 Good afternoon. Good afternoon once again. What do you say to the Akali sisters? Say aloud a man. Wonderful. Really speaking our hearts. No more nights. No more nights. Google that song. Then listen to it. We thank God for giving us the opportunity once again to start our afternoon program. And the afternoon program will feature leadership, will feature health, will feature also stewardship. And we want to welcome all of you to these very, very important topics that we are going to look at in the eyes of the Lord. And I hope all of us will be blessed. And I want to invite our sister, Pasta Jerusa, is the one that will take us through leadership. We'll have Dr. Simon O'Chanda who will take us through health and stewardship will be done by Pasta Levan Moyo. May the Lord open our hearts to listen to his word that we may leave this come meeting better off and practice what we'll have received here. Thank you. God bless you, sister. Praise the Lord. The Lord is good. And all the time we want to welcome you once again to this program, those of you who are watching following us online. We thank you for your feedback. We appreciate very much. And so once again we want to look at this topic on leadership. Those of you who are already here in the church, we appreciate each one of you. Let us pray briefly as we open God's word. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. May your word speak to us one more time. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. It is leadership. I'm looking at guiding leadership purity. And the text that we are considering is second kings five. Second kings, shukra five, has got beautiful, powerful illustrations on leadership. And there are several characters there which I will not be able, time will not allow me to consider all of them. But I just want to look at one man in that text. So verse 20 tells us about this man. Verse 20, second kings five, verse 20, it says, But Gehazi, the servant of Elasha, the man of God, said, look, my master has paid naman desirian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought. But as the Lord leaves, I will run after him and take something from him. I want to begin by saying that there are some things in the Bible that are so painful, you wish they never happened. But as we look at this story here, it's one of those instances where you find that this experience is so painful, you'd wish it never happened and yet it did. We look at this man Gehazi. The story of Gehazi leaves a question in the heart of every leader. Gehazi was a servant of Elasha, the man of God, the man who poured water on Elasha's hand as it were because he was Elasha's servant. He had seen many miracles that were performed by Elasha, the man of God. But what was Gehazi's leadership problem? Gehazi loved money. He had listened to Elasha, refused to take Naaman's offer of money and clothing. And so he got upset. According to Gehazi they needed money, money for the ministry. They needed clothes also. They needed clothes which they could share with the poor. What was wrong with Elasha? He looked at Elasha and then he considered Elasha as an effective leader. They are leaders who have been appointed by God and put in positions of leadership. But they are some people who are not appointed by God at that time and they are looking at the leaders and they are saying this is an effective leader. I want to be in that position. I cannot forget an experience which I had with one man, a very prominent person while I served as a secretary to the president of the union. It was election time. And this particular pastor came into the office and he looked at me and he said, I want to sit in this office. But I looked at the man and I said, but there is someone sitting there. He said, no, I want to sit in this office at this time. I said, but that office has got only one chair and that chair is occupied one at a time. You cannot sit there, the two of you. But he said, I want to sit here. There are people who are looking at other leaders and they are considering those leaders in effective and they think that they are better than them. And so they want to remove them and they want to sit there. They want to occupy that position. And this is exactly what Gihazi was doing at this time. Gihazi looked at Elasha and considered Elasha an effective leader. How could Elasha let go what God had brought to them, Gihazi thought? Gihazi made a decision. In his mind, God had blessed the ministry. God had blessed them by this, the Syrian man bringing money and bringing clothing. It was something good that would bless their ministry. And so he looked at Elasha and then he said, and again he's doing it in the name of the Lord. He said, as the Lord lives, people who want to remove other leaders, they are thinking that they have better understanding with God than the one who is occupying the position at the time. And so Elasha is, Gihazi is saying, as the Lord lives, I will run after him and take somewhat of him. Gihazi is saying, I will follow Neiman and I will go and I will take what Elasha has refused to take. I want to say to all of us, don't go where God has not sent you. Gihazi is willing to go and he's willing to run. He's not even willing to walk, he is willing to run. He feels he has got so much energy that he will run and get what Elasha has refused to take. And so as Gihazi is following picture with me, as Gihazi is following and Neiman is going and Gihazi is running so fast, is following Neiman turns back and sees Gihazi coming and he comes down from his chariot and he goes to Gihazi and he talks to Gihazi, he asks Gihazi, is it well? The Hebrew word for well is shalom, meaning peace, harmony, completeness, prosperity. Neiman is asking Gihazi, is it well? Is there peace? Is there peace in your soul? Is there peace in your heart? Is it well with your leadership? Gihazi says, yes, it is well. There is peace. The Bible says that there is no peace to the wicked. But here we find Gihazi is setting his agenda and so as he has confirmed that there is peace in his mind, he is setting his agenda, he comes up with an idea and he says, we have just received some visitors from Mount Ephraim and my master has said that you give me a talent of silver and two changes of garments. He says, what is it in his heart? What is in Gihazi's heart? Money and wealth. But Neiman was kind enough because he really wanted to give Elisha some gift, a gift of love because of what God had done for him. And so instead of giving one talent, he gives two and he gives about 150 or 68 kilos of change of clothes, that a lot, a lot of clothing. And so he takes these goods and then he puts on his servants. And so Gihazi is going and these men of Neiman, they are carrying these loads for Gihazi. Gihazi is feeling good, he is big. He has gotten what he wanted. And so they walk. The Bible says that when they reached the tower, he told these men, now you have escorted me enough, I think you can just go back, let me take them. And so he took these things and then he went and put them in his house. He hid them in his house. Then he went before Elisha as if nothing had happened. He pretended humility, humility without truth. He pretended loyalty, loyalty without innocence. That is what some leaders do. They know that they have not done right, but they are pretending humility and they are pretending loyalty. And this is what we see here in the life of Gihazi. Then as Gihazi appears before Elisha, Elisha asked him the question, where have you been Gihazi? I wonder why Gihazi imagined that Elisha would never know where he went. He knew that Elisha knew everything because the Lord revealed to him many things. Even the king of Syria while he slept in his own bed, Gihazi knew that God revealed the thoughts of the king of Syria to Elisha. That Elisha wanted the king of Israel whenever there was a problem. But here Gihazi is coming in before Elisha and is pretending loyalty. And Elisha asked Gihazi, where have you been? And Gihazi says, nowhere. I did go anywhere. I was just out here, just around. You know, Gihazi said the truth. In his mind he knew he was lying. But he said the truth. The truth is people go nowhere without God. You cannot go anywhere without God. You cannot run any errand without God. In the name of God you can do it. You can try, I am doing it for God. And that's why I have told people, and I say it all the time, don't think that you are working for God. Work with God. Here Gihazi was saying, I went nowhere. And people who think that they can work so hard going running errands and doing other things in the name of God without God, they are going nowhere and they are doing nothing. They would rather do something else. And so Gihazi said the truth. He went nowhere without God. He got the money. But how long did he use that money? He got the change of clothes. But did he enjoy the change of clothes? He didn't. Elisha didn't my heart go with you. Elisha is telling Gihazi. When you were following Nehman out there on the road, was I not with you in heart. Then Elisha says to Gihazi, now the leprosy of Nehman shall be upon you and your children forever. What a pitiful experience, how terrible that is. That because of the sin of covetousness, no wonder some people get into places of position, positions of leadership and they remain there, but as soon as they get in there, then they think on how they can help themselves. And so their heart tells them get all that you can and can all that you get and then sit on the lid. Sipiti, the Bible says, as soon as Elisha told Gihazi about the leprosy of Nehman, he became sick with the leprosy as white as snow. Because immediately it was struck with a disease and he became as white as snow. He went away from the presence of Elisha, from the presence of God. He lost his job. He lost his leadership position as a man who poured water on the man of God's hands, the responsibility that he had, the respect that he had in the community. He lost all that. He lost his dignity. He lost his status. He lost eternal life. How sad, how tragic. How would Gihazi face his wife? How would he face his children? And how would he face his neighbors? He has been a very respected person in the church and in the community. How would he face the church? And how would he face the community? I want to say to all of us, those of you who are following us online and those of us who are here, I want to say who you are in your private life, impacts on who you are in your professional life. The Bible says that nothing is hidden that shall not be unheeded. So even the things that are well kept, the secrets of the heart, they will all be brought up into the open. The private life and the professional life cannot be separated. The private life and the leadership life must be in harmony with the word of God. If we are going to go, go around the errand of God, then these two must go together because we cannot work with God and have other things that God cannot approve. Covetiasness like any other sin in leadership is a wound that is hard to heal. When a leader falls, he does not fall alone. He falls, his fall affects his entire family and many, many others. So I want to say God jealously, God jealously, the position, the responsibility that God has given all of us. And I've said this here from the beginning, we are not just looking at some leaders who are sitting on some big chairs. All of us are leaders in the house of God. All of us have been made stewards in the house of God. Nobody is without employment as far as God is concerned. And so all of us are leaders. We must be faithful stewards. So I want to give you a recipe for leadership, Christian leadership, very quickly, three things that you need to guard as a Christian leader. Number one, your temper. You must control your temper. You don't let your temper control your life. A leader who is controlled with temper cannot go very far. He may be gifted in other things. God may have blessed him with a gift, with a talent of administration or with a talent of leadership or any other way. But if he cannot control his life, then he has a problem. The next thing that we need to guard is conduct. And this is why we have said here the case of Gehazi. Gehazi became too familiar with the holy things of God that he could not separate the holy from the common. And that is a problem. Some of us take the holy things of God, even the position that God has given us, the responsibility that God has given us to be a Christian alone, carrying the name of Christ upon you. It's a holy thing, very high responsibility. We cannot mix the holy with the common. Gehazi became too familiar. He looked at the man of God. They held together, they slept together, they traveled together. There were even times when Gehazi advised the man of God. For example, when they went to that woman's home where this woman used to welcome Elisha all the time. And Elisha asked Gehazi, what do you think we can do for this lady? And Gehazi said, she doesn't have a child and her husband is old. Elisha came up with that beautiful suggestion to advise the man of God. But then Gehazi had a problem. The next thing that we want to guard as leaders in the house of God is the town. The Bible says in Proverbs 18 verse 21, death and life are in the power of the town. And those who love it will eat the fruit thereof. A story is told of some three highly placed leaders. They were friends and they got together. They were working very hard and God was blessing them. But then they realized that something was not right in their ministry. And so they got together and they said, brothers can we fast and pray and confess our sins to the Lord that God may bless our work, that God may bless the ministry, that many may be drawn to the kingdom of God. So they got together fasted and they prayed and they prayed and they prayed. And the first man said, my brothers I have a problem. Please pray for me. My problem is that I am so unfaithful. I am unfaithful to my wife. And so my heart I'm bearing this guilt in my heart. Please pray for me that God may help me to be faithful. And they prayed and they prayed and they prayed. And the second man came and said, my brothers my greatest problem is how to handle money. Money is my greatest challenge. Whenever I get money, I know it is not mine but I get it and I say I will return, I will return but I have used so much money. Please help me. Money that belongs to God, not mine. Please pray. And they prayed and they prayed. And they said, Lord deliver me, deliver me from this evil. And so the men prayed. Then they came to the third man and the third man said, my brothers, I have a problem. I have listened to you. I have listened to you. My greatest problem is my tongue. Please pray for me because whenever I hear something, I just spread it out. And even what you have told me, I know I'm just going to share it. Please pray for me. The power of the time. You cannot be a leader who cannot keep secret. There are things that you can share. There are things that you die with as a leader. Three things that you need to love as a leader. Courage. You must be a courageous person like Elijah standing out there and calling all Israel because of what Ahab and Jezebel have done. They have left God but Elijah will stand out there and say, as he prays to God, please Lord, let these people know that you have turned their heart again today. Let them know that you are a God in Israel. Elijah was courageous. He stood out there alone against 850 prophets of Baal and Astorit and he killed them all. Standing on Mount Kamil out there, one day I looked down out there and saw where they drew the water and looking over the other side where they pulled out those men and stoned them and killed them. You see the courage of Elijah. So you must be a leader of courage. The next thing you must be gentle, gentleness. You must be a gentle leader. A gentle leader is very important. The next one, love affection. Show love to the people you meet. Don't just look at this one, it's worth showing love for and this one, no. Every person I have said here, every person under the sun has got something that you don't have. Even if they are not well up there, they have something that you don't have and they can help you. I learnt a major lesson not too long ago from a very humble, humble lady. Very humble. Someone who does not even know how to write her name. But what she said was so powerful indeed. I just looked at it and I said, wow. I couldn't have learnt that without this one. So here we need to show affection to every person that God brings on our path. Then there are three things that you need to hate as a leader. Number one, quality. They have some leaders who are very well. Well in the home that their children cannot even have time to sit down with them. They give orders. They don't have time to talk to the child and communicate properly, effectively with the child. Why? Because they are arrogant. You cannot bring the spirit of arrogance in the church of God for leadership. People who think that they are arrogant and they can't go with it, they don't go too far. Then in gratitude. Be grateful. They are people who are ungrateful. You need to be grateful to the Lord. The spirit of ingratitude again cannot be entertained in the house of God. There are three things that you need to avoid. Idolness. Idolness does not necessarily mean that you are doing nothing. Idolness does not mean that you will sit down as a leader and go to that office and do nothing. Idolness can mean that you are not willing as a leader to empower yourself and continue yourself in growth. You want to remain in the status quo. Things have been done like this. This is the way we have done it. There is no change. You are not ready to change. So you are not willing to go ahead learning new things. We are moving at a speed that even some of us who are growing older and older every day, if we want to live with everybody, we must get out to know. I must know how to use this computer. I must know how to use the phone. If I'm not going to know how to use internet, how am I going to share the word of God with people? So as a leader, you must be willing. The other day we had a leader, this leader, church clerk, who has been in the church for a long time. But now the time demands that you need to know how to use computer. He says, no, I'm not ready to learn. And yet he is still somebody who is very young. He says, no, I cannot learn. I cannot do that. You ask them, can you read even the book Steps to Christ? No, I am not ready to do that. I cannot do it. I am too old that there's nothing I can do. That is part of idleness. You are basically choosing to remain where you are without growth. The next one is talkativeness. Talkativeness will go on with gossiping. It is again falling in within the power of the tongue where you find a leader, hear something and before anybody knows it, they have spread it all over the place. This also means that even during the nominating committee where we are meeting in the committees, before people leave the room, people have known what is going on all over the world. So and so has been elected. So and so you are not chosen. And so this brings even problems within a local church and within even the conference and the world over. So the issue of talkativeness, I want to say if God has not assigned you a responsibility and a duty to say something, please can you keep quiet and wait? Just wait. Thank you for the warning bell. I still have time to go. So gossiping is also another problem that we find in the church. And this matter of gossiping here among the leaders and I have said all of us are leaders. So you hear something happening to Jerusha Muga. You want to say it to so and so. You want to say it to so and so. And before anybody knows what is going on, before this person knows what is going on, everybody in the church is talking about Jerusha Muga. I cannot forget the story of this lady who joined the church and every time she came to church, she went to the pastor and said, pastor, would you pray for my children? And then if the pastor was not there, she went to the elders and said, would you pray for my children? And this continued for a whole year until one day she went to the pastor and the pastor said, hey, no, wait. You are not the only one here. I have 500 members and seven other churches. And then she went to the elders and said to the elders, elders, would you pray for my children? The elders said, okay, sister Muga, wait. You are not the only one. There are 500 members here. We are prayed for you, there's nothing more we can do. That afternoon there was women ministry meeting and then she went to the women ministry leader and said, my sister, would you pray for my children? And then the whisper started here, is she the only one with children? Don't we have children also? Is she the only one? Is she the only one? And before she knew it, the holy church was talking about this woman who is always talking about her children. Pray for my children, pray for my children. Then those words came back to her ears. Then she said, oh, I'm sorry. I have trouble the saints. I will not trouble them again. She walked out of that door, went, nobody followed her, nobody from the church. She stayed out there for a whole year again without anybody following until there was a meeting. She had a sound and she got out of the house and then followed the voice, the wind. Finally she found where this meeting was going on. The same people who invited her were conducting the same mission again. But she went out there and looked and said, no, this is the camp of the saints. I will not go in. And nobody invited her back because of gossip and talkativeness. But finally she went out there one evening, greeted this visiting preacher and said to the visiting preacher, would you pray for my children? They made a point, appointment and then the preacher came home. The children were invited to church and they were all baptized. But they were baptized not because these people were kind to the lady but she was invited, they were baptized because this lady was convinced she had found Christ Jesus and nobody was going to take away from the church. And so I want to say to all of us, even if you feel somebody has wronged doing the church, this is nobody's church. This is your father's house. You don't have to go anywhere because somebody has gossiped about you or somebody stepped on your toe. This is your father's house. Don't go anywhere, stay. And that's why I said yesterday, for those of you I really appreciate the response that came on through my line. I want to say, if somebody hurt you in the church, please don't stay away, come back. Your seat is empty. God is looking for you and God wants you back home. Don't stay away. Don't lock yourself out. The last thing I want to mention, three things that we need to admire. Number one, wisdom is a gift from God and we pray for wisdom. God will give us that wisdom. Dignity, be a person of dignity. Don't lower yourself. You are a prince, you are a princess, you are a child of God. Know who you are. Understand the mission that God has given and don't lower yourself down. The last one is grace, the grace of God. Hallelujah to God. All of us, we can be leaders after God's own heart. And it is my prayer this afternoon that we need to be faithful where God has placed us, where God has planted us, all of us, that we be faithful to the call of God. How many are saying with me, Lord Jesus? I heed the call. I want to be faithful, faithful in my position, faithful where I am. I want to be a faithful leader. It cannot be otherwise. The Lord has seen those hands. I will just ask you to stand as we pray. And I just want to say here, you look at your leadership style in your home, in the church, in the community, wherever you are, and you realize that there are those gaps in your life, please talk to God about it. And at this camp meeting here, there are people who can pray with you. We are here, a whole lot of us. You want special prayers, personal prayers, we here, we can pray together. Let us pray. Our Father and our God in heaven, we thank you. May the name of God be glorified and praised forever. We are standing on our feet because we realize, Lord, that we have not been so faithful, but we are standing because we want to be faithful. We are dedicating our lives again that you may use us for the honor and glory of your name and may Christ Jesus be lifted up in our leadership, in our lives. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Again, can the child say amen? May the Lord bless you. Laptop is a palm top, so we have a problem connecting but we'll try project some of the presentations at least. Let's pray as we start. Loving Father in heaven, I stand here this afternoon in this church before your people to make a presentation. I pray for your leading, for your blessings that you may speak to us and not me. I pray for this church that Lord, even as we look at these issues together of help, that you may open minds to understand these great truths, the hearts to receive thy word. Be with us is my prayer in Jesus name. The projector, if you can just go to the slide, the leading lifestyle diseases. Now in the last presentation I made an introduction to the subject of health and defined health in its various forms and tried to illustrate to you the patterns of disease worldwide in the West, particularly the US, in our country Kenya and in some of the countries in Africa. Just to show where we are as a nation. And after the presentation somebody reminded me that we have Uganda and surround and I didn't show any figures about Uganda. So I'll just mention that as I go to that slide that in the pattern of disease around the world and life expectancy, the leading nation is this was 2010 figures. The leading nation was Monaco, a semi-autonomous state in Spain with 89.5 years, literally 90 years life expectancy. That is the life, the number of years you were expected to live from the time you were born. And following that was Japan, Australia, Nordic countries, Canada, Germany with 80.5 years, US with 79.68 years which is 80 years and then Egypt leading in Africa with 73.7 years which is virtually 74 years. In Kenya 63.77 years of which the ladies life expectancy is 68.4 and the men 63.2. And that's the general pattern with all these life expectancies. The ladies usually have a better life expectancy than the men. Kenya followed by South Africa 62.3 for years, Tanzania 61.7 and Uganda 60.5 Ethiopia 61.8 and then others. I think so the lowest in Africa was still Chad, Central African Republic. Now in the latest figures the 2020 life expectancy still Japan and Hong Kong are leading with 85 years life expectancy. Switzerland, Australia, Germany, Israel, Sweden with 83 years life expectancy. Italy, Canada 82 years and the UK 81 years. Then several countries the leading countries in Africa Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Sichels are the same level with the US and China. That is the latest figures 2020 WHO and World Bank figures 77 years life expectancy. Then some African countries the Mauritius elegos 74 years Egypt, Libya has come down to 73 Egypt 72, Libya 73 then Botswana 70 Rwanda 69 then several African countries at the same level. Kenya, Ethiopia, Gabon, Djibouti, Madagascar life expectancy latest as of 20, 20, 67 years. Tanzania 66 years Malawi 65 Uganda ties with South Africa at 64 years. Somali DRC at 58 years Nigeria Lesotho 55 years. And the lowest life expectancies in Africa are from Central African Republic. Central African Republic with 53 years life expectancy. Now, overall worldwide average life expectancy. If you put all these figures together for the whole world the average is 73 years. That's the current life expectancy. Now for the low income countries it's 64 years mid income countries 72 years and high income countries an average of 80 years. The Saharan Black African countries 62 years. Now following this I shared with you the factors that lead to life expectancy that determine life expectancy. And number one we saw that it is primary health care primary health care which comes top which is the most important determinant of life expectancy. Now what is primary health care? Primary health care are all those things the government, the ministry of health you as a person do to promote good health to prevent disease and they include the following list education. Education improves knowledge understanding and ability to cope with life. Number two food and nutrition proper food and nutrition. Number three supply of clean water. Okay. Number four clean air that is air free of pollution. We are told that in some cities in the west the air is so polluted so thick when you are out even breathing is a challenge you just feel the difference when you are light from the plane and you are down the air you came with and the air in the environment there is a difference. Number five housing and social services and I gave an example of some of the extremes in Kenya where people with two children have 10 bedroom houses and people with small bed sitters have six, seven children with relatives. Okay. And of course the preponderant diseases among these people would be those which are respiratory illnesses. Then sanitation number seven okay. It is not worthy that the issue of sanitation is crucial because as we noted before the prevalent diseases in developing countries like ours, East Africa are the infectious diseases and the major route of spread is improper sanitation. Fiko oral route. Human waste both body waste and the waste from the kitchen and from everywhere from the office. Okay. Then number eight maternal child care and family planning. The issue is that pregnant women the care of pregnant women the care of women around birth time the care of children when they are born in units and childhood care until they are grownups which includes their proper nutrition their vaccinations to prevent certain fatal illnesses and overall care of this children provision for them. Okay. Now that is crucial for the health of any community. Added to this is the family planning that women should not just be getting children every year. You should get a child but give the body time to recover and be ready for the next cycle. In traditional African society men had their hearts and the women had their houses where the men can join them at times. And the way they were family planning is that once your wife had advanced pregnancy and she delivered you kept away from her until a time when the baby was able to walk and carry and the wife would send a message to the husband. How did she send a message that I'm now okay we're ready for the next cycle of babies. The baby would be sent with a kalabash of Uji and if a baby could carry a kalabash of the Uji and deliver to the father it is an invitation letter to the husband. Things are now okay we can come back together. Our men were very disciplined they did not just make their women pregnant every year. Probably that is why they were polygamist because almost for the period of two or three years the baby is still not ready for the next cycle to be followed and this man here some of these people had a rather high libido they could not stay long without sex. Today we have a problem because you share the same bedroom and the same bed. Now then second to this curative services the provision of hospital services with properly staffed medical with proper staffing and drugs and medical facilities is crucial to health care. The clinics, the dispensaries health center our Kenya health system was so structured that we have at the lowest level of the community dispensary number two then a higher level dispensary two dispensary one and at a higher level the health centers where you were run by clinical officers so the dispensaries would be run by community nurses who could manage the most basic problems in the community and give health education then the health centers were managed by clinical officers who have a better training and could handle more complex problems and then after that the sub district hospitals which had doctors junior doctors that could do basic operations then if they could handle anything they would refer to the district hospitals where you had at times consultants who could do more advanced things if the district hospital couldn't manage then it was referred to the provincial hospitals where you had all the specialists pay gynaecologist, pediatricians specialist surgeons and if they could manage then we had one referral hospital Kenyatta National Hospital where you had the super specialists who could handle anything today we have about seven national teaching and referral hospitals so things are much better then of course the emergency services and this is what composes our medical care and the thing is that the world health organization public health and medical care specialists getting together under the umbrella of world health organization at Alma Ata in 1978 made a declaration that primary health care is the most important part of health care okay it is the most important part of health care prevent disease, promote health stop waiting don't wait until people are sick then you Baba Eka trying to look for treatment for them now we also saw that the disease pattern including the developed countries in the 19th and 18th centuries were basically infectious diseases but currently as things stand they long ago controlled the infectious diseases their problem now are the non-communicable diseases okay and how did they do that because we are at their long ago stage our problem is still infectious diseases how did they manage to control they did the following they improved the polluted water supplies they improved their sanitation providing adequate and proper waste disposal for all wastes human waste and all the waste from everywhere then they were able to take care of set standards for food and drinks then improve housing to avoid overcrowding then the protection from the animals from the flies and insects which bite and cause disease they improved nutrition they improved on working hours avoiding overwork they improved the education system to avoid gross ignorance on health matters then health education and other measures including preventive ones like lifestyle how you live and vaccinations so the major issues the major things about being able to prevent disease majorly has been health education provision of immunization good personal hygiene sanitation and control of air pollution proper handling of food and milk pure water provision isolation of the deceased, the infected and killing of organisms by use of antiseptics and disinfectants now in the 1970s the preventable diseases were killing about 5 million people per year but as we talk now the current reading problems in developed countries is lifestyle diseases number one is coronary artery disease you can show that slide number two, strokes when you develop weakness on one side number three, cancers number four, accidents and injuries number five, chronic obstructive airway diseases six, pneumonia and influenza seven, diabetes eight, suicide of all things nine, chronic liver disease especially liver cirrhosis and ten, atherosclerosis deposition of abnormal fats on the walls of your blood vessels okay, so we had a look at the Kenya pattern and I will not, I will just revisit that slide of the Kenya that as the latest figures we have show us that the leading disease problems in our country are number one respiratory infections you cough, you sneeze you spread them around and you breathe in the air with our congestion in our public transport system in our housing systems in the offices everywhere respiratory infections are the order of the day number two malaria three, pneumonia four, diarrhea number five, skin diseases six, cancers seven, TB eight, HIV nine, peptic ulcer disease has become such a prevalent problem it is a reflection of our lack of peace of mind anxiety, worry, overwork okay, peptic ulcer disease ten, urinary tract infections and you look at this pattern of disease what is obvious it's our main problem is infectious diseases okay now that brings me to that slide of the leading lifestyle diseases now this is the general worldwide picture okay live along the US or UK or Germany now overall worldwide the leading lifestyle diseases that is this diseases are determined by how you live okay, number one coronary artery disease number two cancer number three strokes four, hypertension together with its companion chronic heart disease number five diabetes number six alcoholism of all things number seven stress and suicide number eight sexually transmitted diseases especially HIV number nine derail diseases infectious diseases those of the skin and upper respiratory tract number ten obesity and malnutrition two opposites obesity people who have too much to eat malnutrition people who are either eating wrongly or have nothing to eat now out of all this I made the point that if you look at the various nations and the various groups the people that come out top in their life expectancy mobility and mortality rates mobility that is the number of times you get sick in a year mortality what causes death the adventist population have the leading life expectancy and the lowest mobility and mortality rates and the question is what is the difference okay so several studies have been done on adventists comparing them with the general population with other religions then with the general population and then even within the church comparing adventists who have taken the health message seriously and are health reforming compared to the nominal church members people who are church members yes but they are things they don't take seriously or they are still not mature in the church they have not understood some messages so they are not following the church's teachings and there was a big difference even within the church between those who health reform and those who don't number one adventists are very different from everybody else because their general health habits are above everybody else they don't drink, they don't smoke they largely avoid brain stimulants like tea and coffee okay then they generally observe hygienic measures and by and large they avoid eating foods which are considered unclean okay the bible has a list of things which God told His people these are not good for food these ones are okay you can eat and even those ones some people don't himself when I was in secondary school many years ago I was in a catholic school and it was a very advanced school we used to call it rapogi paradise the only school in Nyanza with curtains and a swimming pool tractors and an active agricultural sector I learned to drive a tractor in Form 3 we kept chicken we kept cattle we kept poultry I mean we kept pigs the only problem with the pigs they were very reproductive so every fortnight we had pork and I can assure you pork is very tasty but pork has problems and the bible says no it's not good for food and that's the problem many of us have even the things God has cautioned us that they are not good for your health we don't care we just do them okay so what is it about the adventist lifestyle that makes them different and above everybody else the adventist lifestyle is summarized by an acronym new start abbreviation switch stand for nutrition exercise water sunlight temperance air rest and trust in God now a brief look at the studies there are no adventists and the differences the findings number one 43 studies okay by the Center for Disease Control of the US now these studies the major finding was that sedentary lifestyle have two times risk of heart disease who what is sedentary lifestyle those lifestyles which are more mental than physical okay those of you who go to the office and hardly move around accountants, secretaries you know people who sit in the office basically okay as opposed to those who do jobs that involve moving around a lot cleaners trench diggers builders you know people who work in the kitchen in the hotel industry people who are always moving they have much less prevalence of heart disease it was published in that article there the annual reviews of public health volume 8, 1987 pages 253 to 87 number two doctors Tiffin Blair's lead study of 13,000 people followed over eight years and the finding coronary artery disease eight times is eight times more risky in sedentary people who have lead a sedentary life than in those who lead a physically active life jogging was found jogging eight to ten miles per week was found to give 2.2 years longer in life that is everything else equal you take a group of people who are physically active and those who are less physically active they live they have two more years on average okay number three a study of 43, 45 medical school graduates of Loma Linda University versus a group of 28, 32,000 University of California graduates as a control group the finding there was 42% lower coronary artery deaths in the Loma Linda graduates because there are adventists and they adapt the adventist lifestyle number four a Californian study of 25,000 SDS followed from 1960 to 1980 and another parallel study of 35,000 SDS followed from 1977 to 1982 the findings much lower motilities from cancer heart disease and strokes cancers 84% heart disease 58% lower 84% lower 54% lower in the adventists CA column and CA rectum cancer column cancer rectum 50% lower in them breast cancer 17% lower prostate cancer 26% lower diabetes mellitus 60% lower all deaths combined the SDS had 50% lower death rates then comparison of subgroups of adventists okay the health reformers I mean heart disease was three times higher in adventists who it meet in the age group of 45 to 65 years animal products increased cancer of the prostate incidents times of camp meeting like this you have various groups of people people who are health reforming and non health reforming and sometimes there is war in the dining room those who are not health reforming have a problem with those who are giving them vegetarian diets but there need not be if we listened if we read faith comes by hearing and hearing by the reading by and hearing by the preaching of the word of God or reading the information reading at the word of God so it's just lack of exposure I believe that some people are not in this and now with that I come to the core of this health lifestyle new start what is it about the adventist lifestyle this new start number one is nutrition what is it about the adventist lifestyle about nutrition the adventists believe and take the Bible as the basis as the standard of faith at practice and according to the Bible the best diet for a human being is the vegetarian diet this is what God gave man right at the beginning when things were at its perfection from the garden of Eden it was a diet of grains nuts cereals and fruits it was good and of course you know what happened they were living about a thousand years and so the adventist follow after this pattern of what is ideal for humanity immediately after the flood now God allowed man to eat flesh but with restrictions telling them these animals are clean these are not clean these are good for food these are not good for food and those who followed ripped the benefits and that has remained to date God has allowed us to eat flesh that's why even when we give you the help you say well it is God who allowed us to eat meat fish, chicken, the flesh okay but the issue is the truth is a change had taken place this is why it was not allowed sin had brought change these things were allowed not because they are the best but because of the change sin had brought and the truth still remains that the original diet is still the best for a human being and so a balanced meal at all times is recommended that is a meal at any sitting a meal should contain proteins, carbohydrates fats, vitamins, minerals and fiber for good digestion I couldn't emphasize that more that whichever diet it is you are adapting whether it is a flesh or a vegetarian diet at any meal it should be balanced containing all these classes of foods now rule number two there is no one food which has everything that your body needs so variety a variety of grains, cereals and legumes a variety of foods don't be monotonous in your diet vary even one food can be cooked in a different ways that makes it appealing and appreciable so variety always include fresh fruits and vegetables in your meals vegetarian diet with minimal milk and eggs is what is recommended but those who can the best is a total vegetarian diet with even no meat with no milk and no eggs sister whites remember sister whites comment from the ministry of healing but if there was a time when eating flesh was safe it is in the past especially now it is very unsafe including the milk and the eggs all the pollution from chemicals the microorganisms it is risky now the point number four about this nutrition is there is moderate seen eating okay it is not that now you are a vegetarian so you over eat you will still become obese okay you become overweight then regular meal times maximum three meals a day I am saying maximum a good one is two meals a day okay but if you want more maximum three a day please when you are eating eat slowly chew your food thoroughly don't eat when you are in a hurry eating should be in a relaxed cheerful atmosphere for best digestion avoid water and basically fluids at meal times if you take fluids it should be warm or hot fluids food is best without salt and without sugar we add these things just for taste but the truth is they have more than enough okay they have enough salt enough sugar in the average diet that we eat if you use please use minimal amounts avoid deep fries especially okay the deep fried foods chips mandas chapattis if you want to eat these foods make them yourself avoid the ones made for you in the hotels and other people it is risky cooking I've seen people cooking oil used for chapattis and then the liquid was still left and it is kept and it is kept to be used next time please never do such a thing never use cooked oil twice cooking oil twice okay when you have deep fried over boiled cooking oil it literally becomes a cancer soup the oils so change into benzinoid and cancer causing carcinogens you use you reuse cooking oil you are killing yourself vegetable oils are the best associated illnesses with nutrition include kwa shiako marasmas bulimia all deficiency diseases growth retardation infections obesity and lifestyle diseases so nutrition is key exercise now the important thing about exercise or physical activity is regularity ideal is four to five times a week I know the rat race life will live in Nairobi and in the towns it is difficult but as much as possible four to five times a week is the ideal the exercise should be 30 to 60 minutes five to ten minutes warm up and five to ten minutes winding down okay and what is the exercise you should do it should be an activity you love to do that something that should make you pant and sweat for at least 30 minutes okay if you want to lose weight you do more for weight control you need it at least six times a week and the exercises should last at least one hour now cardiovascular mental reproductive functions lung functions emotional balance sleep and disease prevention are the advantages of exercise or physical activity people who spend a whole day digging trenches building carrying heavy loads they don't have to all they need is to get something interesting to do water eight glasses of water daily clean fresh water for drinking cooking washing take water in between meals not during meals can take it warm or cold it helps in elimination of wastes effectively you are literally washing your body you take water the body will get rid of the excess water but as it gets rid of gets rid of the excess water it is washing out all the toxic wastes it reduces fatigue it improves mental and cardiovascular functions it improves physical activity performance sunlight all we are saying with this is that you need at least 30 minutes exposure to direct sunlight imagine believe it or not in tropical Africa where people suffering from vitamin D deficiency something you just need 20 to 30 minutes exposure to sunlight every day and you have more than enough vitamin D and so they have joint problems with rickets and premature osteoarthritis damaged joints the best sun is the mid morning sun not the midday sun okay vitamin D synthesis calcium phosphate metabolism is takes place with sunlight rickets is associated with the lack of vitamin D skin health, vision, bone and muscle health are determined by vitamin D temperance all life is based on a balance and equilibrium temperance is moderate use of all that is good and avoidance of that which is harmful avoid all addictive substances and less for medicinal use and when they are used for treatment we in the hospital give the least effective dose for the shortest time possible painkillers like muffin and pethidine narcotics which are addictive we don't give them for long sedative hypnotics like valium, phenobarbital we use them yes but minimal effective dose for the shortest time possible and then deal with the primary problem here all we are saying is if you have the opportunity the privilege of designing your own house where you live your office okay it should be a house, a bedroom and office with abandoned ventilation and sunlight dark rooms are brots for disease viruses, bacteria, fungus, nelab dark damp bedrooms and offices respiratory diseases no wonder it is a problem engage in daily breathing exercises okay avoid overcrowding in confined spaces the fresh air of countryside is the best it is associated with respiratory tract infections and obstructive airways diseases and cancers rest take daily regular breaks keep the Sabbath we human beings are limited you are not made to live like God okay only God is unlimited we are limited after work you have used up energy and resources of your body take a break to give the body time to recover then you can start afresh on average 40 hours of work a week that is the average you can calculate how many hours you do a week sleep for adults should be minimum of 7 to 8 hours if you are busy 6 to 7 hours a day but that should not be taken for long growing children and youth need 8 to 10 hours a day babies 12 hours a day or more in fact 16 hours okay lack of rest, lack of sleep affects growth affects mental and physical functions affects emotional stability and last faith in God Adventists Proverbs 3 verse 1 to 2 my son forget not my law but keep it in your heart for length of days long life at peace will it add to you Sam swan what is it about a man who fears God faith in God provides connection with the reality fairness in judgment peace contentment and joy of living and as Proverbs 3 says the ungodly cannot understand justice judgment and equity only the godly can all studies show that the religious live longer less disease incidents and when they fall sick the recovery is better and faster conclusion many diseases are congenital they are genetic they are environmental and there may not be much you can do to change them but a vast majority are preventable depends on you on your choice your health and longevity depends on you the Adventist lifestyle promotes health prevents disease improving quality and prolonging life may God bless you let us pray loving father in heaven we thank you and praise you for your goodness and love for us Lord you have taught us you have given us all the information but father how much of it do we use we pray for your masses and grace upon us that we may learn to listen to you to listen to your servants to take seriously our health and our life that we may be able to serve you bless your people pray for the sick those who have all the disease problems that Lord may have mercy on them be with us be with your people it's my prayer in Jesus name good afternoon everyone thank you so much thank you for the health prayer presentation and I think it's always important to keep our health in check so this morning I was at the gym won't you say amen for me I'm keeping healthy this morning I was at the gym what does the church say yes and I did a spin class so my legs are shaking but we really want to thank God as always I'm loving being here being in Nairobi and being in this wonderful country of Kenya and I love East African hospitality amen and I look forward the next month to be in Uganda what a blessing this camp meeting is oh I loved the sermon this morning amen how many of us are blessed by the sermon yes by all means necessary wow what a sermon and what a message I always believe that our camp meetings must render a transformation amen you must not come out of this camp meeting and remain the person that you were before you came to camp meeting and I want to thank our presenter on leadership a very important concept especially within the context of our church and I want to tell you that from the biblical world view God told the children of Israel that you shall be the head and not the tail it is unbiblical for you in your workplace to be apologetic about the position that God has put you in so even in our workplaces even in business I am of the firm belief that God has given us that the resources and the spirit to be leaders wherever we are and so I pray that God will bless us in a special way okay can we just stand up for one moment okay can we just stand up and just stretch yes I'm feeling fit I wish I could make you run but we're in church and just stretch and be seated as we get um some blood circulating uh it's always a challenge to speak uh after lunch but I'm excited and I've been very encouraged by the feedback I've been getting from our pastors and from the fellow speakers and from you as the congregants I want you to know this that we have left our homes and we've left our families our workstations to come and minister to you that that amen must have been stronger because I think I'll ask them to book me a flight to go back because the people we are talking to are not appreciating amen we we left our duty stations we left our homes and our families to come and talk to you so we are here for you and so even as we meet thank you so much for the friendly smiles I'm one person who likes socializing I like mingling uh we with the people and think that's one gift uh that that my wife uh gave to me let us bow our heads as we pray uh in the presence of God Father in heaven we thank you for yet another opportunity that you have bestowed upon us that Lord we can come into your presence and we can listen to you speaking to us Father we thank you that you have taught us from your word that what you desire from us is to be faithful stewards as we go back to the creation account we ask that Lord may you speak to us and may we extract jewels of truth that will render transformation in our lives and as we are transformed may we have an impact not only in our families not only in the church not only in our societies not only in our countries but on a global stage thank you heavenly Father in Jesus name we pray amen and amen I'm going to move and come closer to you we're in the book of Genesis let's go quickly we are in the book of Genesis chapter one uh we are in the book of Genesis chapter one uh yes uh uh Genesis chapter one let's start with verse 26 although my concern is on verse 228 after which we'll go to Genesis chapter 12 verses one to two three and then we'll be done for this afternoon if you look on your programs tomorrow we don't have a store she says session we will then reconvene for our store ship sessions Thursday Friday and Sabbath I think so as we open God's word I pray that we will prayerfully take in what God has for us Genesis chapter one I will start from verse 26 uh my favorite translation of the bible though the bible says then God said let us what make man in our image according to our lalikeness and let them have what dominion over the fish of the sea I remember when I came to Duamo I dealt with this so I'm not going to focus on that the bible says and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of the air and over the cattle over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps up upon the earth verse 227 so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them verse 228 then God what amen then God what God does not assign a responsibility to his creation without blessing them that is the first you know when I read that I said God thank you God does not tell you to have dominion over the earth without giving you the blessing to have dominion so when you look at that passage of scripture the bible says to us thank you then God blessed who who is them the man and his or man and woman who are created in whose image in God's image so both of them are created and both of them are given the blessing so the bible says then God blessed them did he give them material things come on did God give them in the blessing is there a material thing no look at the blessing then God blessed them and saved and God saved to them be what and do you see that fruitfulness and multiplication are spoken in the same breath so God says listen I'm giving you dominion okay by the way when God says let us make man in our image God is speaking we within the context of the Godhead so they are speaking about my mankind so he's saying let us make man in our image and let them let them where they created yet you are not with me today they were not yet what so the dominion that mankind was to have was domiciled in God himself so by the time God takes the dust of the earth by the time God breathes into to the nostrils of man the breath of life the whole package is already ready and prepared hey Ellen White says in the books in the book steps to Christ under the chapter the privilege of prayer she says prayer is the key in the hand of faith that unlocks the what that the treasure house of omnipotence of no not hey listen to that word I used hey that's a wrong word oh yes yes omnipotence yes yes yes is that the correct word let me check check that it should be divinity please check check me there please if you could erase that please erase that okay so so so before you receive before you pray okay before God creates okay yes it's omnipotence yes before God creates before God actually breathes into his nostrils God has already prepared the package that will ensure that the blessing of being created in his image is achieved now many of us when we go to God we think that he begins to prepare the blessings at the point we pray did you hear that so then we then think that God has blessed me because I have prayed okay okay all right okay when you are going to go go to heaven God will not begin to build dimensions when you get there right so someone is moving with me okay when you go on a on an uba no no no well what you call those buses you matatu now when you go to a when you go on a matatu does the manufacturer start building the matatu are you are you with me church it's ah no no no no pasta laven once an uba and I and I love your uba system it's very efficient I think I'm becoming a Kenyan slowly because I have no problem try traveling you guys really worry yourselves pasta we need to show for you I have no problem traveling in an uba ah can you say amen for me in fact I'm so adventurous I think it was last year of the year before Dorita if you can remind me I came late you know what what I came on I asked the guy to leave me at the gate because you are going to be worried I came on a border border I was behind the guy in a suit holding him like this I was saying my friend I'm late let's go and I'm saying late and and the wind is blowing through my mouth then my friend I'm late let's go it's exciting when I go to Uganda I like those border borders you know so at the point you ask God God does not prepare the blessing at the point you ask John chapter 14 the the Bible says what let not your hearts be believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are many I go amen I go to prepare and when I'm done I will come back so you realize that that's according to a Genesis chapter 1 God says let us make men in our image and in our likeness and let them have dominion so the power to have dominion was already agreed upon within the Godhead this is too deep some of you have lost you your promotion did not happen at the point of promotion it happened when God decided that the course of events in your life would collide with God's will hey are you with me church so therefore you think no it's because of my experience it's it's it's because of my education that the preacher says time and chance happens to them all they are people who are more qualified than you who are more educated than you who are better than you who could have gotten the promotion but because God was involved in the affairs of your life God decided that you now we are together kukuku kukuku the verses just can't come up a bit ah please don't show me my picture I know my myself can I get all right and God blessed them and said bibi what be fruitful and so do you realize that fruitfulness and multiplication were literally given to humanity as a blessing amen and as a believer you must understand the importance of that let me say a very strong statement it is unforgivable for a seven day adventist Christian who's waiting for the second coming of Christ not to be fruitful it's unforgivable it's unforgivable and fruitfulness can apply in so many things of course the immediate context we know what it is right we know what the immediate context but if you expand or if you extend the concept the bible is literally saying to us God has put it in us to multiply and to be fruitful but if you look at the order that God gives multiplication is a product of fruitfulness hello multiplication is a product of fruitfulness now let's go to Genesis 12 Genesis chapter 12 when is my friend Victor how many minutes am I left with okay right then God blessed what them okay let's go quickly Jeje Genesis 12 let's go Genasik, proba na kutu wakama niwever 1. Na, miwako! Nanda, yukti miwako, Ava. Get out of yo, nita niweverando. Nita niweverando. Yuki watu ya. K Intoa huu na, nita kutu! Tafu asu wakama niweverando. uzi ya si maqabia k follows semano mak alter ilusia w authentiwa doka ya w na komita oki, tu masiko nga maqabia haju uza kisha tu maqabia la moj monthsik na when you get out ok de iaja kwencha watzi when you get out ma kutapia then the iya divinatu aneeqti. Ya, Circle, nikiha kwenya kisha kusika seakchi. Yama kwa bakwa nao, nao nao nao nao nao nao niha? nao nao nao nao nao nao nao nao nao nao nao nao nao nao nao kwa I will show you that the next I, I will make who you a great nation. Number three, I will bless who you and make your name and you shall be a what? Ah, VFFS3 and I4 will bless those who and I will what? And in you, all families of the earth shall be blessed. How many eyes? Hey, you are not with me. How many eyes? Five. How many eyes did Lucifer speak of? Five. So the eyes of God have the ultimate result of others being blessed. I missed the time of you there. I just, some of you just, I just missed you. Because you thought that the conclusion of the matter is that you are going to be blessed. No, your blessing becomes meaningful when it blesses others. So as long as you are at the level of God brought me out to bless me, God sees that you are so selfish. So for some of you poverty is your key to heaven. But if he gives you, you because you are still operating at the selfish eye, where you think that God's exercise towards you is so that he blesses you, yet you forget that Abraham, when he came out of his father's country, he was already rich. But what are riches without blessing others? So God says, listen, I'm going to establish you. My end result is that all families on earth are going to be blessed because of you. So you become the conduit through which blessings are transmitted when you build. You could be two types of conduits though. Allow me to use the word pipeline. A pipeline which carries water cannot be thirsty. Yeah, a pipeline which carries water can't be thirsty. A pipeline has other problems, no, not thirst. But a conduit that carries electrical cables can actually carry a high voltage without being electric. So you could be one of these two things. Pastor Moyo could be a bridge where you are walking over to the promised land and it remains. That's why Paul says, lest I be a caster way. Okay, let's go back to verse one. Yeah, let's go. But now the Lord had said to Abraham, get out of your country. What's your country? That's the first thing. And the Lord God had said to Abraham has an identity as a name. So what God does, He first identifies. Then next thing He calls out. And then He relocates and then He blesses. Okay, so three things. One writer says, in order for God to have established a new way of thinking. God had to totally divorce Abraham from his old way of doing things. And this is where I come to you now. My beloved brothers and sisters and some of you are old enough to be my mothers and fathers. This is what the young pastor is saying to you. God through assigning you to be a steward is asking you or instructing you to divorce yourself from old practices, to divorce yourself from old thinking and to divorce yourself from old establishments in terms of your established belief system. Are you with me? By the time we leave this place, we must not argue about stewardship of time or argue about stewardship of resources or argue about stewardship of relationships. No, because God is calling us out. That's what He does. And let me bring it closer. Do you know that some of us are coming from backgrounds where it is inconceivable that you are a Christian? Are you with me? God says, the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. Can I demonstrate our foolishness right now that that is perceived by the world? Remember He says to those who are what? Perishing. Do you know how foolish we look? Grown men and women wearing ties. Some of them much older than me sitting looking at a 40-year-old young man talking for 40 minutes. Are you with me? You guys should be singing in the world but by the way I love your music. Can the church say amen? I love your music. You guys should be singing in Zimbabwe we call it kujambama speaker. You heard what I said. You should be jumping over speakers with the gift you have. People of the world are saying this is foolishness. Those who are perishing are asking to themselves how is it that educated people, people of influence people who are coming from backgrounds where they could have been doing better are sitting at 25 minutes past three on a Tuesday. They are sitting in church looking at a boy who came from Zimbabwe. Now when you look at the construction of that sentence the present participle the pitching of the cross is what foolishness to those who are what? Perishing. So perishing is not an event, it's a process. With every decision you are making you are either perishing or you are being saved. So by the time you come out of this committee and all the messages you have heard when you now go to your workplace and you tell them no I have to return a faithful tithe to God they say this is foolishness. But Paul then says even though the pitching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being what? Saved it is the power of God. My Nairobi central church to the world forsaking all earthly connections is foolishness. And yet in God's view He has identified you to become a blessing to your family. I'll prove it. You know why I'm saying that is it not God who says in verse 3 all families on earth will be blessed because of who? You didn't hear that. When he says all families God is also referring even to the family of Abraham and when you read deeper into it what is that tithe talking about? It is eventually talking about the presence of Jesus Christ himself as a blessing to all humanity. The end of stewardship and the fulfillment of stewardship is Jesus Christ. Amen. That's the end of it. If our stewardship does not lead us to Jesus Christ then it is simply a religious activity. Victor, how many minutes am I left with? It's off. Ten. Ten. Okay, I'm left with ten, ten minutes. Good. Okay, so I will bless those who want can we go back to verse 2? Okay, let's go. I will make a few, a what? No, no, no. I didn't read that. I will make you can we redefine greatness? The greatness that God is talking about is according to his definition not your definition. The greatness that God is talking about is according to who? To his. Now listen, I will make you a great and I will and make your name and you shall be a blessing. Can I highlight something here? Thank you for that timer. Does Abraham have an offspring here? Wow. And yet he says what? And he even says your descendants shall be as the stars of heaven and as the sand of the the sand of the sea. But immediately in the immediate context there is no scientist who call it empirical evidence and that is evidence which appeals to the senses. So immediately in the immediate context Abraham does not see the fulfillment of the blessing. But God says listen I will bless you and I will make your name and I love the last part and you shall be a Hallelujah. So time spent must be a blessing too. Come on. Time spent must be a blessing too. The resources I earn must be a blessing too. The words I say must be a blessing too. My health and I love this about health. Where is our doctor? Okay he is gone. There is something very important about health. You don't stay healthy for yourself. You stay healthy for your family and for your loved ones. These health issues are very sensitive. When you guys told me again the first time I was like second by the fifth time I was like this is too much now. Because they are sensitive issues but watch this. It gave me a wake up call and I say amen to you. I told my friend I am going to the gym with you. 3 times, 2 times I have been to the gym now. But if I am healthy my wife Tafadzwa has a healthier husband. My children have a healthier and guess what? The church has a healthier pastor. And if you look at the pressure on the national fiskas it means there is one person less that the government needs to take care of. So I must therefore be a steward of my what? Of my body. And I like what he said the dentary lifestyle simply means that you spend the whole day what? Sitting. In Zimbabwe I don't know even in America I think but in Zimbabwe I'll tell you this. Companies are now investing in their employees going to gyms because they've seen that the cumulative cost of medical insurance is higher than the cumulative cost of gyms. So they have a healthier workforce. They've got a healthier what? Workforce. So a workforce which is healthier is more productive and it is more fruitful and it is even more what? It is able to multiply. And guess what? God gave us this message a long time ago. But the world is now. So the Bible says and you shall be a what? A blessing. Here's my quick question to you. How many people have basked in the glory of your presence? How many people are saying this person is a blessing in the silence? Let's close with verse 3. I will bless those who wow. So something just hit me. So do you realize that when you are faithful steward God's favor is upon you that whoever blesses you is blessed. So God looks favorably upon those who make a decision to bless you. So God says I will bless those who and I will curse him who and what in you all the families of the earth shall be. Amen. Let me disabuse you of the notion that money is a blessing. Economics 101 didad advanced level will tell you that money is a store of value in the medium of exchange. Money is not a blessing. Hello? No man is not a blessing but the things that money can do can be blessings. Amen. My money is not a blessing. The person who has the money is the blessing of the curse. You didn't hear me. The preacher says money answer is all things. So if I have a thousand shillings in my pocket how much is a loaf of bread? A hundred shillings. So if I have a thousand shillings in my pocket and then I walk into my house and I say I'm the father in this house but I've got the money in my pocket and then my family is suffering they don't own a food and then I walk away and I come back to tomorrow I've got money in my pocket but I don't give them I don't buy food I go the third day they spend three days without food is money a blessing but if I come and I say okay my family needs to be fed I buy food. So do you realize that the bigger concept is that who is possessing the money? We have been blessed to become a blessing. We are blessed to become we have been blessed with life we have been blessed with health we have been blessed with a sound mind we have been blessed with long life we have been blessed with resources Are you with me? So that we become a that is where stewardship must end that is the fulfillment and the embodiment of stewardship and here's the last thing resources, time, energies, health must help us to fulfill the mandate of the three angels' messages Go ye, method 228 Go ye, therefore and make disciples how do we make the disciples we make disciples with our pockets and with our presence So tomorrow I'm going to touch your pockets now on the Thursday So please come prepared Are you with me? Yes, please come prepared I promised you that on Thursday I would do it Thursday Friday I think I've chosen Thursday So I've got the whole of tomorrow to prepare to touch your pockets So come prepared for your pockets to be May God bless you May God be with you We'll see you on Thursday Let's bow our heads as we pray this afternoon Loving Heavenly Father We thank you for yet another privilege that you have bestowed upon us Father, we can throw in all these concepts on stewardship and we can try to come from different angles but our endeavor and our intention is for Nairobi Central Church and those who are watching on the digital platform to have this understanding that stewardship is meaningless without a relationship with you Thank you Father for reminding us that you bless us so that we may become a blessing Help us Father And the greatest blessing that we can give to humanity is to show them the Jesus that we have believed As we are proceeding to our other sessions we ask that you will be with us in the loving and holy and precious and everlasting name of Jesus We pray Amen And amen May God bless you Good afternoon How many people have been blessed? Are you going to be a blessing? That's the question We praise God for that and this is yet that time that we are going to break into our family life divisions and I'm sure it's an exciting time for everyone and I'm going to go over it one more time for the sake of those who are visiting or those who are coming for the first time So for the collegiates we have two speakers that is Japheth and Jess Rono The coordinator for collegiates will be sister Brenda Akedi and the venue will be at the tent outside that is parallel to the old sanctuary That is for the collegiates And for the young adults we have our speaker Pasta Benjamin Okindo and the coordinators are brother Paul Odera and sister Achen Oro They meet at the tent next to the union grounds That's where they have been meeting For the young professionals the speaker is Pasta JP Mayua and the coordinator is sister Wini Gesare They meet again at the tent next to the union grounds There are two tents right there For the singles the speaker is sister Jacinta Were and the coordinator is sister Dorothy Muga They meet in the main sanctuary at the elders desk On my right hand side For the widows and widowers the speaker is Professor Miriam Muita and the coordinator is sister Beatrice Uyugi The venue will be at the music room that is behind the pulpit You'd have to go around Then for the families Married between zero years and ten years that is the young couples They meet at the tent on my right hand side just after the door and the coordinator is myself The speaker is Pasta Lavan Moyo and that's it For married between 11 years to 20 years The coordinator is sister Irina Witi The speaker is sister Melisanto Nyoni and they meet at the balcony Right there Then married between 21 to 30 years The speaker is Dr. Jerusha Muga The coordinator The coordinators are brother George and sister Rhoda Ochira They meet next to the church clocks desk on my left hand side in the main sanctuary Then we have married for 31 years and above The speaker is Pasta Daniel Ganu The coordinators are elder Charles and sister Marin Ochola They meet just below the balcony I hope I was clear and we are going to be blessed so that we can also be a blessing to our families as it has been going So I request us to rise up so that we have a word of prayer before we break into our various divisions Let's pray Loving father We are one more time in your presence Our hearts full of thanksgiving because of the blessings that you have bestowed upon us Thank you for the gift of families and thank you for the sessions that we are able to enhance our families that as we await for your second return we will be ready together with our families Teachers, your will and let us abide in your presence in the mighty name of Jesus I pray Amen