Oxford Hills Christian Academy, education in Western Maine http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org "...walk worthy of the calling with which you were called." Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:01:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 About Sudan http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/about-sudan.html http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/about-sudan.html#comments Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:01:52 +0000 admin http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/?p=36 The word ‘Sudan’ is derived from the Arabic expression in the ancient Egyptian, which referred to the land to their South as ‘Bild Al-Sudan’, meaning the land of the black people. Sudan is also the place where African and Arab cultures mingle and is a home to a physically, religiously, and culturally diverse people for centuries. Therefore, Sudan is a nation full of potential and promise. Southern Sudan was a rich source of gold, slaves, and ivory for the Arab merchants of the north. As a result of the Arab exploitation at that time, the country was tragically torn by the civil war between Arab-dominated northern and the diverse black African tribal population of the south. Sudan, the largest country in Africa, is engaged in the longest war in African history, which is one of the worst ongoing humanitarian disasters on the continent. In Sudan, the civil war has taken the lives of two million civilians, and uprooted four or five million people. Innocent civilians in Southern Sudan have experienced famine, slave raids, bombing and other gross human rights violations on a massive scale.

The Southern Sudan Christian Mission Church’s duty is to remind the world’s Christians that Sudan, one of the oldest Christian nations in the world, has been severely under persecution by the Muslim north since August 19, 1955. During 46 years, the Sudan Muslim government continues fighting and committing genocide.

If you’ve heard anything about the tragedies of Sudan, you’ve probably heard about the ‘Lost Boys’ of Sudan. Their plight has been reported on news programs such as 60 minutes II. The following quotes describe their situation, from the perspective of one of the Sudanese people.

Many lost boys died from starvation, thirst, wild animals like lions which preyed on them. Some drowned in swollen rivers of the South, others eaten by crocodiles as are forced to cross the river, hunger and diseases and many other things.

Lack of parents and home make the lost boys woundering for where to live and who to care for them. Most of the children lived as orphans…some of them were shot dead by the Muslim government who used to attack the village, and kill adult and taking girls and boys as slaves.

All the Southern women mourned for their lost boys day and night. They also pray for orphans who had survived, they asked God for help and forgiveness of the people…

]]> http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/about-sudan.html/feed Portland First Church of the Nazarene http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/portland-first-church-of-the-nazarene.html http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/portland-first-church-of-the-nazarene.html#comments Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:00:56 +0000 admin http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/?p=33 pfcn

Rev. Andrew Smith, Senior Pastor of the Portland First Church of the Nazarene in Portland, Maine began his ministry in Portland in a multi-cultural church. The Portland Church of the Nazarene consisted of people from Maine who had lived in this country for generations, as well as refugees from the countries of Sudan, Ethiopia, and Liberia. Several of these refugees had been introduced to the Church of the Nazarene by missionaries working in these African countries while many came to the church for the first time once they arrived in Portland, Maine.

The Southern Sudanese population grew immensely and Pastor Smith recognized the need for these people to worship in their own language while retaining fellowship with their American Christian Church family. In June of 2000, under the leadership of Pastor Smith, a second service was created to specifically serve the people of Southern Sudan. In January of 2001, the Maine District Church of the Nazarene gave recognition to this second service as a mission church and this group became known as the Southern Sudan Christian Mission Church of the Nazarene. Pastor Smith, Senior Pastor of the mother and baby church, was blessed to receive Pastor Michael Teny Gatkek as his assistant. Pastor Teny pastors and preaches to the Southern Sudan Christian Mission Church of the Nazarene.

The Portland Church of the Nazarene remains a multi-cultural church, ministering to traditional people of Maine, as well as people from Liberia and Ethiopia, and the Mission Church ministers to the people of Southern Sudan. The message of both of these services is that Jesus saves, sanctifies and calls us to live a holy life. Pastor Smith and Pastor Teny work to get this message out to those who will hear

]]> http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/portland-first-church-of-the-nazarene.html/feed A Call to Prayer and Action http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/a-call-to-prayer-and-action.html http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/a-call-to-prayer-and-action.html#comments Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:57:11 +0000 admin http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/?p=31 A message to all Christians from the Southern Sudan Christian Mission Church:

The oldest community of Christians in Africa, suffering the most severe persecution in the world today, demands your most urgent and wholehearted assistance. The southern people need your help to rise to this challenge.

  • Pray for Sudan. Make their needs known and work together for the freedom of Sudanese Christians.
  • Pray for an end to the devastating war and for the end to spiritual bondage due to religious persecution.
  • Pray that those who are spiritually blinded will come to salvation.
  • Pray that the church is blessed with on-going revival and growth, including the discipleship of believers and training of the church leaders.

  • Pray that our Christian brothers and sisters remain steadfast under political pressure and repression.
  • Pray for Southern Sudan Christian Mission Church leaders that they will grow and mature in the Lord; that they will be dedicated shepherds of their flocks despite the difficult circumstances.
  • Pray to ensure that God is regularly remembered in prayer in your church.
  • Encourage your local radio stations to broadcast the incredible testimonies of Southern Sudanese families.
  • Speak up on behalf of your fellow Christians, brothers and sisters, people of the Southern Sudan, who are being persecuted because of Christianity. You may choose to contact your Senator or Representative and urge them to do something about the problem of Southern Sudan. Through your joint concerns, diplomatic and economic pressure could be brought to bear upon the Government of the Sudan to stop the atrocities and/or end the war.
]]> http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/a-call-to-prayer-and-action.html/feed It Is Well With My Soul http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/it-is-well-with-my-soul.html http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/it-is-well-with-my-soul.html#comments Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:48:14 +0000 admin http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/?p=29 This hymn reminds us of the words of Paul in Philippians 4:11-13:

For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

When we are relying on Christ for our strength, we can be like Paul and be content no matter the circumstance. Whether we are at peace or in the middle of a storm, we can say “It is well with my soul.”

When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well, with my soul
It is well, it is well, with my soul.


Though Satan should buffet, tho’ trials should come
Let this blest assurance control
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed His own blood for my soul

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part, but the whole
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend
Even so, it is well with my soul.

]]> http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/it-is-well-with-my-soul.html/feed Isaiah 18 http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/isaiah-18.html http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/isaiah-18.html#comments Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:46:54 +0000 admin http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/?p=27 Isaiah 18:7, read in English by Michael Bol Bol, and in Nuer by Pastor Michael Teny Gatkek is included on the CD because of its significance to the Southern Sudan Christian Mission Church. Isaiah 18 is one of their theme chapters, quoted from the New International Version below:

Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush, which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers. All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it.


This is what the LORD says to me: “I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches. They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter.

At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers– the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD Almighty.

]]> http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/isaiah-18.html/feed The Invisible Man http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/the-invisible-man.html http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/the-invisible-man.html#comments Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:45:06 +0000 admin http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/?p=25 He wasn’t really invisible–at least, not at first. On the day of his birth, he was the most visible of all his siblings. His parents looked at him, and looked at him again. His mother’s eyes welled up with tears, and his father shook his head, making a tsk noise with his tongue.

Their son was born with a terrible birth defect. His legs and ankles were deformed, and they knew he would never walk. This was the greatest tragedy the family had faced. In their society a man who could not walk was a man who could not plow or harvest a field. He was a man with no use at all.

He spent the first years of his childhood lying alone on his cot while his brothers went out to work. He listened sadly as he heard the laughter of children playing, the shouts of children fighting. He wondered what he had ever done to deserve his fate. He cried out to God, but God had nothing to say.

His sixth birthday was a memorable one. His father and his oldest brother picked up his cot and carried it out of the house. They walked down the street, collecting stares from passersby. Two men carrying a little boy on a cot is not an everyday sight. They carried him to the city gate, and set him down there. Gently his father explained to him his great purpose in life–to beg for money, or food. Anything to make it worth his family’s while to support this crippled child. Then with a quick tousle of his hair, father and brother left him alone on the crowded sidewalk.

“Pennies for a poor boy? Pennies for a poor boy?” This became his cry throughout the day. He stretched out his legs, to ensure they were exposed to the pitying glance of the businessmen who walked by with wallets full of gold.

“Pennies for a poor boy?”

One by one the citizens would pass by, always with a quick glance at the pathetic child. Some even dropped a coin in the boy’s hand. Most just kept walking.

“Pennies for a poor boy?”

At the end of the day, his father and brother returned, and carried him home. Happily, he showed his mother the coins that he had gathered during the day. They laughed, and cheered, then went on with the evening chores.

Day after day, his father and his brother carried him to the gates. Day after day he cried the same cry. Day after day he had that moment of approval as he dropped coins in his mother’s hand.

But as the days passed, and weeks turned to months, something happened there at the gates of the city. The boy began to blend into the landscape. Those who had noticed him for the first week–or even the first month–walked by without seeing his deformed legs, without hearing his pathetic voice. Their busyness blinded them, and their clamor deafened them, drowning his pleas.

He became invisible.

As the years passed, and childhood passed as well, hopelessness set in; the boy no longer looked up expectantly as people passed by. He stared–barely seeing–at the ground in front of him. Now he saw only feet, heard only footsteps as they passed him by. As the feet came into view he would put out his hand and say to them, “Pennies for a poor boy?” But the feet never heard him, never saw him, never changed their course, and the boy’s hand remained empty. Despair deepened as he spent his days studying ankles that worked, feet that walked.

There was one day when the boy became visible again; it was the day he stopped saying “Pennies for a poor boy?” and began saying “Pennies for a poor man?” Oh, that was different, and the crowds noticed it. But soon he faded into the landscape again.

He was invisible once more.

How many years he sat there, he didn’t know. The passing of years was marked most significantly on the day when his father announced he was too old to carry a grown man down the streets. Now the two older brothers carried him. And life continued.

Then came the day when everything changed. Later, the man would be tempted to say that he knew there was something different about that day. But the truth was, it was like any other day. His brothers grumbled about carrying him to the gates, his mother complained that he wasn’t making any money, the feet walked by, same as always.

Then there were two pairs of feet, walking side by side. The man held out his hand. “Pennies for a poor man?”

The feet stopped.

The man stared, uncomprehending, at the feet. They didn’t just stop–they turned! As though the owners of those feet were looking at him. As though the owners of those feet actually saw him! The man didn’t move. He didn’t say anything more, or make any sudden movement. If he startled those feet, would they run away? He continued to stare.

Then a voice spoke from far above him. “Look at me.”

Slowly, he obeyed. His eyes traveled from the feet to the ankles, from the ankles to the legs, and then on up to the two faces that looked down at him–looked at him! With–what? What was that look? Compassion? The man barely remembered what that looked like. A faint ray of hope surged in his heart, and he held his hand up higher.

One of the men shook his head. “I don’t have any silver or gold,” he said sadly.

Then why did you stop? Why did you get my hopes up? he wanted to shout.

“But what I do have…” the man smiled. He was preparing to impart a great secret. “What I do have, I’ll give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

A hand reached down and touched him. Touched him! Not enough that these men saw him; not enough that they looked on him with compassion–they reached down and touched him. Took him by the hand and pulled him from his cot. Dizzy with excitement, he almost wanted to believe that he could rise up and walk. He wanted to believe that it was his own legs holding him up, not the strength of this man who held him by the hand.

After a moment the supporting hand let go. He was prepared to tumble helplessly to the ground–indeed, he did feel wobbly, for he was using his legs in a way they had never been used before. But he continued to stand.

Then he was walking. Then he was leaping. Then he was shouting for joy. And something was happening that had never happened before in his long, tedious life; crowds were gathering around him. They were seeing him! They were staring, gawking at him! They knew he was there, and they were amazed!

And he knew, at that moment, that his life would never be the same again.

Two thousand years later, our world is still filled with invisible people. Where will we find them? In all the places we least expect. They are the bag ladies we never notice walking the streets of our towns and cities. They are the men, women, and children who live out of the back seat of a car, because they have no home. They are the teenagers smoking pot in the school yard, because they have nothing else to live for. They are the men and women whose world is defined by the four walls of a prison cell. They are the sick and the elderly, hidden from view in our hospitals and nursing homes. They are the refugees starving and dying around the world.

And on the day that we see them, on the day that we have compassion on them, on the day that we touch them with the power and the love of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, their lives will never be the same. But we must see the world as God sees it–for He alone has eyes to see the invisible. He alone has compassion to love the unlovable. He alone has power to touch the untouchable.

Oh God, let me see this world as you see it. Help me love this world as you love it. Use my hands to touch this world with your tender, loving touch.

]]> http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/the-invisible-man.html/feed He Hideth My Soul http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/he-hideth-my-soul.html http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/he-hideth-my-soul.html#comments Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:41:01 +0000 admin http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/?p=23 Ever have a place where you go to hide? Perhaps your bedroom, or a quiet hill by a rippling stream? We all need places where we can be alone and secluded from the stressful activities of life. These hiding places become special places of rejuvenation and contemplation.

All the hiding places in the world cannot match the hiding place spoken of in this song. When Jesus hides us in the cleft of the rock, we know that we are being taken care of by His love and mercy. As Psalm 91:1 says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the Shadow of the Almighty.”

A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
A wonderful Savior to me,
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
Where rivers of pleasure I see

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
That shadows a dry thirsty land
He hideth my life in the depths of His love
And covers me there with His hand
And covers me there with His hand

A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord
He taketh my burden away
He holdeth me up, and I shall not be moved
He giveth me strength as my day

With numberless blessings each moment He crowns
And filled with His fullness divine
I sing in my rapture, oh glory to God
For such a Redeemer as mine!

When clothed in His brightness, transported I rise
To meet Him in clouds of the sky,
His perfect salvation, His wonderful love,
I’ll shout with the millions on high

]]> http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/he-hideth-my-soul.html/feed I Have Decided http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/i-have-decided.html http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/i-have-decided.html#comments Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:38:38 +0000 admin http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/?p=21 Many songs sung by the Sudanese choir have familiar melodies, taken from traditional hymns. Of course, in order to fit their words into the song, they sometimes have to take liberties with the music. This song is easily recognizable as the traditional ‘I Have Decided To Follow Jesus’

I have decided to follow Jesus (3x)
No turning back, no turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me (3x)
No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, still I will follow (3x)
No turning back, no turning back.

I will decide now to follow Jesus (3x)
No turning back, no turning back.

I will love my Lord with all my heart (3x)
No turning back, no turning back.

I have decided with all my heart to follow Jesus (3x)
No turning back, no turning back.

]]> http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/i-have-decided.html/feed Count Your Blessings http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/count-your-blessings.html http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/count-your-blessings.html#comments Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:36:28 +0000 admin http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/?p=19 Perception is reality. Often, what we believe to be true becomes the center of our thoughts so much that it really is true. When we focus on all of the negative aspects of life, we become consumed with negativity and overcome with despair.

This old hymn reminds us to count our blessings, focusing on the good things in our life. When we focus on all of the wonderful things that God has provided for us, the trials and tribulations seem to fade in importance.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost
Count your many blessings, name them one by one
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one
Count your blessings, see what God has done.
Count your blessings, name them one by one
Count your many blessings, see what God has done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your blessings every doubt will fly
And you will be singing as the days go by

When you look at others with their lands and gold
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold
Count your many blessings, money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high

So amid the conflict whether great or small
Do not be discouraged God is over all
Count your many blessings angels will attend
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

]]> http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/count-your-blessings.html/feed At That Time http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/at-that-time.html http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/at-that-time.html#comments Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:34:47 +0000 admin http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/?p=15 One of the most downtrodden of all the Old Testament characters was Job, the man who was persecuted by Satan. But in the midst of his trials, Job triumphantly proclaimed “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God.” (Job 19:25-26)

In the New Testament, the promised Redeemer echoed Job’s words: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” (John 11:25) For those with faith in Jesus Christ, the promise is clear; even the final disaster–death–will not overcome you. So keep looking to the future. Keep hoping. Keep praying. Keep trusting.

Sing O daughter of Zion, Shout aloud O Israel
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart
The Lord has taken your guilt away, he defeated your enemies
The Lord your God is in your midst

At that time He will deal with those who oppress you
At that time He will heal the lame
At that time He will gather those who were scattered
At that time He will take His children home.

On that day it will be said, Do not fear O Zion
The Lord your God is in your midst
He is a victorious warrior, He is mighty to save you
And He will rejoice over you

Then the eyes of the blind will see, And the ears of the deaf will hear
The lame will leap and the mute will shout for joy
Waters flow in the wilderness, rivers in the desert
And the barren land will burst into bloom

]]> http://www.oxfordhillschristian.org/at-that-time.html/feed