 Right. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to a new session, a new day. Let's begin this time with a word of prayer. Let's pray. Father, we want to thank you for this beautiful morning, Lord, even as we come together to study from your word and gain insights on visions and work cultures and values that we need to carry to your God. I pray, Holy Spirit, that you will, God, speak to each of our hearts, that you will minister to us in your own special way of God. I pray, Lord, that these words and everything that we learn, Lord, will be a revelation in our hearts that we will use it in our lives to glorify you and to build your kingdom here or not. We thank you for this wonderful opportunity, Lord. We submit this time into your hands. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Alright. So before we go ahead, just briefly what we did yesterday, we looked at the points on how vision influences productivity. And one of the characteristics of a vision is that it is easily forgotten. So we need to write it, repeat it, repeat it again and again. Let me look at how when we have a vision, we need to state it out loud and clear. And also with that vision, there's a mission behind it. So to fulfill that vision, there's a mission. We saw examples from our Lord Jesus Christ and how when he came he spoke from Isaiah and he said the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. I've come to bring the good news, to set the captors free. That was the vision. How did he go about doing it? There was a mission. He chose 12 disciples. He went about healing and bringing deliverance and setting people free. So as we set our vision loud and clear, we also need to let our team and the people know about the mission on how we're going about to achieve that vision. Then we looked at values. Values that are so important in an organization even in our personal life and some of the values that we, co-values that we looked at from out through ABC is integrity, excellence, people above policy, creativity, unity and so forth. So yesterday we stopped at the part where we're going to be talking about how a culture that we need to create a culture aligned to our vision, mission and values and we picked up from Nehemiah. We saw that how Nehemiah was, Babylon has come. They have destroyed Jerusalem. They burned the gates down and Nehemiah is working under this Persian king. Now we also saw yesterday that he heard about the gates are burnt, the walls are broken. Now there were many Jews there living in that place during that time. But not everyone were burdened with it. So Nehemiah got put a burden into Nehemiah and it became a vision that ahead like I want to make sure that the gates are restored, the walls are rebuilt. Now that was a good vision, but it was a big task. He cannot do that alone. We're not talking about a small wall that we're going to build. No, we're talking about large stretch of land and so this task is not easy. So today we'll pick up from how did Nehemiah grasp this vision? How did he put forth that vision to his people? And how he went about with this mission, finally achieving the vision that God gave him. So let's look at, we're on page 45 on the notes. So we look at different aspects of how Nehemiah was able to fulfill the vision that God gave him. Nehemiah shared the vision with the people of Jerusalem. Now he went, picture this, he had this vision, God told him, put it in his heart, we need to build a wall, we need to put the gates. Now he's calling forth his brothers and sisters that are Jews and he's saying, this is what God told me to do. And he was telling the people that I've also got permission from the king, the Persian king, and he has given us permission to go ahead and build the wall. So he shared the vision to the people. Now the vision was compelling. Everyone caught that vision. People were inspired and they joined that vision. Now here is a very important characteristic. When we have a God given vision and when we share it with people, it will capture even their hearts. Why? Because God will put it in their hearts to join this vision. Right? So sometimes we don't have to go running behind people. I need workforce, I need people to fulfill this task. If it's a God given vision and it's burning in our heart, God will bring the right people and God will speak to people's heart to join you in that vision. Nehemiah didn't say, let's begin with 10 days of fasting and prayer or let's begin with worship for 10 days and then let's see what God is going to speak to me. No, he went. He shared the vision with the people saying the walls are broken, the gates are burned, we've got to do something. I spoke to the king, the Persian king has agreed and given me permission. What do you think about it? Shall we go and build the wall? It captured their heart. They said, yes. What happened before this? They were not bothered about the wall or the gates. They were probably busy with their own work. But the moment the vision was stated loud and clear they caught the vision. Maybe they weren't interested before but now suddenly there's an interest. Why? Because God put that vision in their heart. God ministers to people to help you and I fulfill the vision of God. So what happened next? Now I have agreed. The Jews have said, okay, I'm with you Nehemiah let's build the walls. Let's get things ready. Now it's not a small task. There's a mission. Nehemiah had to plan out how the reconstruction had to be done. So here calls for wisdom. Nehemiah was wise enough and he said, okay, so the wall is this long. What we'll do is living in different parts of the border of Jerusalem, you will look after building that side of the wall. So that by the end of the entire construction, you will know okay, this is the portion you have built because this is where you live. So it was a wise decision. It was not like you have to wake up one morning, pack your bags, travel 100 miles, then begin the construction. No. So Nehemiah was very wise in this. He said, get up, go to the closest place to the wall and build the wall. The nearest section will be yours. So you will be personally involved in that work. Delegation Nehemiah delegated the work to people in the right way. Now here's the thing. Maybe most of them were not craftsmen or not people who were involved in construction. Maybe some were farmers. Maybe some were just doing small business. Maybe some were potters, fishermen, all kinds of people. And they are going and fulfilling the mission ahead of them. Can you picture this? None of them, when we read the whole story of Nehemiah, none of them said, I don't know how to do this. None of them said that. I don't know how to, I'm a potter. I don't know how to build a wall. No, they didn't say that. They said, okay, let's do it. We'll find out. Probably they looked at others and they just learned it or they asked God for wisdom on how to go about doing these things. And so the mission on how to go about building the wall, Nehemiah shared it with the people. Then comes the important part. Values. What are certain values that Nehemiah carried and he initiated as they began to build the wall? Right? First, everyone believed that God of heaven will prosper us. Right? So here's the thing. They had the vision. The mission was ahead. Mission also was given. Nehemiah shared the mission, shared the vision. He said, okay, let's go ahead. But what are the values they carry? Probably Nehemiah said, listen, it's not by our own strength, but God, the God of heaven will prosper us. Because this vision is not a man made vision. This vision that I am carrying is not something that I felt on my own, but God has put it. So God, the God of heaven will prosper us. God is on our side. This is very powerful. When we have a vision and we know that it is from God and we know that God is on our side. Nothing can stop us. Nothing. I want to share this. There's a pastor here, a little away from our city and he's got very deep into the jungles. It's like a forest area. There are no shops. There are very few people and it is very isolated. There are no buses available. There's no transportation available. But as a young man, this pastor used to pray and say, God, use me for the ministry. And God told him, you started church in the front of your house. Of course, it was a regional language. And so he began to ask God, who will come to this place? This village probably has about 100 people. And there's nothing around here. Who will come here to church? But every day that vision began to burn brighter and brighter and brighter. And as a young man, I'm not sure what his age was, but probably in his late 20s or early 30s, he started the church. There were about 10 people who would come and sit. And people would mock him. People would make fun of him. What church are you starting here? Who's going to come? So for a year or so, it was very few people. But he had the vision burning in his heart. So he would keep telling the church, one day we will be many people. You stay. You hold on. God will bless us. And here's what we will do. We will pray. We will have these worship evenings. We will pray for working of miracles. And over the years, the church started to grow. People started traveling from the city to this place which is about an hour's drive deep into the village areas. They would drive from the city to there. And now the church has about around 600 to 700 people. And they all, most of them, he's made buses because there's no transportation. Even now that area is just not even developed. So he's made buses. So people would get into the bus, travel all the way, one hour away. And he would have a service. And after the service, he will provide for lunch because after the service for them to get back home, to take long time. But now he's about 600 to 700 people. And I had a wonderful opportunity to hear how God helped him in this vision that he had. So certain values, when we know that God is on our side, know that we will be successful. Everyone believed, secondly, everyone believed that they had to do their part. Yes, God is on our side. Doesn't mean that we don't do anything. But they said, okay, the mission is stated. Nehemiah said, I need to go here, build my side, my section of the wall. So everyone knew they had to do their part. And thirdly, they knew that while they're building the wall, there will be persecutions, there will be hindrances, there will be oppositions. Why? Because the Babylonians are continually against the Jews. And you also got the Assyrians. You got these people coming and just trying to nullify or just completely wash out the Jews. So they knew, if we start building the wall, there's going to be opposition. But they were strong. They said, nothing can stop us. Three important values. One, God was on our side. Two, we will all work. Three, nothing can stop us. No hindrance, no opposition, nothing should stop us also. So these are values they carried. So imagine, just give you a round off number. Imagine there were 300 people there. They woke up in the morning. He said, okay, it's time to go to my section and build the wall. They had these three things in the mind. One, God is on our side. Two, we all are working. It's not like I'm working and the other people on the other section are sleeping. No, we all are working together. Three, oppositions, difficulties will come. But nothing should stop us. Three, powerful values. And we can carry these values as well in our lives, in our organizations, in our ministries. And God is slowly going to bless the work of our hands. Next thing we look at, very important. One was the vision which he stated out clear. The mission, again he stated out clear. The values which all of them knew now comes the culture. Because we can have these three vision, mission values. But if the organization or the culture, the way people work, the community of living together was not in line with the values, then we don't feel like working. But what is the culture that Nehemiah raised under his leadership? One, people worked together in one strong community. So Nehemiah set the tone. What he did was he said, one, everyone will work. All trades of all ages, men, women, everyone will be involved in building the wall. And when we read, it's wonderful because the Levites, the scribes, they were also involved. Now what does the scribe do? His job is only to sit and write the text and translate and make copies. That's what all scribes do. They were also involved in building the walls. Priests were involved in building the wall. Can you picture a priest? Probably the priest waking up in the morning saying, okay, he goes, he performs his prayers, everything. Next thing you know, he's there in the wall trying to figure out how things are done. But they all worked. It's not like the priest was sitting and saying, okay, you build a wall, I'm here ready for the prayer. No. The goldsmiths, the people, the merchants, the common people, everyone worked. And that's the tone which Nehemiah set. He himself also worked. We look at it later. Not like Nehemiah was the leader there, so he's crossed his hands telling, okay, you do this, you do that. No, no, no. He put his hand to the plow. One worked. Two, when they worked, they worked with all their heart, with all their mind. With everything that they have. Let's read Nehemiah chapter 4 and verse 6. Nehemiah chapter 4 and verse 6. Yes, could one of us please read that? Nehemiah 4 and verse 6. Yes, anyone? Nehemiah 4 verse 6. So we built the wall and the entire wall was joined together up to the hub inside. For the people had a mind to work. Amen. Thank you, Avinas. So we see here that they all joined together. They built the wall and says that the people had the mind to work. Their heart was in it. You know, we may think, okay, what is the other work they did? How will they feed their family if they were going on working and building this wall? The other work was also done, but their heart was towards building the wall. When it came to building the wall, they were there with all their heart, with all their mind. There was no half-hearted work. There was no feeling of, do you think we can build this wall? Do you think it's a possibility? There was no questions there. They worked all their heart with all their mind. Three, they supported each other. Now, knowing that they were under some threat from the enemy, they supported each other. So if we read that, it is wonderful. What happened was God, Nehemiah, he says, okay, we know that the enemy may come and they may come with their armies to stop us from building this wall and fixing the gates. So what we do is, example, out of 100 people, the numbers are, I'm just giving example on numbers, right? Out of 100 people, 50 people will work. You start building the wall, you start working on the wall and the other 50 people will stand guard. So they will stand in front of them and make sure that there is, even if the enemies come, they will be able to fight them. So they supported each other. And then what happened was after some time they would take turns. So the next 50 would work and the other 50 would stand guard. Nehemiah 416 writes that so it was from that time on that half of my servants worked at the construction while the other half held spears and shields, the bows and war armor and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. So it's like a movie scene. They're building the wall, 50 are waiting and ready in case of any enemies, the other 50 are working. They supported each other. Fourth one, the rulers were urged to be generous. Now we must understand that when the Babylonians came, the Jews were taken captive, they overpowered Jerusalem. There was still prayers being offered. There was still leadership, the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees, the different kinds of priests. They were all still there. Now Nehemiah was just a cup bearer. But he set an example of generosity by giving to those in need. So what does he say? He lets people from what he has he gave to others. He said, okay you all are spending time building the wall, whatever I have whatever I can give I will give it. If it was money, if it was clothes, if it was food or grains or anything, whatever I have in excess I will give. So what did Nehemiah do? He set a tone, he set the example. So now the other rulers, maybe the priests, the scribes, the rulers, maybe they were the judges, probably some prophets as well. And they would be watching Nehemiah. What is this man doing? He has a vision, he's given us the mission and he's so full of passion. Let us watch him. Probably they saw him and they said, hey he's also giving the money and all his belongings he's willing to just give it away to the people. So he set the example and he said rulers, leaders do the same so that we will be able to bless the others as they are building the wall. Let us be generous to one another. He also goes one step ahead and he tells the people, now if there are people who owe you land or they have some debts, you know, you borrowed money and there are some debts which they have to repay back, cancel that, cancel it, forget about it because right now all of that is not important. All of this, all our attention, all our focus is on the wall, rebuilding of the wall. So there are some people you have lent money to and they have to owe you back. Nehemiah saying, forget about it, just let it go because they are building the wall. Honor them for that. Right? Cancel the debts, give back whatever portion you have taken from people, maybe their fields or their crops or their houses. Give it back to them so that they can work with all their mind and heart. Nehemiah is setting the tone to be generous. Now picture this. Imagine you've got some rulers there and maybe somebody has taken borrowed money and he hasn't returned it back so what they would do is during those days they would go and capture their house, they would take their house or they would take interest from them or whatever fields and crops they have, they would take most of the harvest from them and imagine if that was the scenario. It wouldn't be nice because here they want to work as a team. And here's the best part, after Nehemiah shared this Nehemiah chapter 5 verse 10 says we'll do as you say, sorry 5 verse 12, we'll do as you say, we'll give the property back and not try to collect the debts. What an amazing testimony this is. Nehemiah himself did it first and then he told the leaders, he told the others if there are people who, who money has to be owed to you or you have taken away their belongings because of this cancel their debts, give back let us focus on the wall, let us build the wall and what did he do? Nehemiah didn't pressurize them. He didn't say you have to do this, he put it forth he said, we can do this I urge you to give it back to cancel their debts. Now it was their choice they responded immediately saying now we will not, we will do as you say, we'll give the property back and we will not try to collect the debts. Again this caused such a unity, stronger unity imagine the people who had debts they are working and then one fine day the ruler comes and says, you know you owe me 100 dinaris, now because we are building the wall together, that debt is cancelled, here's your house here's your, you can go back to your homes, you can keep the land that you are cultivating, forget about the debt picture that man's mindset after that, he'll be so happy, he'll say, God thank you and he'll put all the more effort, probably he was doing 10 times more than he can do, now he'll do 20 times more because the debt is cancelled and there was a sense of unity at that time. Nehemiah led by example Nehemiah was a cup bearer in the king's palace he was he had the option to go into the palace or whenever he wanted he could have the good food he's the governor of that place so he could have had good food, he could have had the wine, he could have relaxed he could have had everything that he would normally have as a governor, but he acted differently, he said no how can I enjoy all of this and then my people are struggling in building the wall, I will also deny all of this and I will go and help in building the wall and he avoided all the benefits as governor and he went and he put all his effort, all his energy into the wall, what a powerful example as a governor he stood there probably putting his hands into the bricks and the cement and building that wall, when he had the option of sitting in the palace enjoying the meals, enjoying the food that he was entitled to as governor, now what would have happened if he was sitting there and doing all of that, maybe the work would have gone on the work would have continued rebuilding the wall but when we set examples it sets the tone to help us fulfill the vision, it makes us all feel as one, setting up examples are very important and now when we look at ministry it is sad to say all across we see that leaders and pastors and ministries are setting wrong examples, we should have a private jet we should have a car or sports car, we should have all this is wonderful but we should set good examples as well as leaders, the focus is not only on that, what example are we fixing in our setting in our values, in our characters, are we leading by example, these are things that we should see later on Nehemiah chapter 6 was 15 to 16, people saw great success because of all these values and culture that Nehemiah said in place, let's read Nehemiah chapter 6, 15 and 16 any one of us can please read if you are there can you read ok, no problem, anyone else Nehemiah chapter 6, 15 to 16 so the wall was finished on the 25th day of Elul in 52 days and it happened when all our enemies heard of it and all the nations around us saw these things and they were very disheartened in their own eyes and they perceived that this work was done by our God so what a wonderful verse this is after 52 days the entire wall was built now when the enemies, this is interesting, when the enemies of the surrounding nations heard this they realized that they had lost the battle and 2, they realized that this wall was built because of their God's help it's not something that can be done with natural abilities, it is God who helped them the enemy realized that the nations surrounding them realized that can you picture this, you know the Bible is wonderful when we read it, it's always good to picture in your mind, what is happening as you read when you picture it, it brings about greater thoughts, greater revelations, you got this small place in Jerusalem and there are different nations surrounding Jerusalem now probably the news has gone out, hey there's this man named Nehemiah, he's a governor, he's called some people and they're rebuilding the wall, probably they all looked and laughed at him then we go and stop this work in a few days, let them start off, probably they said this wall cannot be rebuilt because these are not men who are qualified to do it, the people who are working but the news is going out and probably after a few days, maybe 20 days they're saying hey the wall has come half the height and it's 30 days, it's 40 days the walls are reaching up and then probably when we read the book of Nehemiah there were oppositions, they came to attack but the Jews were victorious, they were able to defeat the enemies and then 50 days the walls already probably they're fixing the gates 52 days it is done, here's what it says the surrounding nations, the enemies knew that they had lost the battle and why did they lose the battle, because God was with them they did it with God's help and so these four when we read the book of Nehemiah there's so much to learn with the way he modeled this whole vision that God had given him it's good to think about the culture, talk about the culture it's good to keep speaking about it but it's more powerful when we model it and encourage others to model it, which means when we set the example ourselves and encourage others to set the example so for example maybe in church or prayer meetings your meeting starts at 10 o'clock now as a leader if you are there at 9.50, you're setting the example saying okay, we'll start at 9.50, 10 o'clock it starts 9.50 we're here, everything's ready, the chairs are set, everything's ready so when the people see that, they say hey, he came at 9.50 and he got everything ready, so he's setting the example and then you keep doing that, what happens people, you'll realize that people will begin to follow that and then when you tell them hey, church starts at 10 o'clock, would it be okay if you can join us by 9.50 now they've seen you doing it and also follow, setting the example culture is not just a concept, it is what we do, it is how we live it is how we create an experience with our organization Nehemiah did that, he didn't just it was not just a concept to him it is what he did, it is how he lived during that time, he was real it was not just some writings or some fancy words that he spoke, it was real to him and he was able to rebuild the wall what are some of the cultures at APC that we have, just want to share a couple of them a culture of leadership and innovation we want to raise up leaders we want to raise up people who will be innovative in their ways, in their work a culture where people connect, collaborate and cooperate with each other, so one thing we as we mentioned yesterday as well, that we at APC work as a team when we lose, we lose together, when we win, we win together when I say lose means if certain things don't work we take responsibility, all of us together it's a team, a culture of being transparent and honest this is something that we always like to carry as a culture in APC be transparent, be honest, there are times as pastors and leaders we may be tired, we may fail we may fall, just be transparent, be honest we are not God as people even each one of us, we may all fail so it's okay to be transparent, it's okay to be honest with yourself and open to opinions, open to ideas, open to learning so all of this is important a culture of equality and respect whether we are on the pulpit or whether we are just a sound and setup team we all have equal honor, we all have respect for each other, and that's what we want to carry we may be doing even the menial task of looking after the parking of vehicles, but you honor them, you respect them because they're doing it out of their own free will, culture of equality and respect, a culture of sharing and caring work is more than a job that we do, but we participate in each other's lives, we care for each other we pray for each other, we share, we try to do as much as we can for our brothers and sisters, and that's the culture that at church that we want to continue to grow and even as we do this, we want to have a culture of fun and laughter so it's not like the church is a place where everything is strict, there is no enjoyment, there's no fun, there's no laughter, everyone are in the holy of holies, we all can have a culture of fun and laughter whether it's ministry or in the organization, in the workplace we can have that culture, fun and laughter work is fun, find things to laugh about, find things to enjoy doing as a team, a lot of companies have team outings or team lunch, team dinners, it's not only about work, it's about enjoying together as well, and so the culture we create determines the characteristic of our organization just a few more points and history is important, capture it, repeat it, now in Judges chapter 2 verse 7 to 11, let me just read that so the people serve the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlive Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which he had done for Israel Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord died when he was 110 years old and they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Harris in the mountain of Ephraim on the north side of Mount Gash when all that generation had been gathered to their fathers another generation rose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work of the Lord which he has done for Israel, then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Baal's, you see how important history is Moses came, he did all these wonderful miracles, but God in his mighty hand brought them out of Egypt, Moses went about died, he gave the leadership to Joshua, Joshua brought the people into the promised land, the walls came down and then Joshua died and now that generation has gone the people who have seen the parting of the seas who have seen the miracles, that generation has gone now the new generation has come, they have no idea what are they doing in that place they probably thought okay this is where we live and what happened, they began to do evil in the God, history must all is important, you capture history you repeat it, we need to remind them probably the Israelite should have said hey you know what, sit down let me tell you what happened, 40 years back or 50 years back we were walking, we were in Egypt, we were in bondage God in his mighty hand brought us out, we walked through the desert we walked in the wilderness, there was God provided manna and water, this is what happened, these are the miracles they did not teach their children, the children didn't even know what was happening, the next generation didn't know and so history needs to be captured yes we don't live in the past, but we have to learn from their experiences, now all of us have gone through certain things in life and there are success stories there are failures, but we don't live in that but we learn from it because it would be foolish to look at the past and say okay I failed in this area and to fall into the same pit again but we learn from history, every small step every small success inspires us to do more and if we are not progressing we can stop and think okay what are the things that we need to change so history is important but also not to live in that think about it, learn from it, take moments to tell relevant stories some stories will be successful, some stories maybe failures and then you can laugh about it, hey these are the things let me share one thing that happened, there was this in 2016 2016 January 15, 15 or 16 I'm not sure but there was an opportunity where it was given to me to lead worship for the first time in APC central, so it was a bigger church recording and all of that and I was really nervous I said oh god recording and so many people and the first time I went to such a big place to lead there are so many things that went wrong, firstly I forgot the song list, there were five songs I knew the first song and I completely blanked out on the second song I didn't know what was the song and I didn't know what chords were I was completely blank, we finished the first song and I was looking at the other singers trying to ask them what is the next song then somehow we got through the next song and then the stage the mic started shaking and it started shaking so much that I had to keep moving here and there and as I kept moving the wire that's connected to the guitar started shaking and then the guitar stopped working everything went wrong, that was the first time I led worship at APC central and I thought to myself I'm never going to, what an embarrassment, I'm never going to lead worship in this place again, it is so it was bad but when I look back I think about it and I learnt that hey I need to be more prepared for when we are leading worship, so I said okay let me write down the songs so I don't have to worry about, even if I go blank I know the song list and two, let me make sure that everything is right make sure the stand, the guitars, everything is set so I realised that okay, I have to learn from my mistake it's not like I have to say no I'll never do this again but I learn from my mistake and say okay and now when I look back I laugh about it because I think of it was such it's quite an embarrassing situation but then God has helped me to grow and so when we tell stories there were people who are shy to come on stage and sing or lead the worship or do anything on stage so I share with them, I tell them hey even I was shy these are the things that happened the first time but we will learn, God gives us the strength so we share stories not to bring people down but in a positive manner use it to learn from it and to spur action but never let your past stories hold you captive because of this failure I will never do this again let it not hold you captive, let God use those you use those opportunities, those moments in history or moments in the past that have maybe success or failure, use it for your benefit use it to grow and to learn from it share, celebrate people, celebrate teams celebrate progress I remember this success story that I'd like to share and I'll close with this we were working in the IT sector and many years ago my early 20s we were in this call center we were a new team and there was a couple of us two of us in my team who were very good at calls so we could talk, very confident in speech and then we were about a team of 15 people meaning we hit the floor which means we started taking calls live calls from different countries and during that time there was a contest the contest lasted for six months and we had a team leader and our team was a new team so this team leader was given our team, all of us are new we're probably just two weeks old into the call center and this contest was announced that every two weeks there would be gifts given for the best team so there were about eight teams on the floor and I remember telling my team leader we need to win this my other friend said we need to win this and he said how can we win this when all of us are new to the floor and I said okay, me and my friend and I said can we meet with the team and we'll just share some things and so we remember the whole team was, they're all 20 years old, they just finished college, they've come there and I remember sharing, as even the team leader we shared see, we told them all you have to do is talk talk with confidence even when you don't know the answer just talk with confidence, don't give them wrong information but talk with confidence, be bold and be strong and then we would encourage our team members now each day the highest a team would reach was about 70 sales, that was like very good, that's very good so the first week we hit about 50 and I remember saying it's good and our team leader was surprised and then we said next week we can win so we kept telling the team we need to win the gifts, we need to win this team and from the second month onwards every week we won we were hitting 80, 80 sales, 90 sales and the managers were wondering what is happening to this, they've just hit the floor, how are they doing this and so they began to check and all that we did was we were speaking with confidence and every for the next 5 months we were the only team that was winning and we win every contest after the contest stopped we were not winning but for the contest, so what am I trying to say is when we celebrate people, when we celebrate team, celebrate progress, when you give them something to go for, they really work hard and God is able to bless the work of our hands, so with this we will close, we finished on chapter 4 next week we'll pick up from chapter 5, any questions I know I've passed my time, any questions, quick questions if not we can also pick up questions from next week as well any thoughts, any questions? shall we close in prayer? Samuel is it okay if we can close in prayer? but you'll have to excuse me, background noise I've got 2 kids no problem, go ahead Heavenly Father we thank you for this day, we thank you for this beautiful community and fellowship, we thank you as you teach us these principles that we can apply in our workplace in our ministry, as we work with people, as we work for professional mission, we thank you for your servant, Pastor Paul, we ask you to bless his ministry we ask you to bless each and everyone who is in the class today as you equip us and continue empowering us Lord we wait for the day and we are already excited to be on this journey, to be useful to be vessels of honor and use for your house Lord bless us throughout the day, help us learn, equip and practice everything that we can, this and everything we ask in the name of Lord Jesus, amen. Amen, amen, thank you Samuel thank you everyone, have a great week ahead, I'll see you next week, God bless amen, thank you Pastor, God bless