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KAREN WERTH
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My Newsletters |
Dear
Co-laborers, Last
year the Lord impressed upon my heart how beneficial it would be if all
the ladies in the churches with whom we work knew what their spiritual
gifts were, and they were encouraged to use them.
He then gave me the opportunity on April 26, 2002, to teach on
spiritual gifts when I was invited to speak at our city-wide ladies
fellowship meeting for pastor and missionary wives. As
I prepared, I made an outline. The
lesson would begin with the definition of spiritual gifts in general and
why they were given. Then
the definition of each gift would follow along with an example of how
the gift could be used in our churches today.
After each gift was explained and a BibIical example given, I
wanted to name someone they knew, whom I thought possessed that
particular gift so that they could better understand how it was being
used. It was all coming
together except for the introduction. I knew from my studies on teaching that we only remember 10%
of what we hear, so I wanted to visual the lesson in some way that they
wouldn’t forget. I prayed
asking God to give me an idea. A
small gift for each lady would be good, but it had to be inexpensive and
had to portray a spiritual gift. What
could I use? When the ladies arrived at Grace Baptist Church in Pondok Aren they found the front of the auditorium filled with over 100 gift bags. When it came time for the lesson, I told the ladies that there was a gift for each one of them. Then I asked them how they thought I would feel if they all went home today and left their gifts. “As believers, we each have spiritual gifts. How does God feel when we don’t use our gifts to glorify Him?” I asked. Then we opened our Bibles and started our study of the spiritual gifts. Afterwards the gift bags were passed out. Just like spiritual gifts, not all the gifts were the same. They could not choose which one they wanted. Just as spiritual gifts are to help the body of Christ grow and mature, these gifts were for their bodies. Inside the gift bags the ladies found bath powder, cologne, a toothbrush and paste, body lotion, or a hair brush. Each time they used their small gift, they were to think about their spiritual gifts and how they could use them for the glory of God. Afterwards many of the ladies thanked me not only for the small gift, but especially for the lesson. It had been an encouragement to them. Thank
you so very much for allowing God to use you and your church along with
your gifts to further the ministry here in Indonesia. May God richly bless each one of you. His
for Indonesia, Karen
L. Werth
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