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Take this cup from me...

I have three daughters and a son. Someone once said that having children is comparable to walking around with your heart outside your body... I love them to bits, as most dad’s do. 

 

My kids are still small, but I would guess there are many older dad’s that would argue that your children always stays “small” in your heart.   

 

As I read the part about Jesus in Gethsemane in the gospel of Mark (Mark 14:32-42), Jesus’ request struck a chord with me. Jesus was heading for serious trouble, and he knew it. He cries out to his Father for help, “Abba, Father! … remove this cup from me”. Jesus knew it was in the Father’s ability to prevent what seemed to be the inevitable, “All things are possible for You”. 

 

God the Father spoke to Jesus a number of times during his three-year ministry, validating him and ensuring him that He loves him very much. This time around there was a deafening silence. In the hour that Jesus needed the Father most. 

 

It struck me that as a father I would have hurried to my son’s side to assist. Especially if I knew what was lying ahead and I had it in my means to prevent my son from suffering terrible humiliation, pain and ultimately death, and all of this without him deserving one bit. You would not be able to keep me away from my son. I would hurt whoever tries to hurt him and whoever tries to keep me away from him. And if my son gets hurt and I cannot do anything but stand by and watch, I would break into pieces. I am terrified just thinking about it!

 

God chose not to do anything. He just watched! How could this be possible? 

 

There can only be one reason…

 

God wanted the outcome of Jesus’s suffering more than what He wanted to help His Son. Think about it… He loved us (in our hard-hearted, sinful, selfish condition) so much, that He allowed His own son immense suffering. It was the only way of providing us with a way back to Him. God’s choice is unthinkable, but it is true! 

 

John 3:16… "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God loves us (YOU included) more than you could ever imagine!"

 

 

"The sun generates a tremendous amount of energy, but it only gives us a warm glow. By contrast, a laser beam that uses a few kilowatts of energy can cut through metal. Such is the power of focus." - S Khosla

 

Most things we see today that makes a significant difference had a small beginning. A long journey starts with the first step… For this reason, we at Eternal Investments decided to focus our initial effort on a specific initiative that we believe are making a significant difference in Africa with regards to missions and evangelisation. In itself it is much more than a program, it is a movement. This excites us, as a movement creates enormous energy and requires little external energy to keep it going.

 

 

This movement was birthed in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp on the borders of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is called Ubabalo. 7 pastors gathered to share their story of how they ended up at the camp. The first pastor recounted how the rebel forces entered his village, lined up his 24 family members from the youngest to oldest - and starting with the youngest they used machetes to amputate and kill. Upon seeing this, the family ran to escape - many lost their lives that day but those that escaped made it to Nyarugusu. To our horror, this same experience was repeated by the 6 remaining pastors, with the only difference being the village of origin and the size of each family. What shocked us further was that the rebels and perpetrators of those atrocities consisted of young men between the ages of 18-19 years old. 

 

We are convinced that many of Africa's challenges are a function of fatherlessness and the deliberate destruction of the family unit. As the strategy of Ubabalo multiplies across the world to over 100 countries, we have now discovered that these challenges are not unique only to Africa. Ubabalo is our courageous attempt to transform worldviews of coaches and players, reverse the trend of fatherlessness, and to catalyze a Whole Life Coaching movement in order to redeem culture and impact nations. (http://ubabalo.tumblr.com) 

(www.theworldneedsafather.com)

 

 

 

OM Sportlink is a initiative within Operation Mobilisation (https://www.om.org/en/content/about-om) that focus on sport as a vehicle to break down cultural barriers and carry the gospel into areas otherwise difficult to reach. They use the Ubabalo principles to train coaches to disciple young people. We partnered with OM International Sportlink Director, Chris Welman, in support of their ministry. Chris is stationed at the OM base in Kabwe, Zambia and has seen the amazing impact coaches can make in young people’s lives firsthand. They are active in a number of African and other countries. Below is an excerpt of one of their newsletters:

 

 

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