“Bank home and away,” and “We’ll help you to stay connected to your money when you travel.”

That’s what you can read on the wall at our local ANZ Branch here in Kaitaia, in the Far North of New Zealand. You don’t even need to go inside, the writing is also visible from the outside through the window.

I really like that, because I know from a sad experience how important it is to stay connected to your money.

Missionaries making known in THAILAND what he has done

Picture / Alan Collingwood

From 1966 – 1979 I worked as a missionary in Thailand. During that time I went to Malaysia for a holiday. I used to live north of Bangkok and on my way back from Malaysia arriving in Bangkok I somehow could not get hold of my money and had to borrow a certain amount from another German who worked as a missionary in Thailand with another missionary society. It is good to have friends.

As you can see I know how important it is to stay connected to my money. But I know also that it is even more important to stay connected to the living God.

I have actually two birthdays. My second birthday was not long ago and I have been connected to the living God for more than 63 years. After three years at Bible school I applied to a Missionary Society, went on deputation all over Germany and after working in Thailand, as mentioned already, I did more studies at the Bible College of New Zealand, as it was called in 1980, and continued after that to work as a missionary in Kaikohe / New Zealand for almost 25 years (United Maori Mission).

Just as the Bank helps me to stay connected to my money, the BIBLE and PRAYING helps me to stay connected to the Lord Jesus Christ. I remember staying in Bangkok during my time in Thailand and it must have been in the hotel called “Europe” where I remember reading James 1:1,2 in my Bible, where it says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, …”

And remember to take the BIBLE with you when you travel!

TOE TOE

To win a copy of God’s Double Agent, tell us what inspires you to be bold in life.

1. I am in the kingdom of God.

2. I know God.

3. I know that my sins are forgiven.

4. When I go to pray to God when I have a problem, I know that I find God and and that I am speaking to Him.

5. I have access with confidence.

6. By the blood of Jesus I enter into the ‘holiest of all’.

7. I have access with boldness.

AT THE BEACH

I am reading here that a father wants to be the first person his children come to when they need to talk, not the last.

There is no need to tell you that all those who are born have a father. But there is a need to tell you that there is also a heavenly father and that there are those people who can say:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:9-13)

I belong to those people who can say: “Our Father in heaven …”

I know also that my Father in heaven wants to be the first person I come to when I need to talk (pray) and not the last. Let us remember the promise in Matthew 6:33,

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you as well.”

“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” – Mark Twain

“My Dad’s Mug”

We find Golden nuggets in our local paper. Here is one of them:

The Northland Age, September 2, 2014

Finished reading the READER’S DIGEST book “True Stories of Great Escapes” Volume Two. Would like to get hold of Volume One.

“TRUE STORIES OF GREAT ESCAPES”