Tuesday 31 January 2012

LEAN NOT, ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING!

There are moments in life when we want to do things our own way without first seeking the Lord for His will to lead us and His direction to guide us. We are to remember that God's ways are much higher and better than ours can ever be and He knows what we should do and when it should be done. God knows the end result of the road that we are traveling on whereas we do not.  He knows when we should stop, change direction or move forward and has promised to direct the lives of those who trust in and lean on Him all the days of their lives.

Be encouraged to seek the will of God for your life in all areas and do not trust in your wisdom, but trust in the wisdom of the One who declares the end from the beginning, the all knowing, all powerful, Almighty God who loves you with an everlasting love.

The following story (from an email sent to me) illustrates this point very well:

My nephew's 10 year old son came for a visit one hot, July weekend. I was enticing him to stay inside by joining him in a Nintendo game. After being mercilessly defeated by a more experienced player, I suggested that we relax awhile. I collapsed into my favorite recliner to let my neck muscles relax and my ego recover from such a beating. He had slipped out of the room and I was catching a few relished moments of peace and quiet.
“Look, Alice,” he said enthusiastically as he ran over to the chair where I was recovering.
“I found a kite. Could we go outside and fly it?” Glancing out a nearby window, I noticed there was not a breeze stirring. “I'm sorry, Tripper,” I said, sad to see his disappointed eyes, but thankful for the respite from more activity. “The wind is not blowing today. The kite won't fly.” The determined 10 year old replied. “I think it's windy enough. I can get it to fly,” he answered, as he hurried out the back door.
I peeked through the slats in the Venetian blinds to watch determination in action. Up and down the yard he ran, pulling the kite attached to a small length of string. The plastic kite, proudly displaying a picture of Batman, remained about shoulder level. He ran back and forth, as hard as his ten year old legs would carry him, looking back hopefully at the kite trailing behind.
After about ten minutes of unsuccessful determination, he came back in. I asked, “How did it go?” “Fine,” he said, not wanting to admit defeat. “I got it to fly some.”
As he walked past me to return the kite to the closet shelf, I heard him say under his breath, “I guess I'll have to wait for the wind.” At that moment I heard another Voice speak to my heart. “Alice, sometimes you are just like that. You want to do it your way instead of waiting for the Wind.”
And the voice was right. How easy it is to use our own efforts to accomplish what we want to do. We wait for the Wind only after we have done all we can and have exhausted our own strength. We must learn how to rely on Him in the first place!

Be encouraged to seek the Lord in every important decision that you make. Do not allow pride or arrogance to keep you from bending your knee and asking the Lord to direct your steps.  The Bible declares in Psalm 37:23 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and He delights in his way.”  It is the Lord's pleasure to bless, prosperous and lead us onto the best path for our life, but we must be willing to allow Him to take control and lead as He sees fit.  We must heed the voice of God and He knows in which direction our life should head.  Trust Him, seek Him, and allow the Spirit of the Lord to be the Wind which takes you to heights that you have never reached before.

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Monday 30 January 2012

'HE' WILL MAKE A WAY

I've been following the progress of a dear friend who had a stroke which left him in pretty bad shape. Many thought it was the end of him but his brave and faithful wife and kids haven't given up believing he will be totally healed one day. Since i've not taken permission from her to put the following email from her on my blog, i have carefully substituted the actual name with a fictitious one. I'm sure you will be blest by what she writes ...

Over the past several months some of you know that  we have been working with a Neuro Scientist at the  National Research Council (Country hidden) to find ways for Leo to participate and help in research efforts as well as hopefully get the help he needs to help him further. After several months of working on this effort, Leo was blessed to have the NeuroScientist visit him at the hospital he is in, to conduct testing on his brain to ascertain what level of activity, if any, Leo may be experiencing.With your continued prayers and support for Leo and our family, the  tests went well and initial reports indicate that Leo is able to understand us when we speak to him!
Over the past 19months, this was something I knew deep within with my communication with Leo, but was not able to prove to anyone – now we can be sure that this feeling that I had has been reaffirmed! So if you had visited with Leo, he heard you and understood you. And if you kept him in your prayers, he truly has been blessed by them.Please continue to pray for his good health and continued recovery.
We now need to work with him to help him in his efforts to respond and actively communicate with us. We now have a renewed sense and goal, to continue to talk to Leo and encourage and cheer him on his journey to recovery.
In the words of the Don Moen song, which i sing to Leo daily to encourage him and help him stay positive, i truly believe that "God will make a way, where there seems to be no way. HE works in ways we cannot see, HE WILL make a way for me. HE WILL be my guide, hold me closely to HIS side. With love and strength for each new day, HE WILL make a way, HE WILL make a way!"

So for those of you who feel like giving up on a seemingly hopeless situation in your lives, i say that there's still HOPE for you in Jesus Christ!
HE WILL make a way for you!

Sunday 29 January 2012

HOW TO FIGHT FEAR.

Last wednesday, i was selling tickets again at Holy Spirit Interactive's prayer meeting in Jebel ali. Bro. Aneel Aranha preached a powerful message on fear that day.

Dramatizing Mat. 14:22, Brother Aneel drove home an interesting message; as long as Peter was focussing on Jesus, he could walk on water. But then the storm with it's fierce winds and high waves brought Peter's attention back to the Storm, away from Jesus. Precisely at the point when fear entered his spirit, faith left him and Peter began to sink! When Peter cries out for help, Jesus reassures him with a "BE NOT AFRAID"

Throughout the bible we see great men and women in fear...\
When Adam and Eve listened to the serpent ...
When God sent Moses to his people ...
When Abraham and Sarah face the Pharaoh and he declares Sarah to be his sister!
When Saul the annointed King faces the Philistine army...
When David fled from the wrath of Saul...
When Solomon was faced with the task of building God's Temple...
When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary...
When Joseph came to know that Mary was with child...
When Peter was asked of his relationship with Christ...
When the apostles hid in the upper room fearful of being caught and killed...
But then the promise of God has always been - 'BE NOT AFRAID' (Isaiah 41:10,11, Isaiah 54:4, Deut 31:6,1 Chr 28:20)

A child feels safe when walking hand in hand with his father. If God is truly your father, then why not feel the same way? As long as we believe Mat 28:20, HE IS WITH YOU ALWAYS. YOU ARE NEVER ALONE!
2 Tim 1:7 God has not given us a spirit of FEAR but a spirit of POWER, LOVE and a SOUND MIND!
1 Jn 4:18 PERFECT LOVE DRIVES OUT ALL FEAR!

FEAR NOT!

Wednesday 25 January 2012

THE BLOOD

Have you ever tried opening a pack of chips from the smooth side with your bare hands? It is like breaking a vertically placed egg between the thumb and index finger! However, if one tears the packet on the serrated side (or pinches the egg on the horizontal side), you can easily do it!
Where do you think the enemy (whether the devil or your human enemy!) will attack you and get you down? Exactly where you’re weak! Your bad experiences of the past have put tears in your resilient covering and it is exactly at those weak spots that your enemy will put pressure on you and penetrate your defenses.
If you’ve struggled with a particular sin in the past and overcome it, that particular area of your life has already been weakened. The evil one will always try to tempt you again and again until you fall in that area again! In the natural world, ‘blackmailers’ succeed the same way. Even children use this old trick in the book on their younger brothers and sisters!
The lesson to be learnt here is of a serious nature and therefore we need to do something with the weak spots in our resilient covering. If in the natural we would strengthen the serrated side by putting a tape over the edge thereby ‘covering’ the serrated margin, the spiritual ‘tape’ that is on offer for all Christians is THE BLOOD of Christ. When one claims the BLOOD of Christ over their lives, they are protecting themselves from all attack on the weak areas of their lives. Every sin and everything that condemns you, blocks you from approaching the throne of grace, is destroyed!
It is very much like the difference in putting a pinch of salt in a glass and the same amount into a lake. One can still taste the salt in the glass but you cannot taste the salt in the lake. When you repent and throw your sin in the vast ocean of God’s love, you are made whole again. You are free from condemnation. You are a NEW CREATION!
Claim the BLOOD PROTECTION of JESUS over yourself and over your whole family. And while you do that, remember that each of us was BOUGHT by that very priceless sacrifice of Jesus’ blood on the cross.

Tuesday 24 January 2012

EXPERIENCING DRYNESS?

Have you ever experienced a kind of ‘dryness’ in your life? A feeling of restlessness … almost ‘gloom’ engulfing you? Have you wished for a ‘break’ to ‘get your mind off things’, ‘relax’ etc.? Do you feel ‘stressed out’?
Let me tell you that for the last three and a half years, I’ve never felt that way! Before that, I’ve taken my ‘breaks’ thinking I’d rest but I’ve come back worse off! Until I realized the POWER OF GOD’S WORD on my life, I never had ‘peace’ within myself. Only when you have the PEACE THAT SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING can you really ‘rest’.
Many have resolved to give up bad habits in the New Year. It is now well over three weeks in the New Year and you’ve already given up on your resolve! When your CRAVING for God’s WORD increases and fills your life, the craving for all the bad things in your life will automatically drop off. An effort from your side will not be required to overcome the hurdles in your life.
I’ve also realized another ‘secret’ for myself. The more I seek to alleviate the suffering of others and pounce on every opportunity to do so; I open the valve that allows blessings to flow in my life. Being a Christian (in the true sense!) makes life ever so meaningful! For those who are still living in the ‘LAW’ (Old Testament), they live in FEAR! Those living the New Testament are the only ones who will understand the Grace of God and live in love.
A preacher once gave us this wonderful illustration to explain ‘LAW’, ‘GRACE and ‘LOVE.
LAW: A husband who insists on wife getting up at 5 am in the morning to prepare him breakfast, serve him, polish his shoes, iron his clothes, carry his bag up to the car etc. is happy with the wife as long as she obeys him. He will be annoyed with his wife if she disobeys. It could even end in a divorce.
GRACE: A husband who is able to understand his wife and how difficult it is to wake up at 5 in the morning, does not get upset in times when she is not able to perform her duties as expected. He forgives
LOVE: A husband who gets up with his wife at 5am although as per ‘society’ he can order his wife around ; Helps her prepare breakfast, shares in her work, consoles her, leaves her with a sense of self-worth - of being respected and loved.

Remember ... THERE IS NO LACK OF BLESSINGS IN GOD'S KINGDOM! (read Matt 6:25 to 33 for a better understanding of this :-)

Sunday 22 January 2012

THE 'UGLY' TRUTH!


By now I must have done over a thousand caricatures and I can say with full confidence that those that come forward to get their caricatures done are people who have ‘accepted’ their looks and have no issues with how they appear! The past couple of days, I’ve been volunteering with Special Needs School (SNF) to raise funds and create awareness among the people during this DSF (Festival City Promenade). There was a man I drew who argued that I’d not drawn his nose long enough!!!
Sometimes I get people who pose for a caricature but are horrified to see the sketch at the end of the 10 minutes (If it is a B/W caricature). Some just ‘make a face’ and mumble, “This is not me!” whilst some others just tear the paper. I’ve even had the ‘ugly threat’ incident in college when a bodybuilder threatened – “ You will not be able to cross the Patto bridge this evening”. His ego was badly hurt when the girls in college poked fun at him and called him ‘pakshi’ (bird – as written on the caricature by me!). He was determined to beat me up … and Patto bridge had to be crossed by me every evening to go to the bus stand to go home!
Regarding ugliness, here are some of the questions most people ask:
1. Why doesn't the Bible talk more about the division between beauty and ugliness, since it is very important within the human world.
2. Why do ugly people desire beauty since they can never attract it, nor attain it themselves? Why not allow ugly people to find ugly people attractive? That way they wouldn't have to lower their standards and be unsatisfied with a mate they don't truly desire.
3. Whose fault is it that someone is made ugly?
4. Why would an ugly person be given a sex drive with no way to attract a mate?
5. Why would God want someone to be sexually deprived based on their appearance?
Now, now, now … I do not know the answer to these questions but I open the floor to discussions here. How about you writing back and starting this debate? Maybe we will together discover some ‘truths’!

Thursday 19 January 2012

BELIEVING FOR A SAFE DELIVERY

My brother-in-Christ, Faizal and sister-in-Christ, Jamila, are having their first baby in Dubai. They’ve both requested prayers for a safe delivery. Even as I write this article, they are in the hospital and the baby is a little delayed in coming … But all is well as they both hang on to the promises of God.
What a good Lord we have in the Lord Jesus Christ! The bible says - He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.
Yes God Almighty, the righteous Father, the giver of life and all good things have started a good work in Jamila and He will surely bring her to a safe delivery.
1 Thessalonians 5:24, says, "The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it." Do what? He will glorify his name in her life and protect the baby in Jamila’s womb.
He will give her a perfect baby without any blemish.
He will help her and uphold her during her delivery.
He will lead her and guide her on this journey and will bring her to an expected delivery in Jesus name.
Let us all believe for a safe and pain-free delivery for Jamila in Jesus' name.
At all times, let us invest in God's word and make sure to use it faithfully

Wednesday 18 January 2012

FROM GOLD TO BRONZE!

When God asked Solomon to make a wish, Solomon answered, “Lord, You helped my father David while he was king. He trusted in You. Now You have made me king in his place. I’m so very young, Lord. I don’t know how to be a good king like my father David was. I only ask for this one thing. Give me a heart full of wisdom. Help me to see what is right and wrong. I want to rule over Your people as You want. Help me to judge Your people with wisdom. Help me to know the difference between good and bad.”
This answer pleased God very much. He said to Solomon, “Because you have asked for this and not to live a long life or become rich, I will make your wish come true. Now I have given you a wise heart. There will never be a king as wise or as great as you.”
King Solomon indeed became so wise a king that to this day he is remembered for his unmatched wisdom. During his reign he built the magnificent temple of Jerusalem, adorned with Gold and the most expensive materials and crafts available during those days. He even made two hundred large shields of hammered gold and kept them inside the temple.
Solomon’s son – like all the Kings, and all of us – started with nothing but possibilities before him. Rehoboam failed - spectacularly. He learned nothing from his father’s mistakes. He cared little for his father’s God. At first, it looked like he might start out his reign making good decisions. He called his father’s advisors and counselors together and asked them how he should rule. Their advice - “If you will be a servant to these people this day, and serve them, then they will be your servants forever.” In other words, serve like Jesus did, and people will be more than willing to help you shoulder the work of the Kingdom. (1 Kings 12:1-11)
But, Rehoboam ignored their counsel. Instead he asked his childhood buddies what they thought. They told him to tell the people, “My father put a heavy burden on you. I’m going to add to it!” His arrogance split the kingdom into pieces.
But Shishak, king of  Egypt, attacked Judah and robbed the temple. He took the gold shields Solomon had made. Rehoboam could only replace them with bronze ones! So when the king came to the temple, instead of the glorious gold shields being brought out to attest to the king’s glory, they brought out cheap brass ones. (1 Kings 14:25-28) … Same form, different value.
I see in this a cautionary tale for our modern church. The very scary thing about churches and ministries is that you follow certain worldly success formulas, you CAN have a successful church. The scarier part is that you can do all of that, and the Spirit of God may not even be present anymore.
Same form – different value.
Yes, we still have the shields. We still raise them as a show of power, prosperity and “purpose.” But they are a cheap imitation of the Gold Shields of Glory God wanted for us. We have a FORM of godliness but deny the power thereof.  He seeks those who will return to His will, remember how He works, and rebuilt HIS house – one not of hands, but of heart, Spirit and truth. God give us that heart. May He return to us the Gold Shields that proclaim His glory and destroy from us the bronze shields that seek only to proclaim ours.
God has a “gold standard.” He has it for truth, for His church, for ministry and for His children.

Tuesday 17 January 2012

PROSPEROUS!

I was tempted to eat ‘fulkas’ (thin, fluffy chapattis) at Ajanta in Karama last night. I’ve been frequenting the place since many years (back in those days it used to have a ‘worn-out look’ but now it is refurbed!). The Gujju restaurant has been a family run business from the time I’ve known it (over 20 yrs. now!). ‘Ben’ (sister) was sitting outside on a chair playing with someone’s baby while they ate inside and ‘bhai’ (brother) was feeding a child a ‘moti-chur laddoo’ while the parents were having their ‘thali’ (set meal … unlimited! The Gujjus still serve them! God bless them!)
The moment I sat down, the waiter placed a thali in front of me without me having to ask them. Although they’d stopped making the fulkas (it was past 10 pm), the cook who was cleaning up the kitchen went straight to the kneading table and made fresh chapattis for me. ‘Bhai’ started poking fun at me about an additional 3 dirhams fine if I left any food behind in my plate and there were smiles all around. He spoke to others in the restaurant too. All in all, the atmosphere was very cordial and cheerful. And of course the hospitality is very much like Goa … even when you say ‘enough’, more food is sure to be thrust into your plate! Sometimes I ask for a small piece of a broken ‘jilebi’ and they force me to take a whole one!
The owners are happy. The workers appear to be joyful. This restaurant always has people and prospers to this day! (… And they don’t even know Christ!)
As Christians, how prosperous is your life? How do you measure prosperity? My dictionary defines it as the state of being successful. The writer of Psalm 1 says about the believer who delights in reading and reflecting on God’s Word, “Whatever he does prospers.” (Psalm 1:3)
Two lines earlier in the Psalm, the believer is described as a tree planted by a constant water supply (God’s Word is the living water) and says about us, “which yields its fruit in season.” (vs. 3)
What is this fruit which is produced in a believer’s life that makes us successful (prosperous)? Jesus said in a similar comparison, “I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
Notice two things:
Our life is only fruitful if we are connected to the vine, to Jesus. He through the Word of God energizes and guides us in fruitful living. We will bear much fruit.
What is the fruit that will bring blessings into our life? The Bible says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22)
Does it strike you that a fruitful life in Christ has a lot more to do with who we are as individuals in Christ than what we do? A truly prosperous life isn’t measure in the amount of money earned or saved. A successful life before God is much more focused on the believer having qualities that display our God no matter what the outward markings of life.

Have you gotten swayed into a worldly thinking about a prosperous life?
Do you spend more time counting and calculating your money than considering your growth in self-control or patience? Remember Jesus forgives.
Feed by the waters of life and connected to Jesus, we live a new life with a whole new definition of successful living. It does bring us joy and love into our lives.
Have a prosperous day!

Thursday 12 January 2012

Trusting Through The Storm

Claudette, from VOICE INTL. called me a couple of days back and requested me to sell DON MOEN Concert tickets after Aneel Aranha's (Holy Spirit Interactive) prayer service. Instead of going late, i decided to attend his service from the beginning. I was so blest by the Word he shared that tears started rolling down my cheeks as the message began to filter into the depths of my soul.

He began by telling the congregation of his wife's surgery and how well she had recovered. He also went on to say that she was suffering for the past year and a half from this problem but never once murmured against the Lord. He then preached on the following Psalm of Asaph (Psalm 77) to explain how his wife remained cheerful even in the midst of her storm:

“Will the Lord reject forever?
   Will he never show his favor again?
8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
   Has his promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
   Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”
 10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
   the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
   yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will consider all your works
   and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”


The message was simple yet divine! When the thing we're praying for seems like a lost case, do we murmur like the psalmist? ... and later, do we change our minds to think like the psalmist and shift the focus away from our problems and dwell on the Lord's faithfulness instead? This is where we all seem to go wrong!

The other key message delivered by Aneel was that the early Christians suffered great tribulation AFTER they'd whole-heartedly accepted Christ. Even in our daily lives, living a Christian life poses many obstacles. If you remember the days before you met Christ, you will see that in those days you hardly had any issues. Life was so 'hunky-dory'! But when you came into the light problems seemed to increase. Ever wondered why?

It is because the evil one had your soul pretty well enrolled in his kingdom before you met Christ. The moment there was a threat to losing that soul, the evil one resorted to all kinds of tactics to win your soul back! Since Jesus won over the battle with Satan and has given us a sure passage to eternity through Him, all that the evil one can now do is to create doubts in our minds whereby he can make man disobey/sin and thereby regain the lost soul.

When HOPE is deferred, FAITH can be lost very easily. Therefore, let us stay in the light of Christ and meditate on His mighty deeds and miracles! He will surely take us through every situation if we will but TRUST!

Monday 9 January 2012

A TEST OF PATIENCE!

I returned to Dubai on the 6th of Jan 2012. The return leg of my journey was truly a test in patience!

We were booked on the 4.20pm Air India flight from Goa to Mumbai on the 5th. Our connecting flight to Dubai was at 10.20pm the same night. All was well until the monitor showed a delay! We were now going to leave Goa at 6.30pm. We kept our cool since we still had ample time to make it to our connecting flight.

At 6.00pm, the monitor shows a further delay! Now we were going to leave only at 7.45pm. This was too close for comfort and we complained to the Air India staff who assured us that we would be helped at the Mumbai airport by their staff. they also told us that they had sent a message to EK notifying them of the delay (Later we realised that it was all humbug!).

We boarded the aircraft and started rolling towards the runway at 7.45pm sharp. To our dismay, some navy aircraft were returning from their sortie and Goa being a Naval Airport, we had to stand by till their aircraft landed. It was already 8.15pm when we ultimately took off.

We reached Mumbai at 9pm but landed only at 9.30pm due to 'congested skies'! Now our hopes were truly dashed! To add to it, our luggage was the last to arrive on the belt! We took an external prepaid taxi hoping that EK would be delayed and that we would reach faster by cab. Much to our chagrin, we got caught up in heavy traffic and reached the International Airport only at 10.20pm. We later realised that EK had taken off in perfect time!

As you well know, missing a flight in the holiday season spells disaster! There was not a single seat on ANY OF THE AIRLINES going to Dubai till the 13th of Jan 2012! All we could do was look at each other and sigh. It was then that i told my family that we had to believe that God would make a way for us to get back to Dubai that very night. All along, Lorine was looking at my 'restful' face and grumbling that i'd no sense of responsibility and that the kids and i were too cool about the serious situation we were in. I resisted going into offence mode and i kept believing that God would surely make a way!

I spotted a kindly young fellow from Qatar Airways who had just entered the hall through a staff door. I went up to him and told him of our predicament. What he said made my heart sink. He said that QATAR AIRWAYS was going full for the last 22 days!). Something made me insist that he check with his office just to be sure. His office told him that the 4.45 am flight was choc-a-block! But then he did something out of the way...he called Akbar Travels downstairs in the arrivals hall and to his surprise found that there were exactly 4 seats vacant on that flight! Since the security would not allow me to enter once i exited the airport, Amir came with me to the counter himself and made it possible to buy the tics! Amir was our angel from God! He even gave us great seats on the plane.

Although the flight via Doha took us a good 5 hours, we got into Dubai safe and sound!
(And yes ... there was another test we faced inflight! ... the labourer sitting behind us decided to take off his stinking shoes and almost made us open the emergency door and deplane in midflight!)

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!

Sunday 1 January 2012

SIGNIFICANT FIRST DAY MOMENTS-2012

Since the time i arrived here (GOA, 23 Dec 2011), today is the first time I'm seated in front of a PC! ... explains the break from blogging huh?

Before i get yelled at by my mom from downstairs to come for dinner, let me hammer away a few words describing  some significant moments thus far!

Last night, Mutu, our resourceful driver dropped us at Antone and Greta's home just a little after 10.00 pm ( The tourist were already choking all the roads of Saligao on their way to Calangute beach!). We sat in a circle and recollected all the wonderful moments of 2011 and then thanked God for taking us right through all the rough patches victoriously! We did not have to set our watches to a countdown as the fireworks from the hundreds of hotels around Mapusa set off  a great alarm to start wishing each other a Happy New Year!
Remembering those who had left us for their heavenly abode in 2011 was tearful, yet, the fact that God had made them such an important part of our lives whilst they lived was great comfort indeed!

We had decided to cook a dish per family and Antone's 'Malabari Chichen curry' turned out to be the best. The children enjoyed themselves and even participated in the prayers. I was glad that we decided to keep away from the dances and restaurants of Goa. We had a meaningful and modest celebration.

Although much of the morning was spent sleeping, the family decided to visit Old Goa in the afternoon. We saw a few tourists being chased away by guards for posing for photographs inside the Bom Jesus Basilica!
As i looked up at St. Francis' casket, snippets from his life story filled my mind and i said a prayer to all 'men of God' who, like St. Francis, leave their luxurious homes to be on a spiritual path to win souls for the kingdom! If not for them, we would not come to the knowledge of HIM who saves!

Let us dedicate this new year in the support of all those who've taken their vocation seriously to lead others to holiness. Let us pray for them,, support them with our resources and where possible, even volunteer in such works that further the Gospel!