Valley of the Shadow of Death

Welcome to Christian Charity World as we look at "The Valley of the Shadow of Death"

The Twenty-third Psalm
A Psalm of David

"The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."

When we choose (some say we are chosen) to follow Jesus Christ we don't make the easiest choice. There are many other roads we can follow but none of these lead to our salvation. Following our saviour is the route we must take to come to God and this path is fraught with many dangers and wrong turnings along the way.

In the Old Testament we are reminded of Job's fall from grace as he lost all that he owned including his loved ones and faling ill to a disease likened to lepresy. He was advised by so called friends that he must have sinned badly and he should confess his sins to God. Yet he could not see where he had betrayed God that badly. God was testing him, guiding him through his own personal Valley of the Shadow of Death and because Job's faith never ceased (it may have buckled abit at times), God brought him out the other side.

Our Saviour Jesus Christ led a life following a path through a very dark valley. Tested by Satan in the wilderness for forty days Jesus proved His sinlessness and yet still endured hostility, loathing and ultimately death upon the cross. His whole three years of ministry must have seemed like a walk on the dark side but God rewarded Him with His resurrection and ascension into heaven to sit at His right-hand.

I'm reminded of the poem "Footprints in the Sands" by Mary Stevenson

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there were one set of footprints. This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints. So I said to the Lord, "You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there have only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?" The Lord replied, "The times when you have seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you."

 Just the other day I was praying to God about my own personal journey through The Valley of the Shadow of Death. I wanted to see a sign that he was with me as I tripped over unforeseen bolders and got sucked under by the quicksand of financial uncertainty. Soon after my prayers I picked up the book "Godzone" by Mike Riddell which is a travellers guide through God's kingdom. In the chapter entitled "Lie of the Land" he very picturesquely describes the terrain that we, as Christians, will inevitably hike across on our journey to be with God. His description of "The Valley", a very dark, perilous road with steep sides that block out any sunlight seems to aptly paint the scene I feel myself in at the moment. But I am greatly inspired by the fact that a mountain peak awaits where we can basque in all God's glory which can be viewed to the horizons afar.

Ten years ago before I started on my Christian journey, a journey through The Valley of the Shadow of Death would have broken me. Today, knowing Christ is my guide and Saviour I can tread each dark step without any fear.

How fantastic is that?

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Many, many Christians experience extremely difficult, testing times. It may be ill health, relationship break ups or, like me at present, a harsh financial climate. We may wonder where God is as we desperately struggle in our own Valley of the Shadow of Death. It seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel as we stumble over obstacle after obstacle, trapse through quagmires and dodge poisoned arrows. We can't climb the cliffs each side of the valley because they are to steep and treacherous so we have no choice but to soldier on.

Love Thy Neighbour

Welcome to Christian Charity World as we look at "Love Thy Neighbour".

"Ephesians 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,"

The ability to "love" comes easy in some circumstances and somewhat more difficult in others. As Christians we are called upon to love and to love God, love Jesus and to love our family and friends comes quite easily and naturally. But we are called to love our enemies and those who have wronged us as well. How easy is it to show our love then?

When somebody has served injustice upon us, hurt our feelings, stolen from us or perhaps even physically harmed us, our human reactions are to feel angry; we want that person or persons to suffer like we have suffered. We seek justice or revenge. How can we possibly feel love in these circumstances?

A few days ago I was feeling a little like that with one of my bosses at work. I had been denied a couple of hours off to attend to a personal matter. If I wanted time off I should take it as holiday. I felt aggrieved because I knew I'd been putting in extra hours to get work completed and to catch up with paperwork, extra hours that I wasn't getting paid for and was taking me away from my family. How could this person be so unreasonable? What happened to the principle of "give and take"? And what's more I'd been honest about my intentions rather than "pulling a sickie".

My automatic reaction was to feel bitterness towards my boss and yet deep down I knew I shouldn't. Pangs of guilt welled up from within because as a Christian I knew I should exhibit love. So how could I smother my resentment and get myself back on the right track?

As on most occasions the answer was to turn to God and pray.

My prayer started by letting God know my frustrations although He would have known that already. I explained my feelings of injustice and then confessed my guilt because I didn't feel the love inside of me that He would want me to share. My words were flowing as I disclosed that I appreciated that my boss was probably under alot of work related pressures and that this person probably had other issues to contend with as well.

Hang on, I was beginning to feel sorry for my boss. I was feeling compassion flowing inside of me. The anger had evaporated with the warmth that was now filling my heart. Within just a few minutes of prayer my whole attitude was changing and I felt at peace once more.

Perhaps the issues I had were minor compared to some. Many people are bound by the strongholds of deep animosity and feelings of forgiveness are far from their hearts. Love may take a little longer to shine through in circumstance like these but most assuredly love will win the day in the end if we offer over our hearts to God and ask Him for His help.

How fantastic is that?

Freedom for the Dalits of India

Welcome to Christian Charity World as we look at the plight of the Dalit community in India.

Caste System

The caste system in India is an aspect of the Hindu religion and is not practiced amongst any other major religion throughout the world. Castes are a means of placing people into occupational groups and the hierarchical ranking determines the behaviour of one member of society towards another. In India there are four main classes:-

Brahmana

Kshatriya

Vaishya

Shudra

Lower castes are discouraged from desiring to climb the caste ladder so generations of people have their working and social lives predetermined. Castes very rarely inter-marry and are not interchangeable.

During his time of rule, Mahatma Gandhi introduced a fifth and lowly caste made up of lower castes and "untouchables".

Dalits

Dalits are regarded as the "untouchables". Historically Dalits have fallen below the four main castes but under Mahatma Gandhi were categorised into the new lowest caste. Their occupations were considered to be impure undertaking leatherwork, butchery, rubbish removal and the cleaning of streets, latrines and sewers. These activities were considered as polluting the individuals and this pollution was considered to be contagious by higher caste members. Dalits were segregated and banned from full Hindu life; they could not enter schools or temples and had to stay outside of villages.

The Indian government has made great strides to integrate Dalits into Indian society but problems still remain particularly in rural areas. It is widely speculated that bribery and corruption allows the continuation of abuse towards Dalit people especially in the area of human trafficking which extends into bonded labour, the sex trade, begging, abusive domestic service and the harvesting of body parts.

Human trafficking is modern day slavery and it is estimated that there are over 18 million Dalit victims although this could be a very under calculated estimation.

Child and Bonded Labour

From the ages of 4 to 5, children are forced to work in stone quarries, fields and street cleaning. They earn very little and are deprived of any schooling and never achieve even basic literacy skills. By adulthood many are sick, deformed or exhausted. Working virtually as slaves, they work to pay off debt. Debt has become their chains and in the majority of cases it isn't even their debt. They slave to pay off debt accrued by parents, guardians or relatives. Some children are even sold to pay off loans.

It isn't just children that are entrapped by bonded labour. Many adults are forced to work off debts in attrocious conditions, governed by disproportionately unfair contracts that have rolling terms and conditions.

Bonded labour has been outlawed by the Indian government yet the practice is still widely practiced. Officials are bribed not to launch investigations and bonded labourers and non government organisations trying to protect them are threatened with violence with such threats often being executed.

Dalits are the most victimised group when it comes to bonded labour as, because of their caste status, they are so vulnerable to discrimination and violation of human rights.

Sex Trafficking

Young girls are sold into the sex trade by their own relatives. They are first enticed, deceived or even kidnapped before being locked into brothels and forced into sex with clients. Any resistance is met with beatings with belts, sticks and even iron rods. They can even be drugged by their masters.

As prostitutes they can be made to have sex with between 10 and 25 clients per day. They are also made to breed so that sons can be taken into bonded labour and daughters used for prostitution. Children also become hostages to force mothers to comply with their masters demands. Although this is predominantly a female trade there are some boys trapped within this vile trade.

As would be expected, the risk of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and AIDs is extremely high. Should any sex trade worker catch such diseases they are tossed aside, no longer being of any use to their employer. It is estimated that there are 3 million prostitutes in India of which 1.2 million are children. These people are also used for the growing demand in pornography, live internet feeds and sex tourism. Of all those that are trafficked for the sex trade, 90% are Dalits.

Child Beggars

Their are estimated to be 300,000 child beggars in India forced to beg by mafia-style gangs. Children are deliberately maimed; amputation of limbs, dousing with acid and blinding. The worse the injuries a child has the more money they are likely to get. They are actually taught in the art of begging and they are given beatings if they don't hit daily monetary targets. To hide from their misery many child beggars fall victim of solvent, alcohol or drug abuse.

Again Gangmasters bribe their way into immunity. Needless to say the vast majority of child beggars are drawn from the Dalit community.

Domestic Service

Domestic service abuse is not so easy to detect as it goes on in the privacy of homes. It is, though, considered to be a growing form of abuse particularly within the flourishing middle classes. In 2006 employment of children under the age of 14 was outlawed yet three-quartes of domestic workers are believed to be between the ages of 12 and 16. Ninety percent are girls.

There are two styles of domestic work. The first is to work in one household, living in but working day and night. The other is to work for a number of households in a week - sometimes in one day. Abuse comes in the form of excessive hours, degrading tasks, witholding food and pay and physical, sexual or emotional abuse.

Placement agencies find work for domestic workers. Some are legitimate but others are involved in the abusive practices. Agencies may entice workers into moving far away from home to find work, promising jobs and good pay which never seems to materialise. Eventually some workers will end up in bonded labour. Dalits are most at risk of falling into abuse from domestic services.

Harvesting of Body Parts

When we talk of harvesting of body parts it primarily means the selling of organs such as kidneys. There is a severe shortage of organs for transplant in India for which there is now a flourishing black market as people are transported (trafficked) around India to harvest their body parts. Because there has been little research into this trade it is difficult to estimate the extend of the problem but again it is estimated that 96% of kidney sales are to pay off debt. And yet people don't get all the money they are promised as brokers rake off a huge chunk of the sale price. It has also been known for day labourers to be forced at gunpoint to attend clinics. Because of poverty and discrimination, Dalits are the biggest victims of this trade.

Help Dalits in India

There are a few organisations around the world who are fighting and campaigning for freedom for the Dalit community. This isn't helped by the fact that persecution of Dalits is kept underground by corruption and violence even towards defenders of the abused community. Here in the United Kingdom, Dalit Freedom Network UK strives to highlight the plight of Dalits in India and seeks your support. If you would like to find out more or pledge your support please go to http://dfn.org.uk/.

How fantastic is that?

- semi skilled and unskilled labourers. - people engaged in commercial activity and businessmen. - people in public service, administration, maintenance of law and order and defence. - people engaged in scriptual education and teaching which is considered essential for the continuation of knowledge.

God Speaks

Welcome Christian Charity as we consider how God speaks.

2 Corinthians 8:10 Revised Standard Version "And in this matter I give my advice: it is best to complete what a year ago you began not only to do but to desire."

The Bible I tend to read from the most is the Revised Standard Version. It was the first Bible I was given as a child and although I have others it is the one that I carry with me wherever I go. Sentimental value I suppose.

When I go to Bible study class it often has to be followed meticulously as others read from their versions that are worded somewhat differently. And I have to say as I read the above verse from 2 Corinthians my first interpretation of it was probably wrong.

Just recently I have been at a crossroads as to a particular project I had embarked on. I was beginning to have doubts as to whether this was really what God was calling me to do. Naturally I prayed to Jesus to help guide me and as I read verse 10 from chapter 8 it really felt that God was telling me to persevere. It was about a year ago that I first decided on this particular venture and although it has hit some stumbling blocks recently it was still in my heart to try and see it through to the end. God speaks and the way I was reading his word I was getting encouragement to carry on.

The danger with taking a particular verse on its own is that the meaning can be distorted. When I looked at other Bible versions and read chapter 8 in its entirety it became clear that the apostle Paul was talking about giving. He was suggesting that what was started a year ago in the way of giving generously should still be continued as the desire should be matched by its completion.

I had gotten the wrong end of the stick because I had taken only the words from the verse which hadn't given me the full picture.

But did that really matter in this particular instance?

Although once I had done my research I had understood the true meaning, I had still been given the idea that I should carry on with my project. God speaks and he was appealing to my heart rather than my head wasn't he?

God speaks to us in many different ways and I'm sure he must get frustrated with me because he thinks I don't listen. But he does speak and his voice comes to us through other people, through experience, sometimes through gut instinct, and very often through his word as written in the Bible. Many times I have heard people say that they can go over passages from the Bible again and again and get a different message each time. They will see something different, feel something different, their hearts being touched in different ways, and this is God speaking to them in such a way that is relevant to them at the time.

God speaks.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

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Satan

Welcome to Christian Charity World as we look at Satan and how he can work in our lives if we aren't careful.

"James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Do you have trouble understanding Satan?

For some people they struggle to visualise what or who the Devil really is. The characterisation of the Devil as a little fellow dressed in red, with small horns on his head and spouting a tail is a bit hard to swallow. This wouldn't be an accurate depiction of The Devil usually portrayed in cartoons or comic strips.

The words "Devil" and "Satan" amount to the same thing scriptually though "Devil" is likely to have derived from the Greek language and "Satan" from Hebrew.

The Devil works hard to tempt us into being disobedient to God. He plies us with evil and corrupt thoughts, confuses us with ideas that differ to what we can read in the bible, and bombard our minds with negative thoughts in times of trouble, when our faith is put to the test. Satan searches out our weaknesses and plays on them, telling us lies, trying to grind us down into submission. He is the spirit of evil.

God however provides us with a righteous spirit, the Holy Spirit. When we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us we have pure thoughts, positive thoughts, a desire to do what is right in God's eyes because we know that it is good for mankind. We are not doubtful because we know the word of God is the truth and we can trust His word.

Following The Devil's work, whether it be in thought, word or deed, will make us feel guilty and sorrowful. A Christian will hate the sin, and although none of us are likely to be able to claim that we a perfect Christians, we will despise any sin we commit and will seek forgiveness from God. Living a life filled with the Holy Spirit will leave us feeling joyous, content and peaceful having lived upto the truth.

Our saviour Jesus Christ was the embodiment of a life filled with the Holy Spirit. When spending forty days in the wilderness the Devil continuously tested Him but Jesus was always able to counter him with Gods words as written in scripture. This is really a master plan in fending off evil thoughts. When negativity abounds in the mind and confusion reigns it is really helpful to try and still the mind and then focus on Gods words. If a bible is at hand and the right passage can be found it will surely drive away Satan from the mind.

It's almost like our minds are the battle ground between the Devil and the Holy Spirit; each one trying to wrestle control of our intellect and our body. So does that mean that we have no control over who wins? Are we just the territory of which the two are fighting over?

We do have the ultimate say in whether evil controls our thoughts or the power of righteousness. Although it takes alot of consciousness to catch negative thinking when it creeps in, once we catch it we can push it aside and focus on more righteous thoughts. And when we do, we can feel the Holy Spirit entering our hearts. We don't have to sit on the fence. It is possible to decide between right or wrong, good or evil. God is the creator of all we see so that means he has ultimate control over Satan. We know through The Book of Revelations that one day Jesus will return and Satan will be defeated. So why not back the winner?

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

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http://www.cryinthedark.org/

Stillness

Welcome to Christian Charity World as we contemplate stillness.

"Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Last year I was in Romania with a group of volunteers as we helped the Christian charity Cry in the Dark with renovations to their orphanage Casa Lumina. It's always rewarding when doing such work particularly when we had all the young people around us inspecting our work and with some of them wanting to get involved as well. It gives a personal feel to the work knowing that these are the people that we are doing it for. Which made it very emotional as news unfolded during the week.

There are 22 orphans at Casa Lumina with varying degrees of life limiting illnesses or disabilities. Each one has a personal assistant and these personal assistants are not funded by the charity but by the government. During our trip it was announced that the government was pulling out of all funding of personal assistants. The economic crisis had hit Romania as hard if not harder than many countries in the Eurpean Union and this was one of the measures the powers that be had, in their wisdom, decided would claw some money back. This was devastating news with possibly devastating consequences. Without personal assistants, some, if not all of these young people could end up back in state run institutions; the places from which Cry in the Dark had strived so hard for so long to take them away from. But the consequences could be worse than that. It could feasibly take upto a year to get the orphans back into one of these institutions and if Casa Lumina had to close because of lack of finances they could end up on the streets.

One evening an emergency prayer meeting was called. We were invited to offer our prayers in an open session so all those who felt the need to openly say a prayer to God could do so. Many words were offered to The Lord in a desperate plea to help in this time of need, all being heartfelt as our emotions ran high. There were prayers for the leaders of the government, prayers for the trustees of the charity and prayers for the security of the orphans and staff alike. Then a simple prayer was offered.

"Be still and know that I am God"

The mood dramatically changed. When we realised that we needed to be in touch with God first and then he would answer our prayers, the sense of desperation and frustration evaporated. God is in control of everything for our good and yet in amongst all our emotions that obvious fact had been fundamentally overlooked. We had been looking at human ways of finding answers to the situation rather than just relying on God. Now in our stillness we could contemplate God's greatness and feel comforted that God would do right for Cry in the Dark and Casa Lumina.

Life has its ups and downs and when we seem to be on that downward slope we can feel angry, desperate, helpless. The tunnel can seem pitch black with not even a glimmer of light at the end of it and our despair and confusion can force a barrier between us and God. This is the time that we need to be still, and in that stillness focus on God. For God does things for our good.

As I write Casa Lumina is still providing amazing love and care for 22 young people. Cry in the Dark was founded on faith in God and has continued for over 13 years to support those in need in the impoverished areas around Bacau in North East Romania. In our stillness pray that this may long continue.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

http://www.cryinthedark.org/

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Christians Today in Nigeria

Welcome to Christian Charity World as we look at Christians Today in Nigeria.

"2 Timothy 3:12

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,"

　

Sometimes life may seem difficult with our financial difficulties, family issues and perhaps many people not understanding our Christian values and ways of thinking. Yet in the western world, in the United Kingdom, United States and Western Europe we have it really easy compared to many Christians in other parts of the world.

　

In 2003 I spent some time working in Nigeria, particularly in the city of Ibadan. Despite some rather hairy moments I've developed a fondness for the country and indeed many of my Facebook friends are Nigerian. So it deeply saddens me to see the current unrest that has hit the nation particularly in Central and North East Nigeria.

　

President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in parts of the north eastern states of Yobe and Borno and the central states of Plateau and Niger. This follows Christmas Day attacks on churches in Yobe, Plateau, Niger and Nigeria's capital Abuja. Indeed the bombing of St. Theresa's Catholic Church in Abuja left 37 people killed.

　

A radical Muslim group called Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for all these attacks. Boko Haram seemed to have been virtually extinct in 2009 and were even using primitive weapons such as poisoned darts for their attacks. Yet over the course of 2 years they have risen strongly and now reportedly have affiliations with other Islamic Fundamentalist Groups such as al-Quaida in the Islamic Maghreb and the Taliban. As I write, a deadline set by Boko Haram for all Christians today in Nigeria to move out of the North of Nigeria has past. They have also urged Muslims in the south to head Northwards as they believe their safety is under threat from the predominantly Christian population of the southern states. It doesn't bode well for immediate peace as it appears that they are set on creating two seperate states with the North being governed by Shari'a Law as currently happens in 12 states. We can perhaps gain more insight into their motives when we translate the name Boko Haram; "Western Education is sinful".

　

In 2011 it is estimated that Boko Haram had killed upto 600 people in their attacks on churches. Jos, the capital of Plateau State has seen many deadly clashes as it lies on the divide between Christians and Muslims. President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the temporary closure of Nigeria's borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon to prevent terrorists fleeing to the safety of their neighbours. The mood of Christians across Nigeria is understandably one of concern and anxiety. The National Youth Wing of the Christian Associate of Nigeria have been quoted as saying that they will not tolerate any further attacks on churches.

　

I hope and pray that Christians do not try to retaliate though there are many who can understand the desire to exact justice. I'm sure it is easy to say, coming from one who is an outsider, but justice is not ours to meter out but God's. God is the ultimate judge and in his wisdom he will punish. For Christians today in Nigeria they must try and find it in their hearts to love all, including those that persecute and attack them. Love is their greatest weapon.

　

I have to point out that I am no great scholar on Islam but it is my understanding that it is a peaceful religion at heart, which makes it difficult to comprehend why Islamic Fundamentalists want to perpetrate such acts of violence including suicide bombings like that at the offices of the United Nations in Abuja. Why anybody would want to resort to violence of any kind to enforce their will is beyond me.

　

President Goodluck Jonathan has an unenviable task ahead of him in trying to find a formula for peace. Indeed as a committed Christian himself he must feel that his life is in danger as well. It is my wish for the nation and friends that have found a place in my heart that they can live peacefully together with the love of God at their core. For the sake of all Christians today in Nigeria and their Muslim neighbours.

　

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

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