Welcome to our annual Month of Mission Devotions!
During this month, the devotions are written by members of the church across South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and the DRC.
(For those who usually receive Theo's "EmmDevs", these will resume in Nov.)
The theme for our Month of Mission is "Partners in Mission" which is the Moderatorial theme of the Right Rev Amon Kasambala who is our Moderator for 2025-2027.
You can read his opening devotion below...
GodBless!
The Mission and Discipleship Team
The Prodigal Father
| "So he got and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him" (Luke15:20) |
What is interesting about mission(s) is that it was first and foremost initiated by God himself, who since the fall of humanity has been reaching out to us in his grace and mercy. Humans by nature are fugitives of themselves -- we try to run away from that which is meant to safeguard our lives just like we see in the prodigal son story. We want to be secure in ourselves without God just like the prodigal son did to his father. We do the same with God, we want to try and avoid him and "kick him out" of our priorities and programmes. However, just like the prodigal son's father, God is patient enough to wait until we reach to the end of ourselves and realize we can only fill that vacuum in our lives by getting back to him the creator.
What we should realize is that as long as we as human are prodigals, God becomes a prodigal with us. He does not run away from us, but he becomes the prodigal father who patiently awaits our return. And when we return, he shows us his compassion and mercy and welcomes us back to where we belong -- the family of believers (the Church)
As UPCSA, we should always bear in mind that the God we serve is the God of missions and when we get involved in missions, we in fact partner with him in the missions of God (Missio Dei). If God, as a Prodigal God, has reached out to us, it is time to think about others outside our Church buildings and our comfort zones who also need to hear the good news. God counts on us to reach out with grace, compassion and acts of mercy to a world that is calling for our help. May you make this month a special month of Missions.
-----------------------------------
Rt Rev Dr Amon Kasambala, Moderator of the General Assembly (UPCSA), hubby to Tiba and father to Eddie and Victor, and serving as a Minister at Glenwood Presbyterian Church, Durban
