 Good afternoon. We welcome you back for the afternoon service. We're going to start this session with a few songs, but before we do that, you're going to ask Timothy to give us a word of prayer. We're praying. We thank you God for the privilege of camp meeting, a holy convocation where we convene as your children to spend time with you, to reflect on our lives and above all to be transformed by your word. It's yet another moment that you invite your presence to be with us in our afternoon sessions. All to the glory and honor of your name, it's of great Jesus' name. Amen. Good afternoon everyone and we welcome you to this afternoon program. Those who are joining us physically, the sanctuary, welcome, those who are joining us virtually, we welcome you. Those who are outside kindly we request that you may settle so that we praise God together in songs. We are going to do a number of songs, then we are also going to have our choirs, our guest choir and also our church choir blessing us with a number of items. So to start this session, we are going to do Rohum Takatifu Suahili Him Nyimboza Christo Wimbo Nambari Arubaeni Namoja NZK, song number 41 Rohum Takatifu Holy Spirit, our faithful guide. Let's praise God together. Let's sing. Zimekwisha Sing. Holy Spirit, our faithful guide. We are going to do him number 180 SDA Himnals or listen to the Wanderers story 180 Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs. Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs. Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs. Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs. Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs. Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs. Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds giving us songs Sing to the Wanderers story as a mahu de se you shall come to Nosanapon We'll have the heralds We'll have the heralds Your issue is Are we informed enough now and then we need to remind our people to be teachers to be educators wherever you are do something Don't keep quiet Evil prevails because good men keep quiet and say nothing Drag abuse Drag use and abuse has been with humanity since the dawn of history from the moment sin entered this earth human beings to experiment and discover these intoxicating substances. Drugs which were found to have pleasurable effects became abused. Today, the manufacture sale distribution of these substances is a multi-billion industry that shakes governments and controls world economy. Their use involves all sectors of the population from the rich to the poor, educated and illiterate, the lowly to the mighty, youths, adults, elderly, males, females. It affects families, churches, governments, educational institutions. Their use has resulted in disease affecting all organs and systems of the body. Delinquency and crime, poverty and economic deprivation, soil damage, violence, malnutrition and death. These have increased in the last few decades, causing a hail and a cry. And for this reason, governments through various organizations have bound themselves to special efforts and measures with legislation to fight abuse worldwide. And so various conventions and agreements have been signed by governments. In Kenya, we have a special organ department which was created specifically for this purpose, Nakada. And the Ministry of Health and Department of Non-Communicable Diseases and the Office of the President, the three working together. Various NGOs and this country are involved and for us at Adventists, we have the International Commission for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Dependency, ICPA, the Kenyan Chapter, headquartered here at our union offices. I am currently the Executive Director of that NGO. And you are welcome to visit our offices for any information or any help if we cannot help you, we will direct you where you will get appropriate help. Tobako Control Regulations 207 and the Modified Version of 2016. Then Mututu 2010 Alcohol Regulations have been passed after a long and onious battle with our lawmakers. Every time this motion came to parliament, the manufacturers of tobacco and alcohol called them to parties and meetings. Generous sponsorship with your wife and even children, a holiday for a week and generous pocket money. And when they come back, nobody hears about the motion again in parliament. It took a long time of pushing and lobing for eventually these laws to be passed. Many times have been on radio discussing the subject of drug abuse. On one of the not equations people always ask, doc if you are saying there is something wrong with drinking or smoking, how come we are officially making them? Kenya breweries, British America and Tobako and the others. Is it the fact that the government has allowed the official manufacture sale and distribution of these things proof that these things, there is really nothing wrong with them, it is innocent pleasure. And they vow they will not believe it until the government burns these things. I don't know what they are saying now when the laws eventually became passed. And I will tell them, listen, politics, administration and the way we live, it takes a lot to make changes in any society. Government officers are just ordinary people like you with sometimes half baked information, no information, their own ideas and opinions, they themselves may be abusing drugs. It's hard to get a politician who doesn't drink. I'm told that even adventists when they become MPs, they start drinking to fit in the society of politicians. Kenya is secondary to the single convention narcotics drug of 1961, which was tailored to prevent production and sale of drugs of abuse. Then another treaty of the same renewed in 1971, Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971. And then the 1988 UN Convention on Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances against Trafficking. And then in 1994 here we had a law passed Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Now drug dependence, the issue about drug abuse, addiction and dependence, the common, the overall denominator for all these substances which have been abused. The word abused means abnormal use. In other words, everything in nature has a use. Even tobacco has a purpose in nature, but it was never meant to be taken as food. Everything in nature has a purpose, rightly used or allowed to fit into its use, for which God created it, they have no problem. But when you take things and use them for purposes for which they were not meant, that is abnormal use, that is abuse is just like homosexuality. The reproductive organs were specifically designed and created for copulation and production of babies. The anus is meant for passing out of stool, not for copulation. It is an insult to the highest degree to our creator God. And God looks on with tears at lesbians and homosexuals, using him in his face. Just like we do with all other substances, the drugs that we abuse. When you take these drugs, the underlying thing is that they produce some exciting feeling, euphoria or pathological happiness, some relaxation, some feel good for a moment. This is the reason alcohol is taken. Don't you let anybody cheat you that is taking wine for appetite. That's not so. They are taking it to get tipsy, to get drunk. Otherwise, if you don't mean to get drunk, you better take water, milk, porridge. They are much better, safer and have nutritional value unlike this one. When you first start taking, you get this nice feeling of euphoria, pathological happiness and relaxation. But as time goes, because it is a toxic substance, your body reacts and develops a mechanism for tolerating it. So eventually, the amount you needed in the beginning to produce the excitement is no longer enough. You need more to produce the same feelings. And with time, you need more. If you started drinking and half a glass of beer was enough to make you have this feeling. With time, half is not enough, you need a full glass. With time, two glasses. With time, you need several bottles. And with time, there are people who can take a whole case of beer and they are still walking around, they are not yet drunk. That is what is called tolerance. The body is tolerating a toxic compound so that you don't kill it. With time, after this tolerance, when you begin to realize something is wrong, you are becoming too used to it, which is called aniction. You get so used to it until you don't want to stop. And when you feel now something is wrong here, you try to stop, then the body reacts physiologically. Those reactions are now called withdrawal reactions. And each of the drugs of abuse has a pattern with withdrawal signs and symptoms. Slightly different but they have a basic pattern. Now, the only way to escape these reactions is to take more. And the more you take, the more you increase the quantity. So you are caught in a vicious circle. You take it to get excitement. You get used to it. If you stop, it is creating problems. The treatment is to take more. And as you take more, you need more and more. And you reach a level where now it is now the intoxication to the body is bad. And now it begins to hit your body physically. Eventually the brain is damaged and now you have organic damage of the brain with the loss of mental functions and loss of your mind. Now, so abuse is starting to use it. Addiction is when you are used. The compulsive tendency to use the drug despite knowledge that it is not good for you, it is harmful. Dependence is now when you have so much used it that when you stop, now you get a reaction a withdrawal sign and symptoms. Withdrawal of the drug results in these reactions which varies with each drug. And now back to the definition of a drug. What really is a drug? A drug is any compound or substance which influences cellular function either positively or negatively. So the drugs we use in the hospital are drugs. These drugs of abuse, they are also drugs because they act by changing the normal physiological functions. How serious is this problem of drug abuse? Epidemiology. Drug abuse as we have noted affects all sectors of society, ages, sexes. Children mainly enter into it from eight years especially in families where they are brewing making traditional brews like Changa. Globally in 2012 we had 162 to 324 million people of the world's population aged 15 to 64 years using illicit drugs. The main ones were cannabis, opioids, cocaine, amphetamine and amphetamine like compounds. These are figures from the United Nations fighting department 2014. Globally the specific substance used this order was noted to be 57% of the people who use na cannabis that's bangi, opioids, amphetamines and injectables. Alcohol was responsible for 37% of substance used this order, tobacco 3%. In 2010 it was clear that tobacco was the second most important risk factor for death after hypertension. Alcohol causes 6% of all deaths worldwide. Alcohol kills 3.8 million people annually. Tobacco 6.8 million people annually. Heroin 0.1%, bangi 0.1% and then a few studies done in Nairobi, some of our hospitals and institutions we had the following figures. This was a study in health workers in Nairobi in 2016. This group was 206. What were the findings? These are medical workers, doctors, pharmacists, dentists, nurses, people who know but they are in it. 35.8% of them alcohol, 23.5% tobacco, 9.3% cannabis and 9.3% sedatives. Of course they have them in the drug trace giving to patients. Even cocaine among health workers. Oh God help us. 8.8%. Amphetamine 6.4%. Halosinogens like LSD 5.4%. Opioids 3.9%. In Helens 3.4%. I have not defined some of those drugs because I know some of you are not aware of what those are. These medics have used funny languages. Excuse that but just take it as it is we can explain later. Now in Kenya, Bang is the most abused stimulant used by 1% of the population 15 to 65% 65-year age group. In Nyansa was found to be the best, the highest users. 1.7% especially in some parts called Korea and Kisi. Nairobi 1.3% and Kost 1.3%, Eastern 1.1% and the people who are using it least were the people from the eastern province. Then there are those other figures. I think that is enough for a peak as to how big the problem is. In short we have a big problem. A large proportion of our population is abusing drugs and it is a whole range of drugs they are abusing. The causes, the reasons how people enter into these things peer pressure for the young people. They desire to fit. Stress, craving for courage, poor academic performance. They are even deceived that when you take bangi you get energized and you can read the whole night and get A's, get distinctions and get scholarships easily. So young people in school, in college, even in university are deceived and when you start taking bangi always okay but with the time you develop the apathy syndrome when you lose interest in everything and your intellectual performance is totally impaired. You become a moron. The problems created by when our students our young people use these drugs. Number one, riots, school riots, strikes. Strike leaders are always among this group. In every school you will find a cause of hard cause. Young people who are heny, high minded, they believe in themselves. They cause all the problems for the administration. They are the ones who engage in drinks, tobacco and all these drugs. So they lead in the strikes, police arrests and warnings, poor academic performance is the consequence. I will jump some of those figures and come to the more things that I want you to get. So now the next thing is I'm talking about drug abuse and drugs of abuse. Which are these drugs which are abused? In Kenya the four leading drugs of abuse are alcohol, tobacco, bangi bangi and mira. Those four. Alcohol, the active ingredient is ethanol. Tobacco, the active ingredient is nicotine. The addictive ingredient. Bangi or marijuana. The active addictive substance is nine tetrahydrocannabinol. Number four, mira or cut. The active ingredient is kathinon. Heroin, cocaine, those are active on their own. The hallucinogens like LSD, mescalin, silosibin, PCP. In helans you see our street boys with the bottles, with the gum inhaling all the time. You don't know what they are doing. They are taking this in helans. They are also drugs of abuse. They include gasoline, petrol itself, toluin, benzine, tetrachloroethylene, TCE, nitrites like amyl nitrite. Then narcotics like heroin and MPTP are derivative of a drug called pethidine. Then stimulants like amphetamine, ecstasy and ritalin. Jimson weed, daturas tramonium which contains silosibin. Mushrooms contains that active ingredient hyocin. Tea and coffee contain caffeine. And then several therapeutic drugs we use in the hospital. They also cause euphoria, relaxation with good feeling and they are also addictive and not used carefully used for a long time. You also get addicted and dependent on them. This include cough syrups containing effydrin and pseudo effydrin. Pain killers, the narcotics especially drugs like morphine, oxycodone, pethidine, kodin. Kodin is in bitter pain. Dowanol, zindol and several common over the counter drugs. Recently all drugs containing kodin were labeled as control drugs. That is they can only be prescribed by qualified professionals and in certain limited quantities. Sedative and hypnotics like diacepam, common name valium, phenobabitol, GHB, the one used by on our matatus and buses. When you are going up country they put them in disorder, you take disorder the next thing you remember is you waking up in some dinghy place. You don't know where you are, your bag and your clothes, your money, your phone is gone. This is what they use together with rohipnol. When you look at the whole list of drugs we can group them into three. Number one positive drugs. These are the drugs which have therapeutic use but unfortunately they have addictive properties. Typically examples are the sedatives like valium. Then the negative drugs. These are drugs which are socially acceptable and we don't generally look on them. Society does not look on them negatively. They are socially acceptable but nevertheless they are addictive. This includes our beloved tea and coffee. Alcohol, mirror, cigarettes. Then group three are the very hard drugs. The users and even the common man knows these ones are dangerous. They know it is harmful and their use is illegal by law. They include heroin, cocaine, bangi. Now there are factors which besides the predisposing situations there are factors that generally we know lead to drug abuse. Number one genes. Certain personality disorders. Melankodix and phlegmatix. Slow people. People who are quiet. People who have a problem in establishing relationships. Shy people. Somebody is reaching 40 and he has never had a girlfriend. And time is going and everybody is wondering. It is normal there is no other problem. But when he takes a bit of alcohol suddenly he is so courageous he can face the ladies clearly and tell her excuse me, you look nice. Can we be friends? Gender. The female and male predisposition to drug abuse is different just because of genes and the way they handle drugs. Then ethnicity. Ethnicity comes in because of genes and because of culture of predisposition. For every society there is a predominant thought and pattern of thought and beliefs and so in some ethnic groups because of their knowledge, attitude and practices they are more predisposed to drug abuse. There are societies in Kenya where if you don't drink something is wrong with you. I won't name them but you know them. The environment, the influence of the family, peer groups, stress, physical abuse, sexual abuse, this lead to psychological problems that end up with drug abuse. Then of course availability. If you work in a pharmacy where these things are in a ward where you are handling these drugs if you are selling them in a kiosk availability, if your family is making them in family problems, oh I tell you it pains me. But let me say this, allow me to say this although many of you may not agree with me but one of the current problems we have today is the gender agenda, feminism. It is not biblical, it is unbiblical, it is anti-biblical, it is anti-Christian. It is something invented by the enemy of souls specifically designed for the destruction of the family. The Bible is very clear but do we listen? Do we believe? The gender agenda is not biblical. It is anti-biblical. For the destruction of the family. Once the family is separated and divided children, discipline and upbringing becomes a problem and children become predisposed to drug abuse. The father quarrels with the child, disciplines, the child runs to the mother, she goes to the mother, she wants to discipline, runs to the father and they play between the two. You have a problem. Please, let's do everything to keep our family together. In effective parenting, the family division has been talking about that, I don't need to go into that. Then curiosity, ignorance. You don't know what it is you want to find out. Number seven, low self-esteem, to look cool for courage, to feel high and airy, to forget financial stress. Peer pressure, ignorance and spiritual poverty. This is the bottom line, spiritual poverty. What is hit that is missing? Anybody who abuses drugs, who drinks, there is something he is looking for. Something is missing in his life, in his soul. And he is trying to get in these substances, in these chemicals. They may not know but it is Christ which is missing. Because drug abuse is basically a problem of the non-Christian, the person who does not know God. And unfortunately, that problem will not be solved until you have the correct, the right relationships with God. The signs of drug abuse. How do you know whether your child is indulging in drug abuse? Some signs can help you. They are not comprehensive but the leading are these. A change in peer group, carelessness in grooming, decline in academic performance. A child who has been getting A's, suddenly B's, then C's, then D's, then he doesn't want to go to school. Loss of interest in favorite activities. Somebody has been very good footballer, basket baller, suddenly no interest. Changes in eating habits, they want to eat alone. And at other times, they change in sleeping habits. They want to sleep during the day and awake at night. Bad relationships with family members. They just seem to pick a quarrel with everybody. Something is wrong. Investigate, take action. As people abuse drugs, they go through three stages. Stage one is the pleasure stage when you just enjoy, get the pleasurable feeling. Stage two, they get used to it. Then addiction and dependence sets in. Stage three is when now organic damage has happened and the central nervous system and the digestive system are the leading victims. Alcohol, tobacco are leading destroyers of the brain and nerves. They are the leading destroyers of the liver, the pancreatic gland which produces insulin for the metabolism of carbohydrates in our body, the sugars. So this stage three, physical damage has occurred, especially to the brain and impairing mental function. This is an irreversible damage. You have hope only as long as you can catch it in stage one and stage two. But even in stage three, when you stop, there is hope of improvement and of course you avoid things getting worse. Some physical clues. Ivy drug users have scars on their arms and on their hands. They may have red watery eyes for those who take bangi. Sleepiness in the day, general tiredness and malaise. Wash my car young man. He's just always tired, doesn't want to do anything. You go to the boys room and it is untidy bed and made dirty clothes all over. Socks and changed shoes and cleaned. The room is stinking. Isolation, they like love to be alone rather than be with everybody. Confusion, drunken gait. They dreaming a lot. They talk with so much affection for the drugs and for the people who abuse the drugs. The smell of their clothes, mouth and hands are telling. They young a lot. They have dry crack lips with a constant lip licking. They may have goose pimples and inordinate sweating. The problems of course include arguments with colleagues and teachers and parents. Student riots, disturbances, strikes and demonstrations. Actual fights or threats to family members and school community. Insults, arrests and warnings by police. Appearance before student disciplinary committees history. Crime when they can't. These things are expensive. Just a pinch of cocaine is 500 shillings and you need a lot more to get tipsy. Where do they get the money from? The price of beer now is so high. The price of tobacco. But these people take them every day. Where is the money coming from? Money for food and clothes are diverted. I applaud some of our women in some societies in Kenya and then raid this Chiangadans and pour out the beer and beat up the beer makers. They are complaining. Our men come here and spend all the money. They come home. They are hopeless in bed. We are not getting children. They sell parents property. They engage in rape and murder. Marging. Jail, hand up in jail and imprisonment. The burning of schools is the order of the day. How do we diagnose this problem? 1. It is as if these people take an oath of death never to confess that they are engaged in drug abuse. So there has got to be confrontation. The moment you notice any signs and symptoms, young man, excuse me, you are smoking. You are drinking. And of course there will be a discussion and an argument. They will always deny it until you have some evidence. A witness or finding of drugs. Then of course during normal routine check when he is sick, you find the smell, you find evidence somewhere. Once you get the evidence, you have to confront them directly. Young man, you are in this. Look at this. This is bad. Can I help you? Then if only you can manage to convince them that they are in it and they need help, then you can look for help. You are not going to help anybody to stop drug abuse until they are able to admit that they are in it. Then they need help. Once they can be convinced that they need help, what is the treatment? Okay, so number one is accepting that they need help. Then we take them through a process of robbing them of those drugs by confining them somewhere. And as they are robbed of the drugs, then blood levels of the drugs go down. That is called the toxification. It takes about two weeks. When they suffer from withdrawal signs and symptoms, we give them certain drugs to cool, to quell. Those nasty withdrawal signs and symptoms. Somebody who has been drinking continuously when such, he will have headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness. He will have abdominal pains, back aches. He will have body aches, malaise. He will be confused, sweating. And sometimes it is so serious. We call it delirium tremens. It can kill. So it is that bad. This detoxification process, you rob them of the drug abused and try to help them go down until the blood levels are zero. After the detoxification phase, which takes about two weeks, then they need rehabilitation, which takes a minimum of three months. It may go to six, nine months or even one year. The rehabilitation must be accompanied by lifestyle changes and introduction to reality. This is where counseling and the Christians come in. There are some of the drugs we use to help them come out including disulfiram or alcoholic. Nikotin gum for smokers. Clonidinal trekson and methadone for narcotic abusers. Those who abuse heroin, pethidine and the other painkillers. Treatment may be outpatient or inpatient. And we may refer them to rehabilitation centers. Some mild cases can be handled as outpatient. They all need proper follow up and being joined to self-help groups like Alcoholic Anonymous for Alcoholics and Anon for families involved in drug abuse. Nikotic Anonymous for those abusing narcotics. How do we prevent this menace? Number one, responsible parenting. Not laissez faire. Where children are free to do as they please. The Bible is clear. Connect a child while there is hope. While you can still save his soul from help. Do not be afraid when he is crying. The kin will not kill him but will save him from help. It actually says that he who spares the rod hits the child. It is that bad. Education of course in formation to be for armed with knowledge is to to be given knowledge is to be for armed for tackling a problem. The Bible's cornerstone is knowing God. Leading our children to salvation. How we need to pray and cry to God. Because even as we sit here some of our children brought up in Pathfinder adventurer and youth. They leave us, they go to college and the air of freedom at long last daddy and mommy was forcing me to live a lifestyle I don't like. They feel free and they enter into these things. And you wonder oh God what did I do right. How do I handle this. And we cry and pain and parents are crying everywhere in our churches. The solution is never start. The lifestyle you start. Revenge all of this. Efficience chapter 5 verse 17 and L tells us. Please can somebody read that. But it says be not unwise but be wise and know the will of God. And be not drunk with wine which is debauchery that is idolatry. Okay. Efficience chapter 10 verse 17 says. Blessed are you Oland when your king is a son of nobles your kings and princes are sons of nobles and they eat and drink in due season for health and strength and not for drunkenness. When you eat, when you drink it should not be for drunkenness. It should be for health and strength. Jesus took wine. Did he ever get drunk? I am sure of one thing never for once because he never took one wine for drunkenness. When he took it it was for health and strength. Wine was the common beverage of the day it was the tea and coffee, the porridge, the milk of that time. They didn't know these things we know today. And so it was normal that as you ate you took this as part of the meal. But there were different kinds of wine. There was alcoholic wine and good and null alcoholic wine. I am sure even the wine he made in the wedding at Kana in Galili was not alcoholic wine for people to drink and get drunken. According to fissions 519 drunkenness is seen. Galitions 519 to 21 they are postal, the lord lists for us they are the desires of the flesh and among them for drunkenness. And it states clearly that drunkards cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Galitions 67 God is not mocked whatever a man sows that he will reap. The problem is big it is a challenge we work together as church as family church leaders we need to pray for our families and especially in this generation we are living when the devil is working extra time to introduce our children to drugs through phones, internet, social media we are in big trouble only your knees and tears for your children will help you. Throughout the presentations unfortunately we never had enough time to handle questions I don't know whether that opportunity will come I think I have just some 5 minutes the program Angela oh the time is up okay so we don't have time and we will just stop it there if you have any questions please I am available here you can contact us we will give you the necessary appropriate help where we can I have decided to follow Jesus I have decided to follow Jesus I have decided to follow Jesus no turning back no turning back though no one joins me still I will follow though no one joins me still I will follow though no one joins me still I will follow no turning back No turning back, no turning back, loving father in heaven. Thank you for your goodness and love for each one of us. Thank you for the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross for us. Oh Lord, indeed there is no greater love than this that a man gives up his life for his friends. Oh Father, how sometimes we take casualty. And even the life, the bodies that you have given us father, we handle it as if it is indestructible and we dishonor you with our lives. Father forgive us for our sins. Teach us to know you, teach us to honor you with our lives, with our energies, with our all. Be there our help, Father we thank you and praise you in Jesus' name. Good afternoon everyone. Good afternoon church. Amen, amen. We want to thank God this afternoon for yet another privilege that God has blessed us with. Amen. And thank you once again for the wonderful health talks and the teaching on health. How many of us are being blessed? Amen, amen. So this afternoon, this is our last stewardship session for this camp meeting. And you are going to see a different side of me. Are you with me? Yes, as I'm already laughing. You are going to see reflections of my experience in life. Are you with me? And if you look on the program, how many of us saw my profile? How many of us read the program? Now Africans, we don't read now. We don't read. How many of you saw my profile? Okay, fine. And I'm sure you found it a bit strange. Let's bow heads and pray. Thank you for this opportunity that you have blessed us with. We thank you for the gift of life. Speak to us in a special way. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Because there's a point I want to drive at. If you look at my profile, I ventured from the theology. I shifted from the theology and I went to development studies and monitoring and evaluation. Are you with me? And I know it's strange because ideally one would expect that the repastor would then go on to do masters in theology, PhD in theology. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But I grew up in the church, okay? And for many years from the time I was growing up, I was told that you must return tithe. And often, can we just stand up for one minute? We are tired. Can we just stand up? Can we just stand up and stretch? Can we stand up and stretch? We've been sitting for a long time. Okay, you may be seated. You may be seated. Thank you so much. It's important to get the blood circulating, especially after we've eaten our chichapati and greens. Okay? So for many years, do you agree with me that for many years as a church, our emphasis is to say return tithe and offering? Do you agree with me? And stewardship has always been about return tithe. But how many of us have sat in a church service and we have been told to go and create wealth? To create wealth? How many of us have been told? Go and open companies? Go be entrepreneurs? Go and multiply your wealth? How many of us have been told? A few. How many of us have been told to return our tithe? Come on, come on, come on. You see, put your hands down. How many of us have been told to go and create wealth? I want you to see the hands. Can you raise your hands? Okay, very few, if any. So if we are teaching our members to collect, who is teaching them to create? Uh oh, move with the speaker now. If we are teaching our members to collect tithe and offerings or to return, who is teaching our members to create? No one. It's either they are going to be told out there in the world or they are going to be told by universities. And here's the thing about the Adventist movement. We at times become so heavenly minded we have no earthly use. I struggle with young men. Hey, are there youth in here? Okay, if they are not here, go and tell them. Ladies, do not get married to a boy who buys airtime from his father's pocket. Do not get married to boys who read Ellen White the whole day and the Bible. Monday is reading Ellen White the whole day. Tuesday is reading messages to young people. Wednesday is reading patroks and prophets. Friday is reading prophecy. Sunday is reading I don't know. Sabbath is arguing because he has to offload. Are you with me church? He has to offload. So the only platform he has to offload is to offload in church. So as a church while we are waiting for the second coming of our Lord we have a responsibility and a duty on earth to labor. Stewardship is meaningless if you are just teaching people to collect or to return. They are returning from what? Now listen to me. Some of us God has given us the gift of creating wealth. Some of us God has given us the gift of being employees. It's fine. Whatever space you choose but fruitfulness and multiplication are very important. Now let's go to the Bible. So my motivation was how do I teach the church members I pastor to develop? How do I teach them to be part of the development of their community, the development of their society, the development of their families and their development and the development of their economies? Do you know that many times as church members we don't know how to deal with members who make money? So the first thing we say is they are corrupt or they went to which doctor? If your first instinct is to say someone who is working genuinely is corrupt or is working with which doctors you are lazy or you don't understand what they are doing are you with me church? Now do you see your responses just show us most people are not very comfortable with this topic because we've been drilled to think that we're waiting for the second coming of the Lord therefore our minds must be focused. Ellen White tells us in the spirit of prophecy Patrex and Prophet she says Inok was a man of prayer but he was also a man of duty. There is absolutely nothing wrong for an elder or an elder's wife or a lady to own a business and they employ people. Are you with me church? So when they speak of creating employment in Kenya be part of it. Ya today if you keep quiet I'm still going to hammer there. I'm not going to change my subject. Are you with me? Exodus chapter 9 let's go to Exodus chapter 10 first. Exodus chapter 10 and I want us to look at the story of redemption from the perspective of God taking Israel out of Egypt. Okay? Cha chapter 10 let's go to verse 24. Let's go to verse 24. Thank you so much Steve and after that please open for us. Exodus chapter 12 and verse 35. Just take note of that and afterwards Deuteronomy chapter 8 chapter 8 and verse starting from verse 10. Okay? So in the book of Exodus chapter 10 then Pharaoh called to Moses and said Go what? Come on to talk to me. Go. Go and worship, go and serve. Are you with me? Go and serve the Lord your God. Okay? Only let your flocks and your heads be kept back. Let your little ones also go with but Moses said you must also give us sacrifices and and burnt offerings that we may sacrifice to the Lord our let's go to the next verse. Our livestock also shall go with us. Not a hoof shall be left what? Those who know the history of Israel occupying the land of Egypt know that. Do you remember when was it Abraham went to Egypt and he said his wife is his sister and then what happens? God appears to Pharaoh. Okay? Remember it was a bimilek and wu and Pharaoh remember those are the two times that Abraham lies and then he goes and then in history we are told that a law was put in place. I think it's the Bible or historically or spirit of prophecy a law was put that Egyptians and Israelites must not what? Mimingo. Are you with me there? So when Israel and his family gets into Egypt Joseph says to his father to go to Pharaoh tell him that we are shepherds. Hello? So whenever there was multiplication or whenever the Egyptians got flocks or anything the Israelites were responsible for taking care of that livestock. Now when God says Israel must get out of Egypt and worship me what is God saying? God is saying that Egypt that Israel must worship me also with their possessions. So this is why Moses says no no no no we can't live our livestock because our assets our possessions are the very things we are going to worship God with. Now when Israel is emancipated from Egypt they are emancipated number one spiritually let my people go but they may worship they are emancipated geographically let my people go literally out of Egypt and they are emancipated materially. Are you with me? You have no freedom as a citizen of your country if you don't own a piece of land if you don't have an identity or if you can't freely worship God as long as you are renting you are a servant. Many of you are renting you are sponsoring someone else's vision when you rent you are sponsoring someone so this is the part where you become you are no longer excited with me so I kept this for today because if I said it at the beginning they did this past when you are renting a house you are supporting someone else's vision you must work to get to a point where you own your own house you own your own property then you have freedom so if you have an expensive car and you are renting a house it does not make sense don't compete with the horsemen when you can't even run don't compete with horses if you look at some of the elderly people who have been organized they can afford to pay and sponsor their lifestyles because they no longer have school fees and they've got their houses it doesn't make sense it's bad stewardship to stay in an expensive apartment and drive an expensive car while you are renting and you don't have your own property repent in the name of Jesus this is what I'm telling you is truth is unadulterated truth hello church if you are renting I'm telling you so and for pastors can I also speak to pastors I grew up in a pastor's house pastoral work gives you a false sense of achievement let me explain if you passed in a church probably like Nairobi central church and probably you have some rentals or so for the church the church pays rent for you the church fuels your car so you have a sense a false sense of financial security I put my wife through school she did a law degree and she finished she then did conversions to practice in Zimbabwe she then did a master's degree in child rights and child studies now she is finishing an MBA you know why I did that the day I die the church has no relationship with my family when you don't empower your wife while you are alive you are setting her up to be a beggar she will fall victim men who are predators at your funeral some will be saying you can come to me call me if you want anything if you want anything maim fundisi in Zimbabwe say maim fundisi I am here for you so you are putting your family address your family must have a place where they say this is our place they must have an address you can't be changing addresses for 20 years you have an address which is fixed which is not your father's address your own address save your money even if it means going staying in a cottage that is yours instead of paying rent if you pay rent you are supporting someone else's vision you are supporting someone else's retirement plan so our livestock will go to us let's go to the I am really prepared for time let's go to our next chapter I really want to get in all the information yes now the children of Israel have gone according now the children of Israel had done according to the word of U and they had asked from the egyptians articles of fake mamai offering listen next verse verse 3 and this is the offering which shall take from them what church to talk to me don't be too holy gold and what the children of Israel had what don't we liken ourselves to e-israel isn't it we call ourselves spiritual e-israel so is it wrong for Nairobi central church members to have gold and what and what and what where did they get these things from they got them from Egypt when God set them free in other words God is saying to us worshiping me with your mouth is not enough you must worship me with your wealth so this side is saying amen I just said I didn't comment I just said this side God said what is God God saying to us now listen the bible says to us where is your treasure do you know that do you know that any presentation on stewardship will eventually come to your pocket why I've always wondered and I've seen preachers who try to come up with all sorts of angles and try and run away from money you know why we try to do that because we try and say it's not about money but now let me tell you something while the kingdom of God is not about money you cannot ignore money if you go to which doctors they'll say pay money if you bought on an Uber they'll say pay money so why is church the only place that you don't want your money to go look at me don't look down why is it church is the only place you give a defense to say no people from church who want money let me tell you something I heard someone saying the gospel is free but the preaching of the gospel is expensive read your bible carefully the false teachings that the world is teaching are fully sponsored now I feel like preaching the bible tells us that when the soldiers woke up and went and told the Pharisees that Jesus has resurrected an angel has come the Pharisees the bible says they paid a huge sum of money for a gospel that said his disciples came to steal his corpse false gospels are fully funded but the true gospel is not Nairobi central are you with me the false gospel is fully in Zimbabwe we've got these pro prophets I haven't heard any from Kenya you are blessed you are blessed man some of these prophets they do some of the weirdest and they make people do the weirdest of things so the gospel that we have now imagine that this is a hank hankachif the gospel that we have now says this is one prophet in Zimbabwe if you look at a Mercedes Benz take your hankachif just wipe the car and the Mercedes will be yours I'll use this English word that is diabolic it is the most evil gospel I've ever had why? God says work do not replace work with spirituality can I hit you with a hard one ah no it might be in children don't come by prayer alone you've heard me ah you pray and then you do actions which are in sync with the product elderly people have I offended anyone? imagine if I just looked at my wife and prayed and said God and said all the names of God and then said amen you think a child will come out so there is action which goes with your prayer amen if you want to me say it is going work plan invest are you with me church? do things which are in line with your faith this is why James then says faith without works is dead just as the body without breath it is dead it is meaningless this is why we say come to church on Zimbabwe and during kermiting come for one week if the day is going labour because the church needs sponsorship as well you know what God does God could have poured out God could have simply said I am giving all of you money in the church and we find a brick of a warehouse of money no no no God wants you to partner with him why? because your resources is where your heart is now let's go to how many minutes am I left with 10 ok let's go with verse 10 so do you agree that the assumption here that Moses is using is that if eventually the children of Israel will occupy the promised land so he says what when you have good and you are now once then you shall bless the Lord it's very difficult for a hungry man to bless God let's be on honest unless you have chosen to fast ok when you have eaten and are full then you shall bless the Lord for the good land which he has given you beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments his judgments and his statutes which I command you today let's when you have eaten and are full and have built beautiful and dwell in them my brothers and sisters my fathers and mothers who are here human beings we love things let's not give a false sense of piety because we have not reached that level ok let me say it like this some of us are faithful to our spouses because we don't have the money so when you now have money we will see how faithful you are are you with me and so for some of us it's a blessing that we don't have money because God knows if I give him money he will have another wife and he will have more children with more women so God says let me hold it back but the Bible here is saying to us when you have built houses so I encourage people to build houses build beautiful houses are you with me because here Moses is saying when you have now entered the promised land and when you have built beautiful houses do not forget and he says let's when you have eaten and are full and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them and when your heads and your flocks what did you hear that if you remember one of our lessons was what be fruitful and come on in Kenya be fruitful and multiply so here the Bible says and when your flocks and heads multiply and when your silver and your gold are what and all that you have is multiplied what then when your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of who led you through the great and terrible wilderness in which were fiery in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water who brought water from you out of the flinty rock who fed you in the wilderness with mana which your fathers did not know that he might humble you and that he might test you to do good in the end then you say in your heart my power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth and you shall remember the Lord your God for it is he for it is he who gives you power amen it is he who gives you power to get wealth that he may establish is covenant which is swot your fathers it is this day who gives you power to gain wealth it is God so Moses here he is saying there is a risk which comes with abundance and the risk which comes with abundance is forgetfulness so he says when you have now okay let me apply it good thank you let me apply it I think you can remove some that I see the digital counter when you apply it to our context someone here prayed a prayer before they got the job they got they say God if you bless me I will give you 30% of my income and up to now you have not even given 5% there is someone here who says God when you bless me I am going to do this for you so a story is told of a man who used to pray God I want you to give me a car God blesses him with the car and before as he was praying his prayer before the car came used to say God if you give me this vehicle I will use it in your vineyard I will use it for the preaching of the gospel the vehicle comes and the first thing he does when called upon to volunteer his vehicle he says no my car is too smart I can't give my vehicle no no no these people it's funny they don't know how to deal with these nice things God wants not only your heart he also wants your resources if there is a place that must be fully resourced it is God's church amen especially the remnant church of Bible prophecy that preaches the three angels messages the church which has been given the responsibility of God's last day message of mercy the message that that calls sinners to repentance it took resources for us to come here amen flights were booked and if you read in your Bible do you know that when the Israelites were giving gifts for the building of the sanctuary or what was it yes when the Israelites were giving was it the temple that there was so much that Moses had to say it's enough I'm praying for a day when the pastors in this church and any church in the Adventist church stand up and say it's enough Nairobi central church as you move from here ask God to give you a vision to contribute to God's work how open businesses your amen came before now if I say open businesses you are just quiet open businesses and show Kenya that an Adventist can be free from corruption but it doesn't come from Kenya I come from Zimbabwe are you with me I will not say much because if I am caught there but corruption is everywhere but what God wants in these last days are people who stand on the biblical model of even multiplication wherever you are aim to multiply aim to make the community you are in better God wants your resources this is the word I live with you all that I have been talking about has been leading to this one thing the only thing that removes selfishness from your heart is when you give your tites and offerings that is the one thing this is the one instrument that God has placed in his church not only to sponsor the preaching of the gospel but also to ensure that selfishness is removed from our hearts are you with me may God bless you it has been a joy to minister to you particularly in these two worship lessons you've been a fantastic church can you just say amen for yourselves you've been fantastic it is my prayer that God will transform Romans 12 the bible says but be transformed verse 1 I beseech you there for brethren by the message of God verse 2 but do not be conformed to this world but be what by the renewing of your the word transformed when you look at the roots it's metamorphosis a complete change in nature that's what it is that is what God wants for us let's bow our heads as we pray this afternoon father in heaven we thank you we lift your name up and we give you praises and honor we are nothing father often times we speak of stewardship in many dimensions and rightly so father help us to be faithful stewards of time stewards of the relationships that you've given us stewards of the covenant between you and your people but one thing that we lack father is that we still hold on to the resources that you've given us so help us even to be faithful stewards in that regard so help us from our hearts imbu us with the mind of God thank you for this wonderful audience and this wonderful congregation Nairobi central church and the visitors who have been coming may you bless them father our desire is that when Jesus calls for an account of our faithfulness and stewardship on earth may he declare to us and of us well done, thou good and faithful servant enter thou into the kingdom prepared for thee thank you heavenly father name we pray amen may God bless you you can imagine that a calm meeting is ending and tomorrow there will be no such a program from tomorrow but we thank God for all the messages that have come and we thank him for all the speakers how we pray that he will give us another opportunity that when time comes again we can be fed with such beautiful and blessed messages it is time for us now to break into our various classes of family lives but before we do so I would like to let you know that if you have the program or you have been looking at the program tomorrow of course we will not have the afternoon program and on Saturday sabab we also will not use the entire time that has been given for the family lives that is one hour 15 minutes instead the church has given us 30 minutes on which to wind up that is on sabab afternoon so be prepared from every class where you are that will not have the one hour 15 minutes as we have been enjoying we thank God for the messages that have been coming through to ask the feedback we are getting is that every group every family group every message they are getting and we want to pray for these leaders who are leading these classes of the family life groups that may God continue to bless them so that such messages can also be shared with other brethren everywhere and for now if you are coming in for the first time or if you may have forgotten where your class is then I need to remind you otherwise for now I believe that everyone knows to separate and go to those classes as we continue with the days program for the college yet your place is next to the young professional stand in front of the union and for singles your place is next to the elders desk just here the widows and widows as your place is behind the pulpit in the music room and the young adults you are up there at the balcony with 11 to 20 I mean 11 to 20 also there 21 to 30 your place is right at the far end on this other side next to the church class desk and also 31 and above your place is right behind the balcony right next to the mothers room otherwise for now we thank God may I request that we rise as we pray for the separations let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you so much for your kindness, for your love for your care we thank you Lord for the program of this committee and the blessings that children have continued to receive again this afternoon Lord we want to separate ourselves so that we divide ourselves into groups of families and as we go to those classes father we pray that may the presence of the Holy Spirit be felt feel your people with your spirit that those who are going to lead these classes Heavenly Father give the messages that have come from above and those who are going to receive or to be taught we also want to pray Lord we receive and get nurtured and be fruitful in their lives, in their families just as you have taught us Lord that we should be fruitful we thank you because you also supply and give us the means you sustain our lives and Heavenly Father you provide for each and everyone of us so we want to thank you for these groups and also we want to thank you for the camp meeting that we have been having Lord we pray that all the honor and glory be dying for now and forever hear our prayer in heaven and answer it according into a will because we have prayed in Jesus name amen God bless you