​Report from Africa

Amathunzi, Robertson, South Africa

​We drive into the game farm with an uncharacteristic cold wind and rain. The badly needed rain and winter has hit with full force. Our first three days were spent inside our two room cottage trying to stay warm and dry.

We are dressed in layers of clothes and using our wool blanket in both the bedroom and living area. There is no fireplace or central heating system. We get in bed soon after sunset and get under the covers to get warm.

Prayer and preparation for our first missionary retreat comes this weekend. Our host is a ministry person who stayed in our home in Bartlett back in the middle eighties. She was on the verge of burnout in the ministry and stayed in our home for a month. It was our first introduction to the circumstances that cause so many to leave the ministry for preventable reasons. She is excited to serve others this weekend and cook meals.

Couples arriving this weekend will be in the midst of issues that include a church that has imploded, Each person will bring their own issues to the table for encouragement, rest, renewal and refocus. They will bring with them the knowledge, memories and experiences from the past. Tugging at those issues are cultural undertows that secretly pull their hearts, minds and souls in various directions.  

We ask for your prayers as we begin the heavy lifting of heart issues on Friday. What a joy to come alongside hearts that are bleeding and tears that are flowing. It will be such a joy to see old friends smile and meet new friends who are serving our Lord. What a special gift you have been to us. . . to place us here. . . at this time. . . for this purpose. We are deeply humble and greatly encouraged.



Copyright © 2016 Deeper Still Missions, All rights reserved. 

What's for dinner?

​Many see the Word of God. . .few observe!

​Paul has given a charge to Timothy that is essential for every leader in the Kingdom of God. We have talked about the reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. What do you give to those who you mentor?
        2 Timothy 2:2 (NIV) 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to
        reliable  people who will also be qualified to teach others.1
Kenneth Wuest states the following:

• (2:1, 2) “Thou” is the translation of su (συ), the pronoun of the second person. It is used for emphasis here, and as Expositors remarks, “marks the apostle’s anxiety for the future conduct of Timothy in the Church.” “Therefore” is oun (ὁυν). “It is resumptive of all the considerations and appeals for loyalty in chapter one” (Expositors). “Son” is teknon (τεκνον), “child,” used even of adults as a most endearing term of affection. “Be strong,” is endunamoō (ἐνδυναμοω), “to be strengthened inwardly.” “Of me” is not, “concerning me,” but par’ emou (παρ ἐμου), “from me personally.” The preposition para (παρα) speaks of personal presence. “Among” is dia (δια), speaking of accompanying circumstances. The witnesses here could refer to those who were present at Timothy’s baptism or ordination, or at any public occasion where the members of the local church were present. “Commit” is paratithēmi (παρατιθημι), “to deposit as a trust.” “Faithful” is pistos (πιστος), not “faithful” in the sense of “believing” but in the sense of “trustworthy.” “Able” is hikanos (ἱκανος), “sufficient.” Expositors’ note here is most helpful. “St. Paul is here contemplating an apostolic succession in respect of teaching rather than of administration. It is natural that in the circumstances of the primitive Church, the building up of converts in the Faith should have occupied a larger place in the Christian consciousness than the functions of an official ministry; but the historical continuity of the ministry of order is of course involved in the direction here. St. Paul would have been surprised if any other conclusion had been drawn from his words. In any case, the Providence of God sees further than do His servants.”
• Translation. As for you, therefore, my child, be clothed with inward strength by the grace which is in Christ Jesus; and the things which you heard from me personally in the presence of many witnesses, these things commit as a trust to trustworthy men who are of such a character as to be adequate to teach others also.2 

Are you passing on your best studies, illustrations, thoughts and teaching to those who follow you? Imagine a plate of food that you placing in front of your disciples. Does it contain the best you have? Are you holding back on certain items so unreliable men can not steal and misuse that information? Is your disciple fully equipped to pass it on?

Cathy and Danny Sartin
Deeper Still Missions
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2 Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (2 Ti 1:18–2:1). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
 1 The New International Version. (2011). (2 Ti 2:2). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.Copyright © Danny Sartin. All Rights Reserved.
Bible Nuggets are written for pastors, youth leaders and missionaries who desire to go deeper still in God’s Word. 
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