News Volume 11.5—September 2008
Marriage, Motherhood, Money Management & Maintenance
Greetings. Things have been very busy for us over the last few months. A lot of very exciting things have happened in the lives of people we care about. It is good to be able to look back over some of these things and give thanks to God.
Marriage
On the 18th of July this year Burge Family was witness to a very special occasion. Samuel Burge (14 years) described it as follows. “Mrs. Jan McMechan knocked on our door one Friday night. With her was her new friend. They both came in, and after a while Mr. Bill Horton made a surprising announcement. He and Mrs. Jan had decided to change Mrs. Jan’s last name to Horton! Mister Horton went down on one knee and to the tune of a few cameras clicking proposed to Mrs. Jan. Not too surprisingly Mrs. Jan accepted and they were formally engaged.”
The Bible tells us, He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from the LORD.” (Proverbs 18:22). Bill would heartily agree with this. No doubt you will all want to join us in wishing Jan (who hosts our Melville International Christian Fellowship house church) all the best and praying for all God’s blessings to be upon her and Bill for their future life and ministry together.
Motherhood
You may have heard by now that Jocelyn and Garry Schäche had a big baby boy - Dillon Joash, 11lb5oz (5.186kg) when born. There were quite a few complications along the way - and after. We are thankful to God for his care over the Schäche family and pray God’s blessing on them too as they settle into life with a new baby.
Seeing the way the Schäche children have helped Mum and Dad over the last weeks is testimony to the effort Jocelyn and Garry have put into training their children. Malachi 2:15 tells us that one of the Lord’s purposes for marriage is that we might raise up “godly offspring.” This has always been one of the mainstays of our ministry. We are certainly seeing evidence of God’s grace at work in the life of this family. Praise God.
Money Management
I (David) have just finished a six week course with the New Zealand Federation of Family Budgeting Services. This has been a good opportunity for me to “up skill” in an area where my talents (such as they are) are in constant demand.
As the cost of living continues to rise, as finance companies fail etc, people are discovering that there is no real lasting security in wealth. We need to remember that "He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish..." (Proverbs 11:28). Will you join me in praying that the skills I have learned will be used to help those in need find what they are looking for – and perhaps in some instances – they will find lasting security in the righteousness that comes by faith in Christ.
Speaking of money... our treasurer received this a card recently. It read: “Dear Glenise, I want to express our sincere appreciation for the generous ACCONZ givers who have blessed us with gifts at the outset of our ministry here in Thames, and more recently. Please pass on our gratitude for this sacrificial giving. God’s richest blessings on you all. Gavin and Alison McIntosh”.
Manse Maintenance
We are continuing to see the hand of God at work as we do renovations around the Manse at Takanini. Not only did he provide finance of around $17,000 to enable us to replace the wooden windows with aluminium ones but we found out that the law is about to change such that had we left it any longer we would have had to pay for double glazing with all the extra expense that entails. Furthermore, seeing that the windows had been replaced, someone drove in off the street to offer us a really good deal for re-cladding the building. Circumstances were such that they were able to offer us an extra discount if we accepted a colour which just happened to be right for our Manse.
Again, thanks to those who have contributed. The completion of this project will put us in a good position going forward to minister well into the future.
ACCONZ Prayer Points
Please pray with us for each of the following:
- Pray for Bill and Jan as they plan for their wedding and their future life and ministry together.
- Pray for the Schäche family, for Jocelyn as she regains her strength and for the whole family as they adjust to the changes that come with a new little baby.
- Pray for David as he puts in to practice the skills he learned on his budgeting course.
- Pray for Gavin and Alison and the ministry of the Church of Christ in Thames. Thank God for his provision so far – and pray that he will continue to provide.
- Thank God for the way he is leading us through the process of renovating the Manse. Thank him for the finances supplied so far and for the things that have fallen into place by the hand of Providence.
- Pray that through all our ministries people will be helped to overcome not just temporal problems but spiritual problems also. May we all learn to go to Jesus, the Healer of Souls, for the help we need.
Yours in Him
David Burge.
on behalf of ACCONZ
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