great significance
PRINCE OF PEACE …. This isn’t just about personal peace, this is about a ruler who brings unity, He was someone who could bring people together and create security and stability in the culture, He helped people get along with each other.
I pray as you meditate on these names that you will let our Lord Jesus be who He wants to be in your life, may you know Him to be a WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR TO GIVE YOU DIRECTION…ask Jesus to be a MIGHTY GOD TO GIVE YOU STRENGTH…ask Jesus to be an EVERLASTING FATHER TO REMIND YOU OF YOUR SIGNIFICANCE AND HERITAGE …and finally say God use me in your Kingdom to help you bring PEACE AND SECURITY and UNIFY PEOPLE ALL AROUND ME….IN 2017 AND BEYOND.
Greetings from a hot and humid Zimbabwe! Its over 30c (90f) and we are enjoying a little rain at this wonderful time of the year, what a year it has been, highs and lows, triumphs and trials, tears and laughter and in the midst of it all has been our Lord Jesus Christ, directing, leading, guiding us and helping us in decisions and situations where we were unsure what to do and where to go, who a WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR He has been to us and everyone at Jabulani.
We thank God for the fantastic year Grace, Blessing, Hope, Daniel and Joseph experienced at Gateway PS, they were fully involved in every aspect of school life. In class, choir, swimming, hockey, netball, rugby and inter school activities our children excelled, all their end of year reports were excellent and we are grateful to God and the staff at Gateway for the wonderful foundation they have received. We are thanking the Lord for everyone of you dear friends who has helped in any way to enable our children to attend school, the school fees and uniforms have been covered by you partners of Jabulani and we are very grateful, God bless you. Due to the fact that we have another 5 children starting school in January, making a total of 10 children, we have been forced to have a rethink about the long term educational goals, so we believe God has opened up a door of opportunity for all 10 of our children to start a new Christian private school in January called Hope Academy. Alan has taught Gods Word monthly in this school for 8 years and we believe this will be a great place for our children to attend and grow in grace and wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man Luke 2v52 may the MIGHTY GOD be seen, known and felt in the days that lie ahead
Please pray for the transition and settling into the new school, making new friends and adapting to new rules and regulations….we believe God will help them to excel.
Our little girls have also had a fun filled year with teacher Rose at Jabulani preschool, they have all grown in every area of their lives, they visited Hope Academy and impressed the teachers with their knowledge, ability and manners ( sure we didn’t expect anything else!) they really are very smart and full of confidence. Esther is the leader of the pack, Sarah is the comedian and has a prolific memory, Abigail can read and sing in public with great confidence, Hannah has come on leaps and bounds and Faith is now much more confident and able to keep up with the rest of the gang! Praise God! We are indebted to Rose for her outstanding care and education she has poured into our girls, we pray Gods blessing on her and the children as they move to Hope Academy in January. We also thank every visitor and volunteer who has spent time with our children this past year, from Ireland, USA, England and Zimbabwe we are in awe of you! God bless you!
As many of you are aware little Ruth was taken from Jabulani by the local authorities and placed with another family here in Harare and this of course has caused us great heartache and grief, we would ask you to continue to pray for Ruth, that she will be happy and settled, that she will know Gods love and blessing in her little life and while we miss her desperately we know God is in control of Ruths life and will be with her wherever she goes. We have not been given the opportunity to say goodbye to Ruth and this has caused some upset with the other children, please pray we might all experience the PRINCE OF PEACE in these days.
We have released 2 staff members due to everyone going to primary school in January and now have 4 care workers, Shelter, Mel, Kuda and Elizabeth, also Violet who cooks and cleans along with our 2 gardeners Tiri and Joshua, these co workers have been tremendous and a real blessing to Dorothy and I, we thank God for their work ethic and love for our children. Please pray for them as they labour for the Lord among our children.
Kuda and Joshua are doing well, they are getting bigger and are very happy and settled, we believe this is due in part to the wonderful atmosphere of peace at Jabulani and some new chairs which have helped their posture and comfort, we thank God for our friends in Northern Ireland who provided the money and shipped the chairs to us! This was no easy task and we are very grateful, our children have benefitted greatly and we thank God for the generosity of many of you friends!
We thank God that our children and grandchildren back in Ireland have also had a great year, Daniel is in Form 2 at Carrickfergus Grammar and Noah in Form 1 at Grosvenor High …Lois has just finished her transfer tests and we pray she also will join Daniel in Carrick while Jonah is in P3…we are looking forward to July next year when all our family will visit us here in Harare for their Summer holidays.
So as we approach Christmas, Alan is preaching on Christmas day at Church, than we will come home to Jabulani where Santa will give out the presents, then we will have a big barbque and swim in the afternoon, there is much excitement in these days! We want to thank every one of you who pray and support this great work, for individuals, couples and families, churches and businesses we thank you in Jesus Name. Thank you for the teams and friends who have visited us this year from across the globe, your input has helped our children in a huge way, it has also blessed Dorothy and I to have you in our home, our EVERLASTING FATHER has been with us all, what a God, what a Savior! We love and appreciate you so much, we trust you got your calendars and cards, we have a few calendars left if you need some, just contact me.
May God fulfill all your dreams,
In Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord,
Alan and Dorothy