Yes indeed parents do love their children dearly, but a mother loves her children in a very special way.
More than once when I was growing up I overheard a conversation among poor women back home: "You take marbles and boil them until children go to sleep when you don't have anything to offer for them."
A mother does that with tears in her eyes and heart. She reaches at such conclusion with a great pain realizing that she is lying to her own children whom she heartedly loves. Little children don't believe a mother or father that can ever be out of food, it is impossible for them!
Since I began preaching the gospel in 1993 I've seen this in the spiritual sense. Many babies in Christ put so much trust in spiritual parents. For them God works through the messenger in every case, which is true in some sense. But some of us are like the poor mothers who don't know what to do afterwards! We believe God can open up the door in many ways, however God always does so by using our hands, feet, etc. to help others in need (Gal. 6:9,10; Mt. 25:31-46).
Few instances here: I recently received a call from Sylvester who graduated from Andrew Connally School of Preaching in 2013 asking for a place to worship. He said, we can do as much as to contribute our effort in this, such as making clay blocks, etc. ($5000 will do much good for this group of 30 new babies in Christ).
Below is a report from Congo. Theofilo is one of our graduates who became Christian in Tanzania as a refugee of the Congoleese civil war for decades now:
Christopher my dear friend,
Try to forward this report about the churches in D.R.C./CONGO to our brethren so that they may know what is going on in this part of the Lord's church.
We have planted 6 congregations at EAST of D.R.C. Namely:
1. UVIRA CHURCH OF CHRIST - 45 members
Our main task here is door to door Evangelism,seminars for edification of the members once per month and restoration ministry(here we choose one family every week where we will meet in evening for bible study,we invite neighbors to share the gospel and present the church of Christ.
Other congregations are:
2. BARAKA CHURCH OF CHRIST - 35 members.
3.KIKWENA CHURCH OF CHRIST.20 members.
4. FIZI CHURCH OF CHRIST -21 members.
5. LWEBA CHURCH OF CHRIST-17 members.
6. MBOKO CHURCH OF CHRIST-15 members.
- Our pressing needs:
1.We desperately need our own ground for the building of worship service since renting houses is very costly in UVIRA and BARAKA towns.
2.Almost 3 computers or laptops and 1 printer will help us to speedly spread the Good News all over the country.
3.We need the visit of missionaries,teachers,and fellow christians from US and other countries for our edification and assistance since no support is noticed untill now in CONGO.
4. Swahili Bibles and other printed materials are so needed also without omitting your prayers which are the spin of our efforts.
Brotherly yours,
Theofilo M. Songie