Nehemiah 1:1-11:
[1] The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, [2] Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. [3] They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire. " [4] When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. [5] Then I said: "O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, [6] let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. [7] We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. [8] "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, [9] but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.' [10] "They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. [11] O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favour in the presence of this man." I was cupbearer to the king.
Nehemiah 2:1-10:
[1] In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; [2] so the king asked me, "Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart."
I was very much afraid, [3] but I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?"
[4] The king said to me, "What is it you want?" Then I prayed to the God of heaven,
[5] and I answered the king, "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favour in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it." [6] Then the king , with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, "How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?" It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time. [7] I also said to him, "If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? [8] And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?" And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests. [9] So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king's letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me. [10] When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.
There have been some challenges to us recently that I want to share with you. I will base this is in the account of Nehemiah so that there is a biblical framework for us to hang onto.
When You're Faced with The Unexpected.
Nehemiah got unexpected news:
1:3: They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire."
Sometimes the unexpected comes across our paths.
Recently I went on a trip to South Africa. This was my last trip as a Regional Missions Coordinator. I had resigned from that post.
Barbie and I used to live there and had visited before but it had been 13 years since we had been there.
To be honest those closest to me knew how frustrated I was getting at going there. A large team who were due to accompany me had dwindled to two of use. I even asked Lee Carmichael if it was worth us going at all. We agreed we should still go.
Having said goodbye to Barbie and the airport there, Lee and I undertook the five hour drive to Tzaneen in Limpopo province.
It was on this journey the unexpected happened. On the N1 God dropped something into my heart: "I am bringing you back." I almost thought Lee had said something.
I wasn't sure what to make of this but there was an instant excitement about being there. I also pondered what "being back" looked like but as I wasn't sure.
During the mission trip, in Tzaneen and Barbeton areas, we did see some great things happening. There was also talk (and still is) that the Executive Team of the Emmanuel Fellowships want to invite me back next year to speak at their national conference.
So I began to figure that going back would mean regular visits to South Africa and that this would become a new priority.
When You're Heart Breaks You Have to Respond
1:4: When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
When Nehemiah heard of the plight of the people he broke down and wept. He was heartbroken and fasted and mourned.
When the mission ended - Lee had returned to the UK - and I stayed an extra weekend before travelling back to spend time with Barbie. I left on the Monday morning, saying goodbyes to the Fenner's.
Driving over the mountains leaving the area I was listening to some Christian music in the car and enjoying the twisting roads when suddenly and unexpectedly I began to sob. Literally sob great tears. I thought, "this is quite dangerous, Lord, what's going on." I felt God clearly say two things to me:
"I told you I was bringing you back. The means relocation. Also you're sobs are for harvest: Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him." (Psalm 126:5-6).
I'm not sure how I kept the car on the road. I then asked God to speak to my wife. She'd had a very different experience to me. She'd been with family, which was good. But she had felt isolated and not well enough to do much. She has messaged me saying that she never wanted to return to South Africa ever again.
Clearly God had His work cut out. I was still unsure what this looked like. During the five hour drive to Barbie He began to drop a strategy into my heart.
When You're Going on an Adventure You Need Resources and a Plan
2:7-8: "If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? [8] And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?" And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests."
Nehemiah needed resources and he needed a plan. Nether of which I had travelling in that car. But the Lord began to unfold a three-pronged approach to me that Barbie and I could implement:
- Training and Supporting Church Leaders:
The Emmanuel Fellowships are planting churches are a fast rate but don't have enough key leaders to run these.
There's an obvious need for help in leadership and Bible School training, both of which I participated in whilst there.
I don't have time to tell you in detail what happened on those occasions, but suffice to say I have rarely been in an environment here people literally pull the Word of God out of you because of their hunger.
- Starting Medical Clinics:
The standards of medical care in South Africa is patchy if you cannot afford it. I heard stories of babies being delivered in cars because hospitals wouldn't let them in, of children dying due to lack of medicines.
Barbie with her nursing and midwifery skills could begin to train, assist and develop clinics in the more rural areas. In fact, when she was 21, God have her a dream that she would one day work in clinics of this kind, but that dream had long since died to support my ministry.
- To develop and build homes for the most vulnerable and children.
In South Africa there is a pandemic of HIV AIDS that is leaving many children orphaned, looking after their siblings, in the locations (villages) where they live. Some of these children are living in shacks or on the streets. I thought well we need to do something about that but what?
The government are building homes, but progress is slow. These homes are not given or rented to people though, they are sold. They cost approximately R100,000 (£6,250), but because of corruption the prices charged are often in excess of R300,000 (£18,750).
There had to be a way to help but I didn't know what it was.
So I arrive at my father-in-law, where Barbie was, and explained this great plan to her. To her credit, she didn't discount it, but needed to hear God for herself.
We decided to pray.
Four days later we took her dad out for a meal and were chatting about one of his dreams. He started to talk about the housing crisis and how he had wanted to bring dome houses to South Africa. He explained the unique construction process and how he had approached the government to support this type of housing. However, even though these are a U.N. approved type of construction and are used elsewhere in the world, the government officials would not even talk to him without a bribe.
So I say, "What you need is a Non-Profit Organisation so that you can circumvent a lot of the red tape and get funding from overseas for some of these to be built."
He says, "Yes! Where can I find someone in South Africa who is beyond corruption?"
So I say, "Well, I think the Lord is telling us to come back. What do you think?"
He says,"I think you'd be doing the right thing!"
For years he's been telling his kids to leave the country.
He then said, "Let me show you a photo of what I am talking about." And he showed us these.
Barbie looked at me and said, "This is the building I saw when I was 21, but it made no sense because I'd never seen one before. But that's the clinic from my dream!"
We started to work out the costing on building one of these compared to the government housing. These work out at R25,000 to R30,000 (£1500-£1800)!
Great! So how do I start up an NPO all the way from England?
When You Set Out You Need God's Favour and People's Cooperation
1:11b: Give your servant success today by granting him favour in the presence of this man." I was cupbearer to the king.
2:8: And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.
Nehemiah could not do what he was called to do on his own. Neither can we. We have Elim Missionaries, Robin and Janet Fenner, working in South Africa right now. We don't want to tread on their toes even though we will be several hours away.
So we decided to talk to them during their visit to the UK. We figured if they did not want us there, albeit several hours away, we should not go.
When we told them they were super excited. Then Robin told me this story which I did not know. He said: When they arrived in SA, two and half years ago, they felt God tell them to set up an NPO. Although it's a simple process it takes a long time. They were obedient. Then, when the papers finally arrived, they thought well what do we do with this? We don't have the skill set to do everything in the NPO's remit. So it exists, but it is being used as a feeding programme. He continued, the remit of the NPO is to feed the hungry, build medical clinics and build homes for vulnerable children! He said, "You're the reason God told us to set it up and we are giving it to you!"
Well you could have picked us up from the floor!
Then the prophetic stuff started to happen. Someone in church came up to Barbie and told them of a dream he'd had. It was about Barbie crossing over a road from one career to another. He said, "I too crossed over and found myself in an African market. Barbie was speaking on a mobile phone, saying the death rate has gone right down; which I took to indicate people were being saved."
We went to our national conference recently and several people same up to us and said, "When are you leaving to go on the missions field?" Some of you would know Keith Warrington and out of the blue he said to us, "You guys are called overseas!" Barbie had a conversation with someone and they wanted to know which country she was serving in. Barbie said, "UK." "No, that's not where you're meant to be!"
Chris Cartwright (Elim GS) said some amazing things in his message to leaders:
"God is a God of suddenly moments! They are about propelling us into God's future for us...
We are all missionaries and we may go to places we did not expect."
We had an appointment with Paul Hudson as part of the debrief from my previous role. We explained what we felt God was saying. His response was: "I want to send you next week but there are processes. But yes, I want you guys in SA! In fact, I'd like you to build links across Southern Africa for Elim."
Favour!
We went to see Dave Campbell our Regional Leader who is speaking here at the end of June. He asked how the missions trip I didn't want to go on had worked out. We explained. He was shocked but gracious. The next day he sent a lovely message expressing his support.
Favour!
There are so many other God-instances that I don't have time to tell you about today
We then told our kids. And then the elders.
When You're Setting Out You Need a Timeframe
1:6b: It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.
Nehemiah set out a timeframe for the king. I shall do the same now. You'll have questions and want some answers. Some things we cannot answer today.
Timeframe and processes:
Elim now longer send missionaries out without through training and vetting.
Here are things we have to do:
Attend Elim Training Academy. This is a nine month programme starring in September and ending with a residential week the end of May/beginning of June. Most of this is done through book reviews, Skype calls and DVD's which we can do at home in our spare time. There is a financial cost to this.
From our point of view we need the following:
Barbie needs her naturalisation as a British citizen. This is in case things go pear-shaped in SA (it's not the safest place) and we need a quick escape route.
Barbie's SA nursing registration and online dispensing course.
We need to fund, find and purchase a buy-to-let property somewhere in the UK if we can.
Fact Finding Trip - where are we going to be based?
We need to raise support for our set up costs (these are high as we will need a good second hand 4x4).
We need to raise support for living costs. Elim missionaries are not salaried.
It is in light of this preparation that we are telling you today. In the meantime we will continue to lead and bring encouragement to you all. All we have ever wanted to do with our lives is to be obedient to the Lord.
Please do not think that this will be easy for us. We are not going home. Our home is here. Our children and their wives are here. Our new grandchild is here soon. We do not do this without great personal cost.
When will we be leaving: July 2018
Phil Merriam, one of our elders, will come now.
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