Do Not Trample Our Roses

Today there are over 5 billion people on planet Earth. Over half of these people live in countries that are labelled ‘Third World’. Papua New Guinea (PNG) is one of those countries that have been labelled with this term. According to the French economist Alfred Sauvy, ‘Third World’ countries are characterised by a number of common traits: distorted and highly dependent economies, devoted to producing primary products for the industrialised countries and to provide markets for their finished goods; traditional, rural social structures; high population growth; and widespread poverty.

Fortunately, PNG did not suffer from the slave trade, but a lot of people from other countries were used as slaves and indentured servants to work in the industrialised countries. The industrialised countries that took these people to work for them destroyed their identity, dignity, self-worth and self-respect. In some cases people were moved from their home countries to other parts of the world, like the Caribbean countries and Fiji to work in the sugarcane plantations. My great grandfather was taken to work in Australia and we have never seen him again.

Today, there is great measure of freedom and independence but many people are still grappling with their identity and self-worth. Many people in the industrialised countries have the notion that we ‘Third World’ people do not possess the potential to develop our skills, intelligence and sophistication in order to equal the industrialised countries. I say this because I have travelled around a bit and have come to understand what they think of us – the ‘Third World’.

Let’s not be victims of these prejudices but develop ourselves into what God wants us to be. The opinions of others should never determine our self-worth. PNG has great limitless potential, the people of PNG posses the ability to achieve, accomplish, produce, create and perform anything our mind can conceive. God has blessed us with rich natural resources, commodities that are sought after around the world today. I know that PNG cocoa and coffee are among the best in the world.
The wealth within PNG should be realised, harnessed and maximised by its people. We must be willing to work and commit ourselves to tapping the potential within the land. Our Government must believe that they have the ability to improve our systems. The church must begin to take responsibility for its own people. A good example on this would be Mr Tiri Kuimbakul who writes books and goes around the country teaching people on how to manage their finances, etc. The teachers of PNG are doing a great job, so are the doctors. We can’t afford to lose our people to work in other countries while foreigners come into our country and run our people down. Every person was born to do something but ignorance makes us limit ourselves. A handful of people should not trample on the roses as tomorrow may bring a different story to their family fortunes.
We have the responsibility to deposit the wealth of our potential into the next generation so they can build up their future.

God Is Behind Your Increase

The story of Ruth in the Bible is so amazing. She worked as a gleaner in a barley field from morning till evening. Ruth was a Moabitess, a race of people that had found severe displeasure with the Lord for several reasons. The Moabites where cursed by the Lord because of their perverse beginnings, (the story of Lot and his daughters after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah) and also because of their pagan beliefs.
To the people of Bethlehem, Ruth was a pagan stranger that had no relations aside from her mother-in-law, and certainly no man to speak for her. She was hard-pressed to find food for Naomi and herself. She went out to the fields to glean wheat, and found a field that belonged to a man named Boaz. She worked hard and only stopped to rest once or twice, for fear of trouble from the men in the field. When he learned of her history, Boaz told her not to leave his field to glean wheat elsewhere, and offered her food and water for her meal. He also told the men to leave her some extra wheat in the field behind them for her to gather. This resulted in Ruth being able to glean the equivalent of 10 days’ supply of barley in one day. From these we can see that due to Boaz’s intervention that Ruth ended up with so much.
Jesus, our heavenly Boaz, does the same thing for us today. He causes people to favour us and “drop” blessings on us because He loves us. Then, He causes us to “pick up” these blessings. Often, it happens so naturally we forget that it is the Lord who has blessed us with the increase.
For example, in July this year, I had no money to spend on holiday and someone gave me US$ 2000 for my holiday in UK. Furthermore, whilst in UK, a lady presented me with 3 bottles of my favourite ‘Poison’ perfume. I could not afford 3 bottles all at once, but now I have a year’s supply! Anyway, this lady has been buying me perfume for over 8 years now. I know this is God’s unmerited favour! I am so grateful.

God Can Turn It Around

I WILL REPAY YOU FOR THE YEARS THE LOCUSTS HAVE EATEN
Joel 2:25

There is a story of a young man named Joseph in the Bible who life was turned into a huge success. He had 11 brothers who were jealous of him, and sold him into slavery. Other young men his age, no doubt, were out having good time enjoying their lives. But Joseph was confined, living in a foreign land, having to work all the time. It was unfair as Joseph’s heartache and pain were caused by somebody, and perhaps, bad attitude.
But God saw that injustice. Somehow, some way, God can make up all those years. That’s what He did for Joseph (Genesis 41). Even though Joseph spent 13 years in slavery and in prison, God made it all up to him, and he came out promoted and increased. He now has a position of honour as the prime minister of all Egypt, second in command only to Pharaoh. Because Joseph kept the right attitude, God brought him out much better than he was before