It was a real blessing to be at the commissioning and ordination of the New Zealand Disciples of the Cross training session toward the end of 2013. It’s always refreshing to see the energy and enthusiasm of those who are starting out on this particular journey.
I’ve been reading about Albert Schweitzer, who served as a doctor in Africa. At the age of 30, Albert wrote to his parents and close friends telling them he would be studying medicine with the idea of putting his skills to use in Africa. He had always had a sense of compassion for those that suffered, and one day he read a magazine about the needs of the Congo that said, ‘Men and women who can reply simply …, “Lord, I am coming”, these are the people the Church needs.’ Albert knew this was a call God wanted him to answer—and that God wanted him to do so as a doctor.
Albert fought with family and friends over his plans. They felt that if he were to go overseas, it should be as a preacher, not a healer. He later said, ‘It amazed me to see them unable to perceive that the desire to serve with the love preached by Jesus may sweep a man into a new course of life.’
In this edition, we bid farewell to Emily Dimock. Emily has been the main person behind the Army’s social media channels for almost two years, but she has also written for War Cry and helped with many other writing and marketing projects. As Emily heads off to work at her church, we pray God’s blessings on her future and thank her for her dedicated service.
Two things will help any of us make the most of the life we are blessed with: the first is to connect with God, granting God permission to reform and transform our thoughts and attitudes. The second is to be open to wherever God is leading. Are you open to God’s leading in your home, your church, your community and your workplace this year? And will you perhaps even grant God permission to sweep you into a new course of life?
Christina Tyson
Editor
Colossians 3:23 Contemporary English Version
‘Do your work willingly, as though you were serving the Lord himself, and not just your earthly master.’
Korohe 3:23
‘Ko nga mea katoa e mea ai koutou mahia a ngakautia, hei mea ki te Ariki, a ehara i te mea ki nga tangata …’
My soul has a purpose, it is to love; if I do not fulfil my heart’s vocation, I suffer.
Thomas Aquinas