Evangéliumi Hírnök, 1989 (81. évfolyam, 1-24. szám)
1989-02-15 / 4. szám
4. oldal 1989. február 15. NŐK ROVATA Rovatvezető: DR. UDVARNOKI BÉLÁNÉ 609 Woodridge Drive, Murfreesboro, NC 27855 Elnök: Chatto Lydia Alelnök: Bíró Gyuláné Pénztáros: Háló Barnabásné Titkár: Mátyás Kálmánná The Resourceful Women The Bible, no matter how many times I read it, always presents a surprise for me. The first three verses of the eighth chapter of Luke tell us that Christ went from town to town proclaiming the good news, and with Him were the twelve disciples and a number of women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and others. The surprising sentence is this: „These women provided for them of their own resources.” (New English Version.) Many times I have asked myself „How did Jesus and His disciples support themselves?” They had no permanent home, regular income, no churches to support them. A few times the Lord was invited with His disciples for a feast, but most of the days they could not count on a decent meal. Luke’s report about the three named women and others gives us an answer. There were followers of the Lord who supported the disciples. We do not assume that these women supplied the needs of Christ’s group for three years, but we believe that after the Lord was known for His miracles, healing ministry, the multitude of healed people expressed their gratitude with material means also. The brave women whom Luke reported call our attention to some beautiful personal devotion and selfless service. They must have forsaken their home and work, like the called disciples, and followed the Lord. That deed points to strong determination and firm conviction of these women about their usefulness and the grateful acceptance of their ministry by the Lord. These women supplemented out of their resources the food for Christ and His companions. The disciples had to eat in order to be able to proclaim the good news, the bread of life. How could these women provide that necessary material help? Were they rich? Did they use their stored wealth? Or did they do manual work, laboring on the fields, or in homes as itinerant workers? There is one word in Luke’s writing, which called for my attention. The word is “resources”. It is in that sentence which was quoted above: “These women provided for them of their own resources.” The word resources brought to my mind a derived expression: resourceful. This must have been the secret of their ability to feed Christ’s group, about 13 men. Women have always played an important role in the Kingdom’s work. They did not preach, but they helped those who proclaimed the good-news. To be resourceful means possessing a rare and precious gift to find means and ways to procure life’s necessities. With their resourcefulness they put their minds and hearts together and established the means to be of help. This resourcefulness can be observed in the case of many poor ministers’ families. This resourcefulness helped the servants of God through the centuries, and over all the world. Women of today should realize that they too have this precious gift. Their resourcefulness can cause miracles. The Lord needs our cooperation in the progress of the Gospel, and He gave us the ability to serve and help where only our resourcefulness can render the needed assistance. Luke had an observing eye and an appreciating heart. He erected a permanent memorial on those diligent women who were part of the victorious march of the Gospel. Ruby Udvarnoki * * * My greetings go out to all of you at the start of this new year. As we begin our tasks which will lead us to our convention this July, it is my sincere hope that we might reach out to help one another in order to achieve our Christian goals. With the mid-winter meetings upon us, we hope to bring some focus to our plans which, with His help, will bring glory to our Lord. While at times the tasks* we strive for seem unending, His reward is certainly worth the effort. As we make our plans for our summer meeting, should you have any suggestions to lend to the Ladies’ Convention, please feel free and welcome to contact me with your ideas. Your feedback is encouraged, so that we may successfully work together. In the near future, I will try to keep you informed of our progress as we work towards our 82nd convention. May we, through the help of God, be able to work for a stronger fellowship in Christian faith and may we realize that through prayer and love there is nothing that cannot be accomplished. Yours in Christ, Mrs. Lydia Chatto President of the Ladies’ Convention Nem ejt hibát! Ha különösnek, rejtelmesnek látszanak Isten utai, Ha gondok örvényébe vesznek szívem legdrágább vágyai, ha borúsan búcsúzni készül a nap, mely csak gyötrelmet ád... egyben békülhetek meg végül: hogy Isten sohasem ejt hibát. Ha tervei igen magasak, s irgalma kútja mély nekem, ha a támaszok mind inognak, ha nincs erő, nincs türelem, s tekintetem sehol célt nem lát vaksötét, könnyes éjen át... egy szikrácska hit vallja mégis, hogy Isten sohasem ejt hibát. És ha szívem megoldhatatlan kérdéseknek betege lett, mert elkezd kételkedni abban, hogy Isten útja szeretet... minden elfáradt sóvárgásom békén kezébe tehetem, s elsuttoghatom könnyek közt is: Ő nem ejt hibát sohasem. Azért csend, szívem, engedd múlni a földi múló életet. Fenn a fényben látni s ámulni kezdesz, mindig jól vezetett! Ha a legdrágábbat kívánja, a legsötétebb éjen át menekülj a bizonyosságba, hogy Isten sohasem ejt hibát! (Ismeretlen szerző után németből)
