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Optimism

There is an optimism which nobly anticipates
the eventual triumph of great moral laws, and there is an
optimism which cheerfully tolerates unworthiness.

Agnes Repplier

An optimistic outlook is a result of having confidence that good is ultimately going to triumph over evil. It is an attitude that imparts patience in the midst of difficult circumstances, and also patience with less-than-perfect people.

Optimism doesn't mean that we're naive about the reality of evil in the world or the extent of the damage that evil has done. While it believes that one day everything will be fine, optimism is not so foolish as to imagine that everything is fine today. Clearly, everything is not fine, and genuine optimism looks at the facts with total honesty.

But is there any reason to believe that good will ultimately triumph over evil? I believe there is, even if we limit ourselves to the empirical evidence of human history and our own personal experience. If we consider the evidence, I believe we can't help but see a pattern: truth tends to outlast falsehood, and rightdoing tends to outlast wrongdoing. The victories of evil in this world may be shocking and justice may be long delayed, but facts are stubborn and truth is resilient. Eventually, good has the last say. Why this is so is another question (one that is very interesting, both philosophically and religiously), but the pattern is undeniably clear. Right is more durable than wrong.

So we can make an intellectual choice to be optimists. In hours of darkness, we can choose to hold on to what we've learned while the sun was shining. Maintaining our confidence that good will outlast its enemy, we can stand our ground before the various onslaughts of evil.

Optimism is an important perspective in life not because it makes us feel better but because it strengthens us and gives us courage. Life happens to be full of battles that have to be fought, and as Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "Pessimism never won any battle." Backbone comes from belief -- belief that, despite any number of short-term setbacks, the long-term triumph of good is still sure.

The essence of optimism is that it takes no account of the present,
but it is a source of inspiration, of vitality and hope where others have
resigned; it enables a man to hold his head high, to claim the future
for himself and not to abandon it to his enemy.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Faith Invents

"And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they
uncovered
the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down
the
bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay."
- Mark 2:4



Faith is full of inventions. The house was full, a crowd blocked up the
door, but faith found a way of getting at the Lord and placing the
palsied
man before him. If we cannot get sinners where Jesus is by ordinary
methods we must use extraordinary ones. It seems, according to Luke
5:19,
that a tiling had to be removed, which would make dust and cause a
measure
of danger to those below, but where the case is very urgent we must not
mind running some risks and shocking some proprieties.
Jesus was there to heal, and therefore fall what might, faith ventured
all so that her poor paralysed charge might have his sins forgiven.
O that we had more daring faith among us! Cannot we, dear reader, seek
it
this morning for ourselves and for our fellow-workers, and will we not
try
to-day to perform some gallant act for the love of souls and the glory
of
the Lord.


The world is constantly inventing; genius serves all the purposes of
human
desire: cannot faith invent too, and reach by some new means the
outcasts
who lie perishing around us? It was the presence of Jesus which excited
victorious courage in the four bearers of the palsied man: is not the
Lord
among us now? Have we seen his face for ourselves this morning? Have we
felt his healing power in our own souls? If so, then through door,
through
window, or through roof, let us, breaking through all impediments,
labour
to bring poor souls to Jesus. All means are good and decorous when
faith
and love are truly set on winning souls.
If hunger for bread can break through stone walls, surely hunger for
souls is not to be hindered in its efforts.
O Lord, make us quick to suggest methods of reaching thy poor sin-sick
ones, and bold to carry them out at all hazards.

MISSION SCHOOL pICTURES

The Mission Mind OF Christ

Dearly beloved  in  the Lord.
CHURCHES OF CHRIST
Greetings to you and to your family with all the
saints who are there with you.
May the peace of our father who dwells in Heaven abide
with you continually In Jesus name, Amen.
Beloved, I am counting it all joy to come your way
through this medium though we have not met nor written
to each other before. By way of introduction, I am
UCHENNA F. BEKEE, a gospel preacher with the Church of
Christ that meets at Oyigbo in the Rivers
State of Nigeria.
I have being into the vineyard of our Lord for well
over sixteen years now, and am married with a young
daughter ONE YEAR OLD NOW
I became a preacher of the gospel due to the love I
have for the souls that are living in darkness and the
burning desire to be a part of the building up of the
body of Christ.I was born into a Christian family.My
late father   was also a minister of the gospel before
he died in
1992 after a
protracted fight with
diabetes.

I have desired to continue the work which my father
left behind and also to glorify God. Many souls have
been led to be born into the family of God in our
ministry.
Brethren, a few years back the Lord ministered to my
heart and opened my eyes to see the great need which
our African children have and the associated dangers
or setbacks they will face if Christian education is
neglected. I have noticed and discovered the great
damage being done to Christian homes here through
Non-Christ centered education. From a population study
which I did and from many spot experiences in Bible
classes that I have organized for our children, It was
discovered that the devil is using the public schools,
which are meant to be tuition-free, to attack the
strength of the Church.  Also the so called
private-schools, which are mostly owned  by
denominational churches, eat on the fabric of
the
behavior of
our children and their faith. It became
obvious that the near absence of Church of Christ
schools in our State,  which has about 13 million
people , is contributing to the absence of leadership
in almost all the congregations here. This happens
even to an extent that we hardly recover our children
from falsehood and create separation, weakness, and
unfaithfulness in the parents and guardians.
.We have lost so many young people to drug abuse,
promiscuity, rape, indecent life styles and doctrinal
error that many are discouraged from following the
Christ.
Some good families that are poor cannot afford to pay
for the education of their children and resort to
these schools that offer free education and
scholarships to them, and as a result, they fall away
from the faith. Seeing these trends disturbed my soul
and I began to think of what to do to salvage the
situation. I discovered that if we can begin
to set up
Christian
schools where our children can be trained
and nurtured both academically and spiritually, we
shall save the situation to a large extent.
Hence, the coming into existence of HIDDEN TREASURE
CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL. After a discussion I had last
year with brother Glenn Boyd (Searcy Arkansas)  who
oversees the work going on at a Bible school in the
South east part of Nigeria ,God used my poor talents
to begin this all-important school, which is NINE
months old this week.
This school is meant to offer full curriculum
education to the children born into poor Christian
families, and to serve the entire church family and
the community as well. it is intended to also minister
to the physical and spiritual needs of these children,
and to those who are underprivileged, delinquent, and
neglected children by providing quality Christian
residential education and care. Many of these children
have been
neglected, rejected, and abused.
through no
fault of their own, they suffer from the ills of
dysfunctional families, Emotionally, they are torn
apart. We want to help them become useful to
themselves, their families, and the community of
believers.
We seek to provide activities to assist the well
rounded development of each child or student, a
development similar to Jesus' development in Luke.
2"52. Here, intellectual growth will be stimulated
through academic training, Physical growth promoted
through various physical activities, and spiritual
growth fostered through religious training and worship
periods.Students in Hidden Treasure now are encouraged
to always give their full effort in these areas.
Our moral philosophy rest on the moral principles
found in the Bible. the educational goals therefore
seek to help each student become the best he / she can
be in life.

Hidden treasure Christian High School
has been
established to provide
both the atmosphere and
training most conducive for developing well educated
and faithful Christians. Hence, every member of the
administration, faculty and staff is committed to live
by and to teach the bible
.
Brethren, presently, we have  children from Christian
homes in the school and they are learning very fast.
We have seven teachers, including four females and
three males, and a minder who takes care of the KG4-5.
The school is intended to be a purely missionary
Christian school, and that is why this long letter is
been sent to you who also know the value of education.
I know of your faithful work in the lord's vineyard
and strongly hope that you people can help us and
as well  guide us toward congregations or individuals
who could help our great need.

Presently, we are using a leased apartment and we
lack
many basic facilities  to  encourage learning
and
development of the boy and girl child. We
are
outgrowing our space and need to relocate to a place
we can call our own. We need a minibus, for the
transportation of the children to and from school,
classroom books,library, science equipment, school
desks,  and a set of computers.

I have included an estimated monthly budget of the
school with our immediate needs, and pictures of the
present children and staff. I am located on the far
right of the smaller children. The faculty and staff
are Christians, working on faith that their salaries
can be raised.

An executive board of four Christian brothers is being
set up to oversee the school and its finances. More
detail can be provided upon request. We are praying
that God will bless us with sponsoring congregations
and individuals. At present our income is about
$400/month, far less than needed .Of course parents of
students will be expected to contribute
what they are
able, but most are very poor. Some
of the needs are
urgent.

The church in Storrs has supported the
work here for many years, but  it is small and can
only provide a small amount.

we will appreciate it if you can be of help
to us in this work we are doing for our God.

until I hear from you, remain blessed forever.
Yours In Him.
UChenna F. Bekee.
CONTACT PERSONS:
Brother Boyd of College street Church of Christ in
Searcy Arkansas. e-mail. gsboyd@sbcglobal.net
Brother Jim Bell of Storrs road Church of Christ.
e-mail; bell3563@sbcglobal.net.
there web address>www.storrsroadchurchofchrist.org

MY MAILING ADDRESS IS :
UCHENNA F. BEKEE
P.O.BOX A 179 OYIGBO
My Phone Is : +2340864376769

For enquiries through the board of Directores, You can
write, : hiddentreasure74@yaoo.co.uk
WEBSITE;www.hiddentreasurechristianschools.org

Particular People

By the grace of God I am what I am . . .

1 Corinthians 15:10

One of the most important steps we ever take toward wisdom and maturity is taken when we accept the specifics of our own individuality. Much of the first half of life is spent in the luxury of limitless possibilities. There is no place we might not go before we die, no accomplishment we might not achieve, and no character trait we might not develop. As we turn toward life's latter stages, however, it becomes obvious that we'll not live long enough to actually do any more than a fraction of the things we've imagined. Some choices will have to be made. And for each thing we choose to grasp, there'll be many others we have to let go of. We can do anything we want, but not everything we want.

Human beings are not infinite. We are "particular" people, each defined by our own specifics. We are born into this particular family, and not the millions of others we might have been born into. We have this set of personal characteristics, and not the millions of others we might have acquired. Before life is done, we will have had this set of experiences, and not the millions of others we might have had. The older we get, the more comfortable we need to become with our own personal particulars. We should never quit dreaming and working, of course, and while life lasts we should always be pressing toward new possibilities. But when all has been said and done, even the most varied life will still consist of a limited set of particulars. Some people pack more into their lifetimes than others, but there are limits beyond which no one can go. It's impossible to be a brown-eyed person born in Mississippi and also be a blue-eyed person born in Minnesota. And even in matters of choice, it's impossible to have our cake and eat it too.

Wisdom suggests that we should not only accept our particulars, we should be grateful for them. Even if we've made poor choices in the past and wasted much of our potential, we can be thankful for the unique opportunities that now lie before us. There is good work yet to be done -- work that can only be done by a person who has just this set of particulars. Warts, scars, and all!

Let us be contented with what has happened to us and thankful for all
we have been spared. Let us accept the natural order in which we move.
Let us reconcile ourselves to the mysterious rhythm of our destinies,
such as they must be in this world of space and time.

Winston Churchill