Weekly Note
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By Monday afternoon, she was gone.
Every Dad wants to protect his kids, but sometimes there is nothing you can do… This past Monday morning Joe's (name changed) 29 year old daughter was feeling fine. Later that morning she received the news she had a serious illness. An hour and a half later, her body went into shock, she had a heart attack, and passed away. There are some things in this life we have no control over.
Most of the time, Dads can do a lot to protect their children. As the father of four daughters, I’m always looking for good material to help me guard and guide the wonderful women in my home. I recently finished reading a book called “Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters” by Dr. Meg Meeker. While I was enlightened, I was also sobered by some harsh realities. Dr. Meeker gives disturbing statistics…
- 35.5 percent of all high school girls have been depressed for longer than two weeks and 11.5 percent of girls in high school have attempted suicide in the last year.
- 27.8 percent of high school students (boys and girls) drank alcohol before age thirteen.
- 40.9% of girls fourteen to seventeen years old experienced unwanted sex.
The good news is that many of these terrible situations can be avoided by attention, vigilance, and encouragement by fathers and mothers. The Journal of the American Medical Association (Sept 10, 1997, p. 823-32) reports that parent connectedness is the number one factor in preventing girls from engaging in these behaviors. Many people want to throw up their hands and say “I don’t know what to do”, or “They don’t want my help”. With the stakes as high as they are, those excuses sound pretty hollow.
Little girls aren’t the only ones being targeted by a hostile world. After taking the first chapter and a half of Colossians to talk about the supremacy of Christ, his incredible work on the cross for us, the radical transformation of our lives, the Apostle Paul warned the church in Colossae to beware of the dangers of the “philosophies” of the world. Protecting our faith takes attention, vigilance, and encouragement. In our passage this week he gives four warnings about those influences that were around then and are still around today. I encourage you to read ahead through Colossians 2:16 to 23 in order to be prepared, attentive, and vigilant to strengthen your faith.
Please cover (Joe) and his family at Neighborhood Bible Church with prayer. I know they will deeply appreciate it in this time of loss. They are trusting the One who, “…is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Col. 1:17) You can too.
Looking forward,
Kurt
Glen's Supplement
This is Glen Miller's supplement to the weekly email, sent April 30 from Zimbabwe.
Building team home
Dearest friends,
It is now Wednesday afternoon here and we are catching up from our time of building 1 ½ earth homes on the farm. Everyone has returned to the States and are safely home for which we rejoice. I think our bodies are finally letting down a bit from the two months of preparing for the team to arrive, working with them and then getting them back to the States. The 10 days on the farm were physically challenging with long hours but a testimony to God’s provision, faithfulness, peace and fruit for the kingdom.
Patty worked with the women in the kitchen (outdoor partial building with no roof, over an open fire with tears rolling down our cheeks and our lungs gasping for clean air, unbelievable amount of flies from morning until dusk and then gone, lifting, bending, carrying, standing etc.etc. We fed between 70-75 for breakfast and lunch and then the dinner crowd was 50 plus. I worked right along side the guys, mostly in the pit as we called it digging up sandy soil. I think we hauled 2500 wheel barrows of soil and then mixed 10 loads with 1 bag of cement – mixing that carefully and adding water before them shoveling it into the long plastic tubes and building. Below you will see a picture of the home which is 17 feet high!
The relationships and bonds between the Zimbabweans and us were precious as few had ever worked along side of white people. The people who came from the village joined right in and a couple even brought a little something to share for food. We are praying this will be a bright light for the Lord in that area and an opportunity to know Him.
So we are back in town – still trying to source more things for the completion of these first three homes. I have had several meetings all ready and more to come. We are enjoying hot showers and power so far. Things remain unsettled here as far as we know – trouble in many places. We continue to ask for your prayers for this country.
We were also able to take the team to Imire Game Park for a night to see black rhino, giraffe, buffalo, lions (in cage), elephant, impala, and much more. It was a new place dedicated to preserving wild life in Africa. Therefore, the animals even though wild have been exposed to humans and are fed to bring them close to the vehicle for us to see. Still pretty spectacular. We couldn’t have them come to Africa without seeing some animals.
Thanks for your prayers and support. We love and miss all of you.
Because of Jesus,
Glen and Patty