1. Jumatatu Asubuhi Mezani pa Kujifunzia1. Monday Morning at the Desk

Mfikirie mchungaji Jumatatu asubuhi. Ameweka kando tangazo la ibada la jana. Amejibu ujumbe wake wa simu. Amemaliza kahawa yake. Sasa anafungua Biblia yake kwenye andiko la Jumapili ijayo. Chumba kimetulia. Ukurasa uko wazi. Kila kitu kitakachotokea Jumapili asubuhi — kila roho itakayolishwa au kuachwa na njaa, kila shaka itakayojibiwa au kuongezeka, kila amri itakayotiiwa au kupotoshwa — kinategemea kile kinachotokea mezani pale asubuhi hii.Imagine the pastor on a Monday morning. He has put away yesterday’s bulletin. He has answered his text messages. He has finished his coffee. Now he opens his Bible to next Sunday’s text. The room is quiet. The page is open. Everything that will happen on Sunday morning — every soul fed or starved, every doubt answered or deepened, every command obeyed or twisted — depends on what happens at that desk this morning.

Unaweza kuja mezani pale ukiwa na penseli zilizochongoka, vitabu vizuri vya fafanuzi, na mafunzo bora, na bado ukashindwa. Unaweza kuja bila chochote kati ya hivyo na bado ukawalisha watu wako. Tofauti haiko katika vifaa vyako. Tofauti iko katika moyo wako, na katika Roho ambaye lazima akufundishe wewe kabla hujamfundisha mtu mwingine yeyote.You can come to that desk with sharp pencils and good commentaries and excellent training, and still fail. You can come with none of those and still feed your people. The difference is not in your tools. The difference is in your heart, and in the Spirit who must teach you before you teach anyone else.

Hermeneutiki, mwishowe, si mbinu tu. Ni mazungumzo kati ya Nafsi tatu — Baba aliyetoa Neno, Mwana aliye Neno aliyefanyika mwili, na Roho anayelifasiri Neno — na mhubiri mmoja aliyekuja kimya kwenye ukurasa akiwa ameushika moyo wake mikononi mwake.Hermeneutics is not finally a technique. It is a conversation between three Persons — the Father who gave the Word, the Son who is the Word made flesh, and the Spirit who interprets the Word — and one preacher who has come quietly to the page with his heart in his hands.

2. Mwandishi na Mfasiri Wake2. The Author and His Interpreter

Paulo anatuambia katika 1 Wakorintho 2 kwamba ni Roho peke yake anayeyajua mafumbo ya Mungu:Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2 that the Spirit alone knows the deep things of God:

Ifikirie hivi. Hakuna mtu anayejua ninachofikiri sasa hivi isipokuwa roho yangu mwenyewe. Ukitaka kujua kilicho akilini mwangu, lazima nikuambie. Ndivyo ilivyo kwa Mungu. Hakuna kitabu cha fafanuzi, hakuna kamusi ya Kigiriki, hakuna kiwango cha akili kitakachoufikia moyo na fikira za Mungu. Ni Roho wa Mungu peke yake anayejua fikira za Mungu. Naye amepewa kwetu.Think of it this way. No one knows what I am thinking right now except my own spirit. If you want to know what is in my mind, I must tell you. The same is true of God. No commentary, no Greek dictionary, no degree of intelligence will reach the mind of God. Only the Spirit of God knows the mind of God. And He has been given to us.

Hapo ndipo. Asiyeamini mwenye akili nyingi hawezi kuisoma Biblia vizuri. Mwamini wa kawaida anayekuja pamoja na Roho anaweza. Huku si kupinga elimu — Paulo mwenyewe alikuwa msomi aliyefunzwa — bali ni kupinga kiburi. Sifa ya kwanza ya kulielewa Neno si kadi ya maktaba. Ni Msaidizi.There it is. A brilliant unbeliever cannot read the Bible well. A simple believer who comes with the Spirit can. This is not anti-intellectualism — Paul himself was a trained scholar — but it is anti-arrogance. The first qualification for understanding the Word is not a library card. It is a Helper.

Tahadhari inafaa hapa, ili lolote kati ya haya lisieleweke vibaya. Kuangaziwa na Roho (illumination) si ufunuo mpya, wala si njia ya mkato ya kukwepa kazi ambayo kozi hii itakufundisha — kujifunza kwa makini sarufi, muktadha, historia ya nyuma, lugha, na kufikiri kwa busara. Paulo, mwandishi yule yule wa maneno haya, mwenyewe alikuwa msomi aliyefunzwa kwa ukali, aliyehojiana kutoka kwenye andiko kwa usahihi. Njia za kawaida za ufasiri hazishindani na Roho; mara nyingi ndizo mfereji wenyewe ambao kwao Yeye hufanya kazi. Mchungaji anayeomba ufahamu kisha anakataa kufanya kazi ngumu ya kujifunza hajamheshimu Roho — amejitetea katika uvivu wake mwenyewe. Roho huangaza kujishughulisha kwa nidhamu na andiko; hachukui nafasi yake.A caution belongs here, so none of this is misread. Illumination is not new revelation, and it is not a shortcut around the work this course will teach you — the careful study of grammar, context, historical background, language, and sound reasoning. Paul, the very author of these words, was himself a rigorously trained scholar who reasoned from the text with precision. The ordinary means of interpretation are not in competition with the Spirit; they are usually the very channel through which He works. A pastor who prays for understanding and then refuses to do the hard work of study has not honored the Spirit — he has excused his own laziness. The Spirit illuminates disciplined engagement with the text; He does not replace it.

3. Moyo Kabla ya Ukurasa3. The Heart Before the Page

Ezra 7:10 ilisema hivyo kabla ya Paulo: “Ezra alikuwa ameukaza moyo wake kuitafuta sheria ya BWANA.” Si maandishi yake. Si muhtasari wake. Moyo wake. Mchungaji anakuja mezani Jumatatu asubuhi si kwanza ili kufikiri, bali kwanza ili kusujudu.Ezra 7:10 said it before Paul did: “Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD.” Not his notes. Not his outline. His heart. The pastor comes to the desk on Monday morning not first to think, but first to bow.

Moyo usioandaliwa hugeuza ufafanuzi wa kifungu (eksejesia) kuwa eisejesia — kuingiza maana yetu wenyewe katika andiko badala ya kuliacha andiko liingize maana ndani yetu. Tutajifunza eisejesia kama hatari katika sehemu nyingine. Kwa sasa, dawa yake ni hii: moyo mnyenyekevu, unaoletwa kila siku chini ya macho ya Mwandishi, ukiomba msaada.A heart unprepared turns exegesis into eisegesis — reading our own meaning into the text instead of letting the text put meaning into us. We will study eisegesis as a danger in another unit. For now, the antidote: a humble heart, brought daily under the Author’s gaze, asking for help.

Mchungaji anayekuja kwenye ukurasa akiwa na kiburi atasoma kiburi chake mwenyewe kikitoka kwenye ukurasa. Mchungaji anayekuja akiwa na hasira atamsikia Mungu mwenye hasira. Mchungaji anayekuja akiwa amevunjika moyo na akiomba atajibiwa. Neno ni kioo — linarudisha moyo ule unaoinama juu yake.A pastor who comes to the page proud will read his pride back out of the page. A pastor who comes angry will hear an angry God. A pastor who comes broken and asking will be answered. The Word is a mirror — it gives back the heart that bends over it.

4. Mtu Akipungukiwa na Hekima — Aombe4. If Any Lacks Wisdom — Pray

Yakobo, ndugu wa Bwana wetu, alisema waziwazi:James, the brother of our Lord, was direct:

Mambo mengine Mungu hutupa kwa sababu tu sisi ni watoto wake. Hutupa hewa ya kupumua na jua usoni bila sisi kuomba. Lakini mambo mengine huja tu tunapoomba. Nakumbuka nilivyowapeleka watoto wangu dukani walipokuwa wadogo. Wakati mwingine niliwanunulia kitu kitamu kwa sababu tu walikuwa wangu. Lakini wakati mwingine waliomba, nami niliwapa kwa sababu walikuwa wameomba.Some things God gives us simply because we are His children. He gives us air to breathe and sun on our faces without our asking. But other things come only when we ask. I remember taking my children to the store when they were small. Sometimes I would buy them a treat just because they were mine. But sometimes they would ask, and I would give it to them because they had asked.

Kuielewa Biblia ni mojawapo ya mambo ambayo Mungu hutupa kwa kuomba. Halisukumi Neno lake ndani ya mchungaji aliyejifungia. Anamjibu mchungaji anayebisha hodi.Understanding of the Bible is one of the things God gives us by asking. He does not push His Word into a closed pastor. He answers a pastor who knocks.

Yakobo anaongeza onyo: na aombe kwa imani, pasipo shaka yoyote. Mchungaji mwenye nia mbili — nusu akiomba, nusu akiwa na shaka — hatapokea kitu kwa Bwana. Omba ufahamu. Amini kwamba Yeye hujibu. Kisha fungua ukurasa.James adds a warning: let him ask in faith, with no doubting. A double-minded pastor — half asking, half doubting — will receive nothing from the Lord. Pray for understanding. Believe that He answers. Then open the page.

5. Maombi Matatu Yaliyojibiwa5. Three Prayers That Worked

Hadithi tatu zilizonifundisha kile ambacho maombi yanaweza kumfanyia mchungaji aliye mbele ya ukurasa.Three stories that taught me what prayer can do for a pastor over a page.

Mmishonari mmoja wa Norwei aitwaye Maria Monsen alikuwa akifanya kazi Kaskazini mwa China katika miaka ya 1930. Aliomba uamsho lakini hakuona chochote. Kisha akakumbuka kwamba Mto mkubwa wa Yangtze huanza kama matone ya mvua milimani, akaenda kumtafuta mwenzi mmoja wa maombi ambaye angekubaliana naye. Alipompata, alilia kwa sauti, “Uamsho umeanza! Sisi wawili tumepatana!” Ndani ya miaka miwili uamsho mkubwa ulienea katika jimbo lile. Wakati mwingine maombi yanayoifungua Biblia huanza na waamini wawili wanaopatana.A Norwegian missionary named Maria Monsen was working in North China in the 1930s. She prayed for revival and saw nothing. Then she remembered that the mighty Yangtze River begins as raindrops in the mountains, and she went looking for one prayer partner who would agree with her. When she found her, she cried, “The awakening has begun! Two of us have agreed!” Within two years a great revival swept that province. Sometimes the prayer that opens the Bible begins with two believers agreeing.

Dallas Theological Seminary ilikaribia kufilisika katika siku zake za mwanzo. Wadai walikuwa karibu kuinyang’anya mali yake saa sita mchana. Rais aliwakusanya watu wake pamoja wakaomba. Harry Ironside aliomba kwa namna yake ya kawaida: “Bwana, ng’ombe walio juu ya milima elfu ni wako. Tafadhali wauze baadhi yao na utuletee fedha.” Walipokuwa bado wakiomba, mfugaji wa ng’ombe kutoka Texas alibisha mlango akiwa na hundi mkononi. Kiasi chake kilikuwa sawasawa na deni. Wakati mwingine Mungu hujibu maombi yetu kabla hatujamaliza kuyasema.Dallas Theological Seminary almost went bankrupt in its early days. The creditors were going to foreclose at noon. The president gathered his men together and they prayed. Harry Ironside prayed in his usual way: “Lord, the cattle on a thousand hills are Thine. Please sell some of them and send us the money.” While they were still praying, a Texas cattleman knocked at the door with a check in his hand. The amount was exactly the debt. Sometimes God answers our prayer before we have finished speaking it.

Wakati mmoja mtu aliniletea karatasi nne zilizojaa maombi ya mahitaji. Alisema maisha yake ya maombi yalionekana matupu na kama ya mashine. Nilimwambia aziweke kando orodha hizo kwa wiki moja na atumie muda huo kwa kusifu peke yake. Alikasirika. Alirudi baada ya wiki moja akasema, “Imefanya kazi. Kuna kitu kimerejeshwa.” Maombi yanapogeuka kuwa usimamizi wa shughuli, yarudishe kwenye sifa, na Biblia itafunguka kwa urahisi zaidi asubuhi hiyo kuliko ilivyofunguka kwa mwaka mzima.A man once brought me four sheets of paper covered with prayer requests. He said his prayer life felt empty and mechanical. I told him to put the lists away for a week and spend the time only in praise. He was angry. He came back a week later and said, “It worked. Something has been restored.” When prayer becomes management, return it to praise, and the Bible will open more readily that morning than it has in a year.

6. Mashaka Matatu ya Mfasiri6. The Three Doubts of the Interpreter

Mchungaji anayelishughulikia Neno atakabiliwa na mashaka — si mara chache, bali daima. Nimepambana na aina tatu za mashaka, nami nimezikuta zote tatu zikitajwa katika Injili. Niruhusu nizitaje kupitia watu walioteseka nazo: Tomaso, Petro, na Yohana Mbatizaji.A pastor who handles the Word will face doubts — not occasionally, but constantly. I have wrestled with three kinds of doubt, and I have found all three named in the Gospels. Let me name them in the men who suffered them: Thomas, Peter, and John the Baptist.

7. Shaka ya Tomaso — Je, Mungu Yupo?7. Thomas Doubt — Does God Exist?

Tomaso alikuwa amesikia kutoka kwa rafiki zake kwamba Yesu alikuwa hai tena. Hakuamini. Wafu hawafufuki; hakuna kitu katika uzoefu wake kilichomwandaa kwa habari ile. Alisema, “Nisipoziona katika mikono yake alama za misumari, na ubavu wake, sitasadiki kamwe.” Wiki nzima aliibeba shaka ile. Kisha Yesu akaja, akasimama mbele yake, akasema, “Usiwe asiyeamini, bali aaminiye.” Tomaso alianguka miguuni pake: “Bwana wangu na Mungu wangu.”Thomas had heard from his friends that Jesus was alive again. He did not believe it. Dead men do not rise; nothing in his experience had prepared him for the report. He said, “Unless I see the marks in His hand and side, I will not believe.” A whole week he carried that doubt. Then Jesus came, and stood in front of him, and said, “Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas fell at His feet: “My Lord and my God.”

Nakumbuka nilipokuwa bado mdogo sana nilipitia mgogoro wangu wa kwanza wa imani. Nilijiuliza, “Itakuwaje ikiwa kweli hakuna Mungu? Itakuwaje ikiwa hakuna kitu ila ulimwengu huu tunaouona?” Baadaye nilitilia shaka mambo mengine — itakuwaje ikiwa Yesu hakuwa kweli Mwana wa Mungu bali, kama profesa mmoja alivyoniambia, Myahudi mfu tu? Katika seminari nilijifunza utetezi wa imani (apologetiki), na vitabu vilisaidia. Lakini mwishowe jibu la shaka ya Tomaso ni lile lile lililokuwa kwa Tomaso: Kristo aliyefufuka Mwenyewe, akiwa amesimama chumbani.I remember when I was still very young that I had my first crisis of belief. I asked myself, “What if there is really no God? What if there is nothing but this world we experience?” Later I doubted other things — what if Jesus was not really the Son of God but, as one professor told me, only a dead Jew? In seminary I studied apologetics, and the books helped. But in the end the answer to Thomas doubt is what it was for Thomas: the risen Christ Himself, standing in the room.

Mtu mmoja aitwaye Rick aliokoka katika mojawapo ya mikutano yetu ya uamsho huko Evansburg. Alirudi kwa marafiki zake wa zamani wa ulevi ili kuwashuhudia. Mmoja wao alisema, “Unajua, huenda umekosea.” Rick alisema, “Huenda uko sahihi. Lakini hata kama nimekosea, sijapoteza chochote — Yesu amenipa maisha bora kuliko niliyokuwa nayo hapo awali. Lakini kama WEWE umekosea, utakaa muda mrefu sana kuzimu.” Mchungaji aliyepambana na shaka ya Tomaso hadi akaishinda anaweza kusimama kwa utulivu mbele ya changamoto ya asiyeamini yeyote.A man named Rick was converted in one of our revival meetings in Evansburg. He went back to his old drinking friends to witness. One of them said, “You know, you could be wrong.” Rick said, “You could be right. But even if I am wrong, I haven’t lost anything — Jesus has given me a better life than I had before. But if YOU are wrong, you are going to spend a long time in hell.” A pastor who has wrestled Thomas doubt to the ground can stand calmly in front of any unbeliever’s challenge.

8. Shaka ya Petro — Je, Nguvu Zake Zinanifikia Mimi?8. Peter Doubt — Does His Power Reach Me?

Wakati mmoja Petro alimwomba Bwana amruhusu atembee juu ya maji. Kristo alisema njoo, naye akatoka chomboni, na kwa muda mfupi akatembea. Kisha akaona upepo. Na mtu yule aliyekuwa akitembea juu ya bahari akaanza kuzama. Kristo alimshika akasema, “Ewe mwenye imani haba, kwa nini uliona shaka?” Petro hakutilia shaka kwamba Yesu ni Bwana. Alitilia shaka kwamba nguvu za Yesu zilimfikia yeye katika mawimbi yale hasa.Peter once asked the Lord to let him walk on the water. Christ said come, and he stepped out, and for a moment he walked. Then he saw the wind. And the man who had been walking on the sea began to sink. Christ caught him and said, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Peter did not doubt that Jesus was Lord. He doubted that Jesus’ power reached him in those particular waves.

Miaka kadhaa iliyopita mtu mmoja alikuja kwenye seminari yetu huko Cochrane. Jina lake lilikuwa Wayne Woodward. Aliishi mbali nasi, huko Winnipeg. Alikuwa na kazi nzuri katika kampuni ya Boeing, binti wawili wadogo, na cheti cha shule ya sekondari peke yake. Marafiki walimwambia alikuwa amechanganyikiwa kuacha kazi ile na kuileta familia yake kuvuka nchi ili kusomea huduma. Wayne mwenyewe alikuwa amejaa maswali: Ni kanisa la aina gani ambalo angeweza kulichunga? Angewezaje kushindana na wanafunzi wa ngazi ya uzamili? Angewezaje kuilisha familia yake wakati akisoma?A few years ago a man came to our seminary in Cochrane. His name was Wayne Woodward. He lived a long way from us, in Winnipeg. He had a good job with Boeing, two small daughters, and only a high-school diploma. Friends told him he was crazy to give up the job and bring his family across the country to study for ministry. Wayne himself was full of questions: What kind of church could he ever pastor? How would he compete with master’s-level students? How would he feed his family while studying?

Ninapaswa kutaja pia: Wayne Woodward ni kiziwi.I should mention also: Wayne Woodward is deaf.

Mke wake alipokuja darasani pamoja naye, alikuwa akitafsiri mihadhara kwa lugha ya alama au kuiandika kwenye kompyuta ili aweze kufuata kilichokuwa kikifundishwa. Alifanya kazi usiku kama mfanya usafi ili kulipa gharama. Kusanyiko la viziwi huko Calgary lilimwomba awe mchungaji wao. Jumapili moja, baada ya hubiri kuhusu shaka, Wayne alikuja mbele ili kujiweka wakfu upya. Baadaye nilimuuliza Mungu alikuwa akifanya nini. Alisema, “Nimekuwa nikitilia shaka uwezo wangu mwenyewe. Ninazungumza lugha ambayo hakuna mtu anayeweza kuielewa. Ninatatizika na Kiingereza. Wanafunzi wa ngazi ya uzamili wanakaa kando yangu. Nimekuwa nikifikiri, ‘Sistahili kuwa hapa. Kamwe nisingeweza kuchunga kanisa.’”When his wife came to class with him, she would sign the lectures or type them on a computer so he could follow what was being taught. He worked nights as a janitor to pay the bills. A deaf congregation in Calgary asked him to be their pastor. One Sunday, after a sermon on doubt, Wayne came forward to rededicate his life. I asked him afterward what God was doing. He said, “I have been doubting my own abilities. I speak a language no one can understand. I struggle with English. Master’s-level students sit beside me. I have been thinking, ‘I don’t belong here. I could never pastor a church.’”

Hiyo ndiyo shaka ya Petro. Si “Je, Kristo ni halisi?” bali “Je, nguvu za Kristo zinaweza kunifikia mimi, mtu huyu, katika mawimbi haya?” Jibu ni lile lile sasa kama lilivyokuwa Galilaya. Mkono wa Bwana haujapunguka.That is Peter doubt. Not “Is Christ real?” but “Can Christ’s power reach me, this man, in these waves?” The answer is the same now as in Galilee. The hand of the Lord is not too short.

9. Shaka ya Yohana Mbatizaji — Je, Kweli Mimi Ni Wake?9. John the Baptist Doubt — Am I Really His?

Yohana alikuwa amembatiza Yesu na kumwona Roho akishuka. Alikuwa amesema, “Tazama, Mwana-Kondoo wa Mungu.” Kisha Herode akamtupa gerezani, na gizani Yohana akaanza kumtilia shaka Mtu yule yule aliyekuwa amemwonyesha. Aliwatuma wanafunzi wake kuuliza, “Wewe ndiye yule ajaye, au tumtazamie mwingine?” Yesu hakumkemea. Alirudisha ushahidi — vipofu wanaona, wafu wanafufuliwa, maskini wanahubiriwa habari njema — kisha akaongeza neno la upole: “Heri mtu yule asiyechukizwa nami.”John had baptized Jesus and seen the Spirit descend. He had said, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Then Herod threw him in prison, and in the dark John began to doubt the very Man he had pointed out. He sent disciples to ask, “Are You really the One, or should we look for another?” Jesus did not rebuke him. He sent back evidence — the blind see, the dead are raised, the gospel is preached to the poor — and then a tender word: “Blessed is he who is not offended in Me.”

Miaka mingi iliyopita mke wangu aliniuliza jioni moja, “Unashughulikiaje shaka?” Nilifurahi kuanza kueleza jinsi nilivyopambana na shaka ya Tomaso na kuishinda. Alinizuia. “Sijawahi kutilia shaka kwamba Mungu yupo. Ninatilia shaka kama mimi kweli ni Mkristo. Unajuaje kama kweli umeokolewa?”Many years ago my wife asked me one evening, “How do you go about dealing with doubt?” I was pleased to launch into how I had wrestled with Thomas doubt and come through. She stopped me. “I have never doubted there is a God. I am doubting whether I am really a Christian. How do you know if you have really been saved?”

Hii ndiyo shaka ya Yohana Mbatizaji — si shaka kuhusu Mungu, wala kuhusu nguvu zake, bali kuhusu nafsi yangu. Je, kweli mimi ni wake? Huwajia mara nyingi zaidi waamini walio wanyoofu kuliko wote. Mchungaji ambaye hajaikabili hawezi kuwasaidia watu wake kuipitia.This is John the Baptist doubt — not doubt about God, or about His power, but about myself. Am I really His? It comes most often to the sincerest believers. A pastor who has not faced it cannot help his people through it.

Jibu ni lile lile ambalo Yesu alimrudishia Yohana. Rudi kwenye ushahidi. Rudi kwa Kristo. Nimewaandikia ninyi mambo haya, ili mjue ya kuwa mna uzima wa milele, ninyi mnaoliamini jina la Mwana wa Mungu (1 Yohana 5:13). Uhusiano wetu na Mungu hautegemei kuwa watu wema, wala hisia zetu, wala hali ya moyo isiyobadilika. Unategemea ahadi ya Kristo — Sitakupungukia kabisa, wala sitakuacha kabisa — na msalaba ambapo aliithibitisha.The answer is the same one Jesus sent back to John. Go back to the evidence. Go back to Christ. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13). Our relationship with God does not rest on being good people, or on our feelings, or on a steady mood. It rests on Christ’s promise — I will never leave you nor forsake you — and on the cross where He proved it.

10. Kupatikana, Si Uwezo10. Availability, Not Ability

Mungu alipomwita Musa, Musa alikuwa na visingizio vinne tayari. Mimi si kitu — sina uwepo, sina cheo. Sina mamlaka — sina idhini ya kusema. Sina sifa za kitaaluma — sina wasifu wa kazi. Sina uwezo — mimi ni mzito wa kusema, ulimi wangu unakwama. Mungu alijibu kisingizio cha nne kwa swali: “Ni nani aliyemfanya mwanadamu kinywa?” Mungu havutiwi na uwezo wako. Anavutiwa na utayari wako wa kupatikana.When God called Moses, Moses had four excuses ready. I have no body — no presence, no position. I have no authority — no warrant to speak. I have no credentials — no resume. I have no ability — I am slow of speech, my tongue stumbles. God answered the fourth one with a question: “Who made the mouth?” God is not interested in your ability. He is interested in your availability.

Leta mafunzo yako ambayo hayajakamilika, mashaka yako ambayo hayajajibiwa, ulimi wako mzito, na Jumatatu asubuhi yako iliyochoka. Yalete mezani. Fungua Biblia. Omba kwa ajili ya Roho. Amini kwamba Yeye hujibu. Neno litajifungua kwa moyo unaokuja.Bring your unfinished training, your unanswered doubts, your slow tongue, and your tired Monday morning. Bring them to the desk. Open the Bible. Pray for the Spirit. Believe He answers. The Word will yield to a heart that comes.

Huhitaji kuwa mchungaji mwenye akili kuliko wote katika mji wako. Unahitaji kuwa mtulivu kuliko wote mbele ya Mwandishi wa Kitabu. Hiyo inatosha.You do not need to be the brightest pastor in your city. You need to be the quietest before the Author of the Book. That is enough.