Published
04 Jan 2009 01:54
Author
Stephen L. Bening
Emner
Om at give + Tiende

Yesterday, I decided to take a quick trip to the internet cafe, to check my email, with no writing included in the trip. My wife travelled to the bank, and met me as my one hour time expired.

I have two pair of comfortable shoes here in Medellin: one pair are sandals, and the other are a pair of very old docksiders, with the bottoms worn sandpaper thin. Yesterday, I wore those docksiders because I was wearing blue jeans. When I go out solo, I try to blend in with the national uniform, and NO ONE here wears shorts. NO ONE here wears sandals with blue jeans, so I was wearing my docksiders.

My wife surprised me by informing me that she was going shopping for an apartment for her niece, and I went along. We took a taxi to a point about 1 mile distant, and then began to look at apartments.

As time passed, we were doing a lot of walking, and somewhere along the way, I slightly hurt my ankle. We had walked about a mile, and I could feel every rock through those docksiders. Just as I thought we were heading for home, my wife decided to take a turn down a side street and inspect one more apartment.

My hurting foot was speaking to me. NEW SHOES, NEW SHOES, it was saying. Now, whether the Lord was in agreement with my foot, I did not know, so I prayed, and I felt peace about it, so I informed my wife that I was going off to buy new shoes.

Now, if you know me, you know this is unusual. I have grown more and more frugal as I minister among the poor. I almost never buy anything for myself. Whenever I feel the slightest bit of guilt about it, I decide not to purchase, or I will wait and pray, but yesterday, as I walked to the shoe store, I became certain that my hurting foot and the Lord were in agreement that I needed new walking shoes.

I arrived at the local shoe store where they have an ample selection, and did my best to shop, but I have no gift for shopping, and I was growing frustrated. I began to pray, and my wife walked in, telling me that she had been chasing me. I asked her to make a selection, she chose, I testwalked, and then purchased the new models.

As we then walked home, we stepped into the meat market next door to acquire some meat for dinner. As we waited, I was tapped on the shoulder from behind. A most pathetic looking older couple appeared behind me, looking dignified, and quite pitiable at the same time, and I was perplexed. I checked with my wife, who spoke briefly with them, and we resolved to take them to the house with us, and the wife of the man began to cry.

Oracio and Guimo have been married for 42 years, and are both 58 years old. They came to Medellin one week ago, from the small mountain town of Santuario, which is about ten hours South of Medellin. Oracio has been suffering intense pain from Glaucoma, and his wife has suffered from Diabetes.

They arrived a week ago, and sought for Oracio`s brother, but he had moved, and no one knew where to find him. Oracio obtained an appointment with the Doctor for today, at 7 A.M., but that meant they would have to spend more than a week in Medellin.

So, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, they stayed in the cheapest hotel they could find, but they ran out of money. All day Saturday and Sunday, they stayed in the municipal bus terminal, sitting on the benches, without any sleep.

On Monday, yesterday, they were walking around, disconsolate. Oracio and Guiomo are CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS. Oracio began to call urgently upon the Lord. He prayed: "LORD, HOW CAN WE BE IN THIS TERRIBLE SITUATION WHEN YOU ARE THE KING"?

As he told me the story, it was not very long after this that we met him in the meat market. We took them home with us, and fed them, and prayed for them. I rebuked the intense pain in Oracio`s eyes, and the Lord delivered him. We gave them some clean clothing from our suitcases. Also, they were cold: it gets cold at night here. We gave them long sleeved sweaters, and they cried again.

We invited them to stay for the night, and at first, they refused, but I insisted, saying that I would be greatly honored if they stayed with us. It began to rain, and they consented. The Holy Spirit then spoke twice to me, telling me the amount of money I was to give to them, and I complied. They began to cry, and so did I.

I awoke just after four this morning, and the Lord began speaking to me about the Lord`s supper. I knew the Lord wanted me to share the body and blood of our Lord with these two, so after about an hour of prayer, I rose at 6, and they were already awake, readying themselves for their 7 A.M. appointment with the doctor. We shared the Lord`s table, and I prayed again for Oracio to be healed of any Glaucoma. Then, I asked them to pray for me, and for my upcoming mission to Africa. We were all sharing many tears by the end of these prayers, and they departed.

I just finished speaking to my son Richard by telephone. He informs me that some money has come in for my Africa Mission. Praise the Lord. I can send some now to pay for printing of handbills for our crusade, for the radio time, and for Evangelist David Machimbo to travel around making plans in Kenya and Uganda. Hallelujah!

After they left me this morning, I was once again, alone with Jesus. No one else was yet up and about in the house. I began crying once again, thinking about how many times I have been a bit uncomfortable, or a bit cold, or not overly pleased by the plain food on my plate, or suffering some small pain or sickness. How many times I have allowed such momentary afflictions to cause me to grumble, complain and walk around in a foul mood. Yes, the tears were flowing as I realized what these Christian believers had just suffered through, and yet, THE KING came through for them when they urgently called upon His name.

How wonderful our KING is! How much He cares for his little ones! How close I feel to him this morning, having just ministered unto two of his little ones. For as He says, what you have done to the littlest ones, you have done it unto me.

I have great heaviness in my heart also for what I see in almost all the churches in this country and in the United States. People escape from the idolatry of the worship of the Virgin Mary and the dead saints into the idolatry of covetousness. Both will damn you to hell, according to Ephesians 5:5. People who are squeezed and manipulated into paying tithes and offerings by men have no money to help the poor, or take in strangers, or pay for the medical care some of these people need. So, they assume their pastors must know what is best. Surely, their pastors must be leading them into a path that will please the Lord, they say to themselves.

People are saying within themselves: "I have paid my tithes and my offerings to the church....I do not need to help these poor people who trouble me." YOU FOOLS!

THUS SAYETH THE LORD: YOU PAY TITHES AND OFFERINGS TO CHURCHES AND TO MEN, WHERE I HAVE NOT COMMANDED YOU TO DO SO. BY DOING SO, YOU THINK THAT BY FOLLOWING YOUR TRADITION, YOU WILL PLEASE ME. YOU GO TO YOUR MEGACHURCHES, AND YOU LIFT YOUR HANDS, AND YOU PRAISE MY NAME, YET YOU TURN AWAY THE STRANGER, AND TURN YOUR BACK ON THE POOR. YOU HAVE NO TIME FOR THE PRISONER AND YOU HAVE NO MONEY TO GIVE TO THOSE WHO ASK OF YOU. YOU FOOLS AND BLIND. HAVE I NOT COMMANDED YOU TO HELP THE POOR, TO FEED THE HUNGRY, TO CLOTHE THE NAKED, TO VISIT THE PRISONER, TO HEAL THE SICK, TO COMFORT THE DISCOURAGED, THE WIDOW AND THE ORPHAN, AND TO TAKE THE STRANGER INTO YOUR HOMES. REPENT QUICKLY, I SAY, OF YOUR COVETOUSNESS, FOR IT IS CARRYING YOU INTO THE ETERNAL FIRE OF HELL. I SAY IT AGAIN: NO COVETOUS MAN SHALL ENTER INTO MY KINGDOM, SAYS THE LORD!

Please keep us in prayer that our movements will be explicitly directed by the Holy Spirit, and that we will obey perfectly.

Finally, before I left for Colombia, I purchased my air tickets for my mission to Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria. I will be going for 33 days, from September 3, to October 7. The cost of the air tickets was more than $2,500, and I am simply moving by faith that the Lord will take care of it for me. It is time for me, and other remnant servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, to rise up, and sit enthroned as the kings and princes that we have been made unto God, and His Father.

The people I am working with would like me to send a little money, as soon as possible, for the printing of handbills to announce our outdoor crusades, and to prepay for four hours of radio time in Kenya. I believe $1,000 would cover it all.

Many thanks to all of you who have helped us thus far in finances and prayers.

To assist our work here in Christ Jesus financially, you have these options:

1) Wire it by Western Union, direct to me in Medellin. Send it to Stephen L. Bening, care of Nohelia Baena Bening, Calle 32, 78 A 98, Medellin, Antiquia, Colombia. Telephone is 011 574 238 6883

2) Send checks to Stephen L. Bening, as a gift, if you don´t need a tax deduction. Address: 6810 Lee Street, Hollywood, FL 33024

3) Send checks to the same address for "The G.A.P. Foundation", if you need a tax deduction.

Blessings,
Stephen L. Bening
Dokumenttype
Oplevelse
Year
27 July 2004