On May 23, 2011, Dr. Pipim resigned as Director of Public Campus Ministries and from the employment of the Michigan Conference. This was followed by his public announcement to his colleagues in ministry and his CAMPUS Staff (http://campushope.com/resignation/).

Though resigning from his present work, his ministry to students and young people, as well as his ministry of the Word by voice and pen, are far from finished. Pray that God will speedily renew his strength and reveal where He would have him minister. Visit the Drpipim.org website for updates.

The material below carries:

            (i) Dr. Pipim’s public announcement to his colleagues in ministry,
            (ii) his letter of resignation,
            (iii) the Michigan Conference President’s letter to his colleagues in ministry, and
            (iv) some final thoughts from Dr. Pipim to his CAMPUS Team.

Thanks again for your prayers and continued support.

 

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To:                 My Colleagues in Ministry &
                      My CAMPUS Staff, Missionaries, Students, & Supporters
From:              Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD
Date:              May 25, 2011
Subject:           Resignation

On May 23, 2011, I regretfully notified the Michigan Conference Executive Committee of my decision to resign as Director of Public Campus Ministries and from the employment of the Michigan Conference. My resignation letter below explains why.

I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to all of you for the Christian friendship and support you have offered me all these years. I would also like to thank you for your tremendous contribution to the kind of youth empowerment that CAMPUS promotes—namely a spiritual movement of young people which is Bible-based, life-transforming, mission-driven, and racially-diverse. As you may already know, CAMPUS is not only the birth place, headquarters, and a sponsor of GYC (Generation of Youth for Christ), it is also the sponsor of ALIVE (Africans Living In View of Eternity), an emerging grassroots missionary movement for African graduates and young professionals. CAMPUS also has a joint-partnership with STRIDE (Student Training & Resource Institute for Discipleship and Evangelism), a campus missionary training program that is based in Boston, Massachusetts. Further, as the grace of God has abounded in the work of our CAMPUS staff, missionaries, students and alumni from our events and programs, CAMPUS has earned the trust of many students and young people around the world, inspiring them to do great things for their Lord. Your continued support for this work, which I’m now leaving behind, is much more needed at this time than ever before.
     
As for my future plans, I intend to spend some time with my family, do some prayerful reflection and study, and help in the orderly and smooth transition of the new CAMPUS leadership to be appointed by the Michigan Conference. Consequently, all speaking appointments are being canceled. Although my passion for youth training and empowerment has not waned, the rest of my life is in God’s hands.

It is with deep pain—a pain far worse than death—that I have to resign at this critical time. Many of our standard bearers are being laid to rest, others are retiring and growing old, thousands of young people are calling for spiritual mentorship from faithful and courageous adult leaders, doors that are now opened for God’s work will soon be forever shut, and the cause of God urgently needs more faithful laborers in the field and within the church. Now shouldn’t be the time to resign. But I believe my decision is in the best interest of God’s work, and is consistent with the biblical teachings and messages I have shared by voice and by pen.

Undoubtedly, my resignation will be greeted with deep sorrow and hurt by those of you who have known me and worked closely with me. On the other hand, others who have always opposed what we stand for will have an additional reason to rejoice. For this, I am deeply sorry. Pray that the Lord will grant me genuine sorrow and humility of heart as I wait patiently on Him. Pray also that God’s faithful people everywhere—especially the young people whose lives I’ve touched—will learn important lessons from my experience, be comforted and encouraged by the Lord Himself, and be strengthened to carry forward the work of a “Bible-based revival movement in which every student is a missionary.” Pray that the treasures of truth that have been faithfully delivered would not be rejected nor ignored on account of the damaged vessel that carried them, and that the Lord will renew my strength, restoring me again to full health—physically and spiritually.

It has been a real privilege serving with you during the past twelve and half years. As you pray for me, my family, and the work I am leaving behind, don’t forget to pray for all the faithful workers and leaders at different frontlines of the work. They are the special targets of the enemy’s great wrath. Pray that the Lord will open our eyes to perceive the dangers that lurk around us, to discern our own true condition—our shortcomings, our secret evils, our faults and failings—and to behold the spiritual resources in Christ that are presently available to us. Above all, pray for the Lord to open our eyes that we may see the urgent need of depending upon Him moment by moment, as we seek true revival and reformation in our lives and in our church. This is my prayer for myself and for each one of you.

Sincerely

SKP

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May 23, 2011

Michigan Conference Executive Committee
320 West St. Joseph Ave
Lansing, MI 48933
 

Dear Members of the Executive Committee

My Resignation

This is to notify you of my resignation as Director of Secular Campus Ministry and [from] the employment of the Michigan Conference. It is with great sorrow and shame that while in my overseas travels I had a moral fall. It was a temptation of a moment. While taking some precautions to guard the avenues to temptation, I did not take enough. I have made this right with God, my wife and family, and the person involved to the best of my ability. I am deeply wounded for having let down so many who have looked up to me for spiritual leadership.

I humbly ask and hope that you can find it in your hearts to forgive me. I have poured my life, love, and resources into this work. To leave this work and the youth whom I love, in this way is a bitter and terrible experience.  To have let down the Lord, to have given His enemies cause for rejoicing, to have burdened my family with this shame and adversity, to have let down the wonderful committed youth who have believed and supported me, and to have let down my colleagues in the ministry and all those whose lives I have touched grieves me with inexpressible grief.

However, my confidence in God, His Word, and our distinctive message and mission is unshaken. If anything, I see more clearly the unfolding reality of the great controversy between Christ and Satan, and the urgent need for greater vigilance at all times in our everyday lives. My only hope is in the trustworthiness of the Bible’s promises and in the graciousness of our loving Savior. Only our God can heal and renew the strength of the wounded eagle. He alone, in His great love, can bring anything good out of our personal failures.

Thank you, Executive Committee Members, for your support all these years. Thank you for your faith in our approach to secular campus ministry—our vision of a “Bible-based revival movement in which every student is a missionary,” our attempt to combine a philosophy of excellence and a methodology of biblical simplicity, and our mission of “preparing secular campuses for the imminent return of Christ.” Thank you, above all, for your sacrificial financial investment in a ministry that believes that converted, trained, and empowered young people can be a powerful force for change in the church—and in the world.

Although I am not worthy, I ask a continued interest in your prayers for myself, my family, and the ministry I leave behind.

Sincerely,

Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD
(signed)

********************


Dear Colleagues In Ministry;

Life and ministry sometimes brings us great pain and sorrow. This is one of those times.  Dr. Samuel Pipim who has been used by the Lord to pioneer Secular Campus Ministry has given the Michigan Conference Executive Committee (MCEC) his resignation. It has been accepted and voted. Please see his resignation letter and subsequent message attached to this email.

Here is the time line.

Monday, May 23, 2011 – I received a call from Dr. Pipim Monday afternoon telling me that he was resigning from Michigan Conference and the ministry. This was the first time I had heard of this situation.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011 – This was the regular May meeting for the MCEC. Before the meeting I received Dr. Pipim’s written resignation.  The resignation was accepted and voted at the end of our meeting.

Wednesday -  May 25, 2011 –  I along with the Conference Secretary were traveling and occupied for the day with the Camp AuSable Administration Committee.

Thursday – May 26, 2011 – The officers convene a meeting of key CAMPUS leaders to discuss the process of releasing the information. We were concerned about making sure those closest Dr. Pipim would be able to process and adjust to the information before it was released public. In addition there were some complications due to travel. We agreed to release the information no later than midday EDT on Sunday, May 29, 2011. We hoped by then to have his close friends and students contacted and encouraged. Please read the releases. They speak for themselves.

We are in a Great Controversy between Christ and Satan. The war both visible and invisible is intense and severe.  We must in the words of Jesus – “watch and pray”.  Nevertheless, when God’s law is broken there is still a Mercy Seat – the Throne of Grace for which we are grateful. It is not the throne of indulgence but it is a Throne of Grace for every believing sinner.

It was there that David, Peter and Paul found grace. His grace is not a mere trickle or a narrow tiny river but rather deep and wide-  like the ocean it cannot be measured. When a brother or sister falls, they need His grace. They also need our prayers, our hands and our love. Though their failure fills us with grief and sorrow we will not weaken our faith with doubt but strengthen it with the promises of His Word.

For the mighty Lord we serve is not weak or powerless when His children face even the most sophisticated temptations of the enemy. But He is mighty in battle. He can save, restore, transform and cleanse. Our weakness in Him can become strong. Yet, in his love for us He would spare us the bitterness of falling and the consequences of yielding to temptation. That is why we are assured that He is not only able to forgive and heal but also “is able to keep us from falling.” It because of His power to both forgive our sins and heal our sinfulness that He can assure us that He is “able to present us faultless before the Throne of God.” What grace, what wisdom, what compassion, what power!  What a Savior!

Let us remember that the work of the gospel message is never built around one person no matter how much light and influence they have exhibited for truth.  Our message is built on the Rock Christ Jesus. He is the message. He is the Way, the Truth and the Light. He is the essence of all we hope for and is the Author of both law and grace.  Our Messiah, Jesus Christ, is our real leader. He is not a symbol or a figurehead. He is the real leader in every way. His teachings are life. He is our life. So, in spite of disappointment, let us not take our eyes off of Him. Let us not be afraid. But in face of failure let us recommit ourselves to watch and pray. Now is the time to press onward and upward. “We have nothing to fear as long as we do not forget how the Lord has led us in the past.” Let us be strong and of good courage for He who leads us is King of kings and Lord of lords.

Yours In Christ;

Elder Jay Gallimore
President, Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

 ********************


From: Samuel Koranteng-Pipim
Date: May 31, 2011 8:07:20 AM EDT
To: CAMPUS Team
Subject: Three Wounded Eagles

Team,

I returned from Nigeria yesterday. Thank you so much for your prayers and words of support. I was hoping to have communicated directly with you before making the public statement. However, because of the complications of travel, it was not possible. Inasmuch as whatever I need to say to you is already captured in my public announcement of May 25, 2011 (http://campushope.com/resignation/), permit me to use this time to convey my heartfelt apology and to encourage you to not lose sight of the goal.

I am very sorry to have let down the Lord and you, my team members. This was never what I sought for myself nor the cause I labored to uphold. For more than twenty years, I have endured many attacks from critics and suffered frequent misrepresentations from some otherwise well-meaning colleagues in ministry. Our family has also had its brush with cancer and other kinds of adversities. Though these past experiences have been painful, the incident leading to my resignation is the most painful of all—because it was self-inflicted. I pray the Lord to use this sad experience to warn all of His children about the lurking dangers of temptation and to caution us to greater vigilance. Above all, I pray that the soul-searching that is taking place in connection with my resignation will spark or fuel the ongoing revival in the church.

You need to know that your emails and phone calls of encouragement have lightened the heavy load we have had to carry under the present circumstances. I pray that I can continue to minister to you as well. This past Sabbath, while in Nigeria, I preached on THE SON OF DAVID. And what a blessing it was to my own soul! No matter the difficulty and seemingly hopeless situation, God can transform it for good and accomplish His will. Our Lord wants to save us, and He'll do anything to that end.

I thought I should also share with you one encouraging email from Nigeria. After my Saturday night presentation, I invited ten of the most dedicated ALIVE-Nigeria members--eight professionals and two pastors--to my place of residence. I read to them my resignation letter and a draft copy of my public announcement, and I earnestly asked for their prayers (I knew I was going to make my decision public the next day and none of us can predict the fallout).  I also felt that these fine Christians allies in Nigeria would be very devastated if they got to hear the news after my departure. Their response was no different from your own--deep sorrow and pain, but one of encouragement. We had a season of prayer together, and they continue to do so.  Below is an email from one of those godly people.

Tomi, a young lady, was trained in law in a leading university in Nigeria.  She’s currently one of the key leaders of ALIVE-Nigeria. Her husband Danju, a business manager, is another key leader of ALIVE. I hope you’d be blessed—and humbled—by Tomi’s reflection, which is a response to my resignation. She’s one of the finest Christian eagles in Nigeria. I have her permission to share her moving  email with others.

You’d be encouraged by her "jumbled thoughts and scrambled words" on some three eagles that have recently suffered major wounds from the tool of the enemy. Take time to read it. Some of  you can also send her a note of encouragement.

Again, thank you for all your prayers. Pray for CAMPUS, GYC, ALIVE, and the many YCs around the world. By God's grace I'm in good spirits. God's work will triumph. Now is not the time to despair. Keep running.

Courage!

Skp

PS. Justin, kindly pass this email on to our former CAMPUS missionaries. Several of them have sent me emails and I'm unable to reply.

 

From: Tomi Daniel
Date: May 30, 2011 11:01:20 AM EDT
To: Pr Pipim
Subject: Jumbled Thoughts, Scrambled Words...

Dear Sir:

I hope you made it home safe and that you’re fine? My fervent prayer is that you remain strong, rubbing this current situation in the devil’s face, so he knows that he can’t gloat.  Thank you for coming and sharing with us so freely of the good, the bad and the ugly. I’m still struggling to find the right words to express my thoughts, so much just seems unfair, but isn’t that what this life is about, that we might be more desirous of that better life? Dare we expect that as citizens of heaven living in this world, we will not be marked by he who has come to kill, to steal and to destroy?

Tongue-tied, tearful, hurt, angry, sad, scared… I’m still a basket case and can’t seem to stop crying when I think about how the devil maintains constant vigilance over us.  You are the third eagle I know to have recently suffered a deadly blow from our archenemy, the devil, inflicting lingering pain far worse than death, the theme of the great controversy becomes more vivid and I long more for heaven. Two previously wounded eagles have caused me grief… and now a third one???

 

Eagle # 1:  Josephine

Josephine was born 73 years ago to a farmer with four wives in a tiny village in Southwest Nigeria. Born to the least loved of his wives, she was sent off to live with her paternal aunt in Lagos when she was ten years old so she could fulfill her dream of going to school. From then on, her day began at 4.30 every morning by gathering little fishes washed up on the beach. These would be roasted and hawked till they were all sold and then she would eat. If she was perceived to have eaten of the fish, she was touched with a smoldering firewood, leaving several scars on her legs.  Thereafter she would lend a helping hand with dyeing clothes, which would be hawked around till it was dark, then roasting of more fish and then sleep. By this time some of her sisters’ hands were being given in marriage to suitors around.

After two years of Lagos life, Josephine escaped and went back home.  The father beat her, branded one of ‘the legs she used to run away’ with hot iron and took her back to his elder sister, with sincere apologies for his daughter’s behavior. Josephine ran away again after three years of no school and the father took her back, this time around after branding both legs and breaking the ankle bone in one.

Still yearning to go to school, Josephine’s third escape from her aunt was to her maternal grandmother’s home in another village. When news of her disappearance reached her father, his plans were to maim her in a way that would teach her to obey her parents and elders before taking her back.  After three days of waiting for her, Josephine’s mother was banished from her home with the instruction not to return without her daughter. On arrival at her parent’s home, Josephine’s mother met her daughter taking refuge there and planning to kill herself rather than return to her father. After much persuasion, she returned home with her mother and grandparents.

On arrival Josephine met her older cousin who was a rich merchant in another town. He, saddened by her plight, had been pleading with her father to allow her to live with him so she could fulfill her dream of going to school. He took her away within minutes of the father giving his consent.

Josephine attended school for the first time when she was 17 years old. By 21 she started high school and refused marriage till she completed her training as a registered nurse/midwife. She worked in several capacities at the government and mission hospitals for 32 years before retiring on health grounds. She was a master multitasker, resilient, meticulous and extremely creative. Actively engaged in various ministries–youth, women, choir, family life, health- Josephine was a servant of all, strong, courageous and training her three children in the way of the Lord.

With grand plans for increased service after retirement, Josephine spends more time on hospital admissions now than at home. A 22-year old diabetic, her health has lately been a constant challenge for her doctors and carers, eliciting the prayer for death as an end to her suffering. Yet she lingers on, not really here, hanging by a thread, slipping in and out of unconsciousness, having lost the ability to do most basic things, needing constant care and support, wanting her loved ones around her. Today she’s in a private ward at the hospital, having been there since mid-February, a shadow of her former self, several times caught in the very throes of death, her condition a distraction and pain, far worse than death.

I’m Josephine’s middle child and only daughter.

 

Eagle # 2:  Luka

A respected minister in his active days, Luka had great plans to engage more actively in Muslim evangelism after his retirement, for which he had previously received advanced studies. He was forced to do this earlier than scheduled, on health grounds.  He had never been sick enough to go to a hospital before. After surviving a massive brain tumor and two major surgeries, he is now settled in his retirement home, struggling with the frustrations of health complications, surrounded by intermittent conflicts between Muslims and Christians, faced with a growing hatred by his own against Muslims, unable to speak, see, hear or walk properly,  feebly and older than his real age.

While Luka has become completely dependent on his wife and other carers, seeking for new ways to serve, helpless to halt the decline in his body function, unable to use any of the skills which had erstwhile helped him in his work, not knowing for how long this phase shall last or how, suffering a pain far worse than death, his hope remains strong though that he’ll make it to heaven, though lame, blind, deaf and slow of speech.

I’m Luka’s only daughter-in-law.

 

Eagle # 3: SKP

A middle-aged man who waltzed into our lives in the early twenty-first century, SKP is a man that’s been around and seen it all!

With a keen sense of purpose, an insatiable thirst for knowledge, unbridled passion for excellence, an unwavering belief in the many pearls that lie buried in the hearts of youth today, poring over endless printed pages, churning out many more to provide much-needed counsel in an age of universal deceit, dishing it out in measured doses of reproof, correction, encouragement and support, SKP has provided strategic direction to enrich the lives of thousands of young people who might otherwise have drifted through life aimlessly and uselessly.

Possessing a rare wisdom that blends eloquent silence and compelling arguments to point to the enduring and eternal,  SKP stands as a unique model of Christian growth and grace for millions of youths across continents to the extent that God allows trust in fallible man.

Young people all over the world stand at a crossroad of either following the status quo or putting the quo in the status and many look to SKP, one of the very few that stand up and stand out, for guidance to choose wisely. Currently facing a family crisis that has necessitated his resignation from active, frontline leadership of preparing young people for eternal life, SKP has elected to retreat into the background and temporarily work behind the scenes at a critical period when the sound of his voice is needed more than ever before. He plans to resume public speaking at some later time in the future. But how many sheep will be captured from the flock while this retreat lasts?

I am one of SKP’s eaglets, still taking flying lessons….

And so these three dear eagles lie wounded by the enemy, that he might get us down and derail us in our work and commitment to serve the Lord, come what may. The sorrow at the pain-physical, emotional, spiritual- all are going through directly cuts deep into my heart…


******************
 
Two years ago shortly after starting work with ADRA, I was filled with grand dreams of giving my best to the Lord through this neglected ministry in Nigeria. The devil struck and after shuttling hospitals in Ife and Ibadan, my greatest fear was that Eagles 1 & 2 would die. That filled me with paralyzing terror that edged God out from center stage and rendered unintelligible His instructions for my life and work. When He finally got through to me with the message that my love for mom and dad do not in any way compare with the love He has for them as His beloved daughter and son. After tantrums and feeble attempts at rationalization, I surrendered and lost my fear of death for them. I became freer to concentrate more on my work and I had the privilege to set ADRA Nigeria on a new track God designed for us. Subsequent hospitalizations were not so frightening until the devil changed strategy and started attacking their minds and body parts. It’s heartbreaking to watch erstwhile strong parents become like little children, vying for attention, completely dependent for the simplest things, their situations raising cultural expectations that attempt to conflict with the devotion required for meaningful service in God’s work.

Last week was especially hard and I have a new health challenge that confines me to my bed for 3 to 4 days every month. I got out of bed on Thursday night and wept all Friday morning at the slow decline of Eagle 1 and wondered when it will all end.  I thank God that I was able to be part of last weekend’s program to draw much-needed strength from, especially, the messages on the ‘The Son of David’ and ‘Why be a chicken…?’  The former clarified, the latter encouraged. Eagle 1 told me on Sabbath morning when I went to bathe her to have a good time and not worry about her… I did.

That which the devil has attacked is your integrity, which we know has been long and hard to build.  If you had spent time chasing money, the current crisis would not matter so much. As things are unfortunately for him, whether the devil likes it or not, you still represent to us the very essence of Christianity, calling on us to strive to that higher calling to rise from our falls, not because we planned to fall but because Christ knew we would fall and He already made provision for what will happen after we rise. So, why not rise? You’ve written so many pages, preached so many sermons, counseled, mentored, guided, instructed, and corrected – the full works. They all pale in comparison to the new sermon you’ve shown us.

More than any of your written or spoken words, it is that which you have displayed to us that will be strung together as incontrovertible evidence against which we’ll be judged. We pray and plan not to miss that mark. We want to be able to tell Jesus that that which we struggled to understand from your words, you showed us in your life, pointing us to God as the standard and His provision of grace when we fall short of that standard.

If you had ever stepped in place of Christ, presenting yourself as infallible, you would have lost the right to speak to us now. If you had ever judged or condemned us, you would have earned our judgment and criticism. If you had ever presented yourself as far above us, not prone to error and without fault, either our spirits would be crushed now or we would be gloating, bearing arms. You have shown us that you’re strongly committed to do the Lord’s will, giving it your best. And when your best is not good enough, you won’t hide it and pretend like everybody else that all is well but will on the wings of the prayers of your loved ones and under the shadow of God’s grace, dust your pants and move on. What greater examples do we need?

On one hand, we have that of Christ, the God-man, infallible, sinless, offering grace and pardon. On the other hand, we have the example of those like you, mentors, ambassadors of the God-man, who though they fall, urge followers all the more fervently to keep moving, even as they get back to their feet and continue the race.

We applaud the honorable course you have taken in the face of the current crisis, salute your courage and assure you of our unimpeached respect for all the values you hold dear and which you’ve tirelessly taught us these few years. Your life will offer us no excuse for missing salvation and we do not intend to present it for that purpose. We have received enough light to understand the Christian’s path and for this we will be judged, not by whatever you do or fail to do. Your decision sets before us more vividly the horrors of sin, how we all stand in need of saving grace, and never to be paralyzed by falls or shortcomings. We have therefore adopted your current crisis as OUR CRISIS, for we recognize that we are also the enemy’s targets. In getting you down, he seeks to get us, and that is why we rejoice greatly that you have made things right with our Lord and are not down. The day you die is the day you’ll rest from the devil’s hassles. As that day is still a long ways ahead, things will get worse. So the battle continues, with more alertness and caution, now that the devil knows that he might have wounded the eagle, thinking that will put an end to his task. Our joy is that the eagle will come forth renewed and rebranded to begin another era, one greater than the former. We solemnly pledge our support and earnest prayers during the intermission as you recuperate and receive fresh instructions for the fiercer battles ahead!

Let me add at this stage that some people will however still miss heaven because of you, and for them you need to pray the more fervently as no excuse will absolve them. There are those who will harden their hearts against words that are credited to you and I can almost hear the Judge asking on that day if the words they shunned were yours as the messenger or that of the Heavenly courts? He will likely ask too how much due diligence they exercised to ascertain whose words they rejected, while they still had the chance to repent.  There are also those who will use this one instance to judge you and the Chief Judge of the universe will ask if he asked for their help to rewrite what He had erased, for the sake of His Son.  I think I now understand better the reason why Jesus prayed ‘Father forgive them, for they know not ….’  

So, please remember the life of Apostle Paul and pray for these two groups, that they hold on not to that which the Lord has washed clean and can stand against them on the Day of Judgment. Against the background of the cosmic conflict we are engaged in, I pray that you’ll find additional strength from the extract below, which gives us all hope. I pray that the reminder will be a blessing to you too.

Joshua, standing before the angel of the Lord with defiled garments, represents those whose religious life has been faulty, who have been overcome by Satan's temptations, and are unworthy of God's favor. .. He points scornfully at the mistakes of those who claim to be doing God's service. They have been deceived by him, and he asks permission to destroy them.  {PUR, December 8, 1904 par. 6}

But they trust in Christ, and He will not forsake them. He came to this world to take away their sins, and to impute to them His righteousness. He declares that through faith in His name they may receive forgiveness and may perfect Christian characters. They have confessed their sins, and have asked for pardon, and the Saviour declares that because they trust in Him, He will give them power to become the sons of God.  {par. 7}

Their characters are defective, but because they have not trusted in their own merits or excused their sins, because they have humbled themselves and confessed their sins, seeking forgiveness, the Lord receives them, and rebukes Satan. He refuses to listen to the enemy's accusations. He has abundantly pardoned the penitent ones, and will carry forward in them His work of redeeming love if they will continue to believe in Him and to trust Him. He will perfect their redemption, defeating the enemy, and glorifying His name in their salvation.  {par. 8}

Satan is ever ready to offer resistance to the work that Christ is willing to do for the souls of men. Jesus asks, "Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" Have I not chosen this people for myself? Although they have transgressed, the command is given, "Take away the filthy garments." This will be said concerning every soul that truly repents of sin, and believes in Christ. The righteousness of Christ will be imparted unto him. Christ came to bring divine power to man, to clothe him in his righteousness. He says, "I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." He knows us by name. He knows all our trials and sorrows. He has wept and prayed, and he knows how to succor everyone who mourns. Satan will tell you that you cannot hope in God's mercy; that you are too great a sinner to be saved. But you should tell him that Jesus has said, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."  {ST, September 16, 1889 par. 2}

 
My hope

I have renewed hope, that though the devil seeks for you, God’s claim over you is stronger.  I have a feeling that if anybody is mad at you, they cannot be as mad as you likely are at you. And that none of us can be as sad as you are about the current crisis. If my suspicions are true, I beg you in the name of our Lord to please let go. You left us with a message of hope burning in our hearts, and we pray that the same message will flood your soul. Whenever, wherever and however the Lord guides you to speak in the coming months, we expect to hear no less than your clear voice, sounding out the message of reproof and hope.

Please do not be like David, who cowed by his own fall, whispered reproof in his own home where he should have shouted; who turned his face away from situations he should have faced fully. Your love for God is undeniably palpable and for as long as you remain in love with Jesus, you remain our leader. Let not your voice grow faint or your confidence wane, we’ll lick this crisis and greater ones, falling prostrate at His feet, standing in the gap for you, joining our voices with yours in fervent prayer for the cause of the work which you step backstage to continue at this point.  

I still have other questions and comments which I’ll share in other mails but this is already too long and Danju wonders how I expect you to read this much from just one person when you must have tons of emails to deal with. Please forgive me for carrying on so much but I feel better already, having unburdened so much garbage and thought about a lot of good stuff in the course of typing this email.

And so I leave you with a song and a psalm. I wanted the audience in the tent to sing this song yesterday, but I was trying hard not to start bawling in front of the crowd, that I forgot all about it! We can’t sing it to you anymore, but you can meditate on the words and take them as our heartfelt prayer for you.

 

BE NOT DISMAYED


Be not dismayed whate’er betide,

God will take care of you;

Beneath His wings of love abide,

God will take care of you.

 
God will take care of you,

Through every day, o’er all the way;

He will take care of you,

God will take care of you.
 

Through days of toil when heart doth fail,

God will take care of you;

When dangers fierce your path assail,

God will take care of you.

 
All you may need He will provide,

God will take care of you;

Nothing you ask will be denied,

God will take care of you.

 
No matter what may be the test,

God will take care of you;

Lean, weary one, upon His breast,

God will take care of you.

 
PSALM 34

            1 I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

            2 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

            3 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

            4 I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

            6  This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

            7  The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

            8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

            10  The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

            15  The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

            17The righteous  cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

            18  The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

            19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

            20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

            22  The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

I long for heaven where we will all be together worshipping our Lord, not having to worry about getting to the airport on time, or being parted from one another. The beauty of life does not depend on how happy you are, but on how happy others can be because of you, so please remain strong in the Lord and faithful to the end,  for heaven won’t be the same without you there at all!

You and your family remain in our thoughts and prayers.

With much love,

Tomi