D a y s o f C o m p a s s io n

Ten
Devotional guide
 Kia Ora, Day 2010
welcome to Compassion
T black
he theme for this year’s Compassion Day is,
Our Children, Our World. We are reminded that
every child is created in the image of God and
therefore should have the right and opportunity
to experience life in all its fullness.
To inspire Kiwi’s to make a difference, we have produced
the first-ever Compassion Day Devotion Guide.
A 10-day devotional booklet offering insights on justice
and poverty, thoughtfully offered by Christian leaders
Steve Tollestrup
from around the country. As you head into Compassion Executive Director
Day on Thursday 25th March we trust you will be
encouraged through the daily readings.
Justice is the new black
Mick Duncan page 3
Good news or bad news?
Ps. Murray Robertson page 4
He has sent me
Ps. Maree de Jong page 5
Enriched Through Poverty
Ps. Iliafi Esera page 6
Seeing beyond the disability
Charles Hewlitt page 7
It is time to act!
Rev. Jung Hun Choi page 8
To subvert the city, bless it!
Dr. Mark Strom page 9
This is a Story of Hope
Andrew Urquhart page 11
Generosity and the presence of God
Ps. Ian Wright page 12
Doing Justice is spiritual warfare
Steve Tollestrup page 13
Justice is
the new
Mick Duncan
Communicator, Educator & Alongsider
Michaelduncan.org
Reading: 2 Kings 4-5
Justice is not about being trendy it is about
‘prophets’ getting alongside ordinary people
Justice is the new black! It has now become very ‘in’ and ‘it’. This is a
good problem. Good in the sense that at last justice is on the page. It is
a problem in that it may be hijacked and become nothing more than a
trendy bangle on a wrist.
We must never forget that justice is not just about protest marching,
buying fair trade coffee, going to the majority world and being alternative.
Justice is about people and particular people at that. Justice is about con-
necting with people and walking with them over an extended period of
time. And as we do so, we need to ask four questions. What is happening
for this person? Secondly, why is this happening? Thirdly, what ought to
happen? And finally, and in light of the three previous questions, what then
can I make happen with and for this person?
When we get alongside people, walk with them and ask these questions;
then justice becomes more than a bangle. It becomes instead a way of
loving people. An academic once wrote that justice is what love looks
like in a particular situation. I like that! Essentially therefore, to be about
the work of social justice, is not about being a ‘social activist’. Rather, it is
about being a disciple of Jesus who loves people.
Day 1 16th March
3
 Good News He
or Bad News? has
sent me
Ps. Murray Robertson Ps. Maree de Jong
Pastor Emeritus, Spreydon Baptist Church Senior Pastor, LIFE
Director, Leadership Network lifenz.org
murray.robertson@baptist.org.nz

Reading: Luke 4: 14-30 Reading: Isaiah 61:1-4

lf
“They took him.... in order to throw him A heart that is always reaching beyond itse
.
off the cliff.” toward others to bring solution, not sympathy

In one of the most well known passages in the New Testament, Jesus
spells out to us the manifesto for his mission. He has come, He says, to
bring good news to the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed.
Given that these were great themes with the Old Testament prophets,
we might have thought that his audience of devout believers might have
risen as one to applaud his intent. Instead we find them forming a lynch
mob to assassinate him.
I’ll never forget the first time I went to Cambodia and saw the
poverty that was a reality for so many lives. My first response was
to want to buy ‘things’ for the children and their families. I did not
see beyond the surface need into the heart of the human spirit that
desired far more than material possessions, but required people with
hearts that would break to see justice, love, and dignity extended to
these precious lives.

What on earth went wrong? Things seemed to be going well until Jesus
quoted some of the prophets to show that God’s heart for the poor
extended far beyond the believing community to the despised Gentiles.
Sometimes I wonder how different we are today. As long as we are
assured that God’s blessings are for us, all goes well. But when we are
told God purposes to bring his redemptive love to all humanity, many
sadly lose interest. Do I?
Our western way of living and thinking can blind us to God’s heart for
every human life. A heart full of compassion, love, justice, and mercy.
A heart that is always reaching beyond itself toward others to bring
solution, not sympathy.
God is looking to us to be the answer, to be the ones who can help
bring change. The rebuilding of the generations is in our reach; it is in
our hands.

4
Day 2 17th March Day 3 18th March
5
 Enriched Seeing
Through Beyond the
Poverty Disability
Ps. Iliafi Esera Charles Hewlett
Senior Pastor, Christian Leader Principal, Carey Baptist College
fcc.net.nz carey.ac.nz
Reading: 2 Cor 8:9,
Reading: Mark 1:40-42
Luke 4:18, Prov 19:17
e
Poverty is ultimately not a lack of substanc “Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out
but of Someone and touched the man.”

Poverty is not just lack, poverty is a spirit. It is the fear of lack, a fear
that you will end up going through life never having enough. This atti-
tude plagues the rich and the poor alike.
St Paul said of Jesus that, though He was rich, He became poor that
through His poverty we might be made rich.
Born in a stable yet, He owns the universe. Begged a woman for a drink,
yet He is living water. Borrowed a boat for a pulpit, a boy’s lunch to
perform a miracle, a coin to illustrate a teaching and donkey to ride
into the city. Nowhere to lay His head, yet the earth and its fullness is
His. In death as in life - He paid a debt he did not owe, crucified on a
tree He created and buried in a borrowed grave. He died alone.
Yes we are rich through Him; saved by His death, forgiven by His blood,
healed by His wounds, set free by His love and even though we may be
incapacitated; His grace is sufficient. All things are found in Jesus Christ
and when we have Him in our lives, we have everything.
As the chair of the Board of Trustees of my son’s Special School I would
meet weekly with the Principal. Recently I was in her office along with
the Deputy Principal. As we were talking, a group of students walked
past the window and our discussion immediately stopped. The deputy
said, “Don’t they just look so beautiful,” while the Principal just sighed
and said nothing.
It brought tears to my eyes. These women didn’t notice the frames of
the wheelchairs, the white stick Harry was carrying, or the excited
screams of my son James. They weren’t put off by the uncontrolled
arm waving or the contorted expressions on their faces. Rather, these
women saw boys and girls they knew individually; people with personal-
ity and potential. They knew their struggles and pain and appreciated all
their small, very small achievements.
It is so easy to value people for what they can do rather than for who
they are. May we look hard for beauty within people and then take a
genuine interest in their lives.

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Day 4 19th March Day 5 20th March
7
 It is time
to act!
Rev. Jung Hun Choi
Korean Minister, Greyfriars Presbyterian Church
greyfriars.org.nz
Reading: Exodus 3:1-16
Extreme poverty has caused so much pain,
but God hears his world.
Children are a precious treasure. I still remember the time when each
one of my children was born and the great joy I felt. My children mean
everything to me.
No one would want to exchange their precious child for anything, yet
sadly it is a reality that in order to survive, some have sold their chil-
dren into slavery.
Extreme poverty has caused so much pain but God hears His world. He
is listening to the weeping of broken families.
In Exodus 3:7 God says: “I have indeed seen the misery of my people
in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers,
and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to
rescue them…”
Jesus stepped into our world to save us from despair. Jesus has called us
to be a part of his mission. It is time to act. It is time to step into the tor-
ment of others and offer our hearts and our help.
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Day 6 21st March
To subvert
the city,
bless it!
Dr. Mark Strom
National Principal, Laidlaw College
laidlaw.ac.nz
Reading: Romans 12:1-21
“Do not conform to the patterns of this wor
ld,
but be transformed”
The risen Jesus called Paul to translate His kingdom in the Greco-
Roman cities of the empire. Life was dominated by Roman rule and
by conventions of rank and status that held people indebted to the
wealthy and powerful.
The extraordinary fulfilment in Jesus, of God’s promised grace,
demanded a profound shift of allegiance: from Caesar’s story of world
domination, to Jesus’ story of world reconciliation (v1).
This renewal of the mind empowered a radical non-conformity to the
prevailing social patterns and ideas (v2). By grounding identity in grace,
it undercut elitism, fuelled a profound reassessment of others, and
established the new social obligation: love, not ambition (v3-5).
In a world where love and compassion never appeared as virtues of
a man (always a man!), and where ‘justice’ served elitism, the story of
Jesus provoked a manner of life that subverted the inner logic of the
imperial capital, even as it blessed its inhabitants (v6-21).
Day 7 22nd March
9
Discover This is
Bible study series
a Story
of Hope
Andrew Urquhart
Programme Director, New Zealand’s Rhema
rhema.co.nz

Reading: Isaiah 61

This is what makes the real difference;

giving beauty for ashes and peace for despair

I have seen firsthand the work of justice that TEAR Fund and its partners
are involved in around India. What I experienced deeply impacted my
life and view of the world - a spontaneous concert in the biggest slum
in Bangalore; travelling by Tuk Tuk through the dirt, dust and crowds of
Delhi, and visiting remote Dalit villages.
I touched the extremes of poverty amongst the world’s poorest and saw
devastation but also determination, dignity and joy. I witnessed every human
aspect of a person and their community, being engaged and transformed.
As Christians, it is part of our calling to provide for the material,
spiritual and emotional needs of the poor. When this happens – it really
works. This is not optional even when it involves our own sacrifices.
When this is done, Jesus is made real and his sacrifice retold amongst
the mess of our world.

Words that jump off the page

This is what makes the real difference;
giving beauty for ashes and peace for despair;
the difference between Disgrace and Grace;
See what God says about poverty and justice. This is a story of Hope…..
Be challenged and inspired by more than 90 Bible studies.
Register now for your FREE CD!
0800 800 777
tearfund.org.nz Day 8 23rd March
11
 Generosity Doing Justice
and the is spiritual
Presence warfare
of God
Ps. Ian Wright Steve Tollestrup
Senior Pastor - Invercargill Christian Centre Executive Director, TEAR Fund
christiancentre.org.nz tearfund.org.nz

Reading: Psalm 112:1-6 Reading: Gen 1:26-28;

Luke 11:17-20; Rev 21:5
but
Draw near to those who are generous, We are not only involved in ‘social justice’
lend freely and act with justice importantly and vitally, spiritual warfare.

I love that fact that the presence of God is a 24/7 promise for every
follower of Jesus, and that as we “draw near to God, He will draw near
to us”. (James 4:8)
Many look for wonderful spiritual disciplines to assure themselves of the
presence of God. Personal experiences of prayer and intimacy, times of
fellowship with other believers, uplifting and inspiring church services and
conferences, times of personal retreat and fasting. These are all legitimate
vehicles to know the presence of God in a more profound way.
But as we live in an age of an increasingly ‘me centred Christianity’, we
must remind ourselves that we all have a responsibility to the down-
trodden and disenfranchised.
Standing alongside the open drain in a slum outside New Delhi, the stench
of raw sewage is overwhelming. Flies are everywhere; especially on my face
and around my eyes. I am continually swatting, blowing, and wiping them
away. Around me are Delhi’s poorest children and families; squatters, land-
less, and Dalit, the so called outcasts TEAR Fund works with.
I consider the words of Jesus calling Satan, Beelzebub, ‘The Lord of the Flies’.
Jesus understood the social dimension of poverty, as the teaching of the
Good Samaritan clearly demonstrates. However, when Jesus calls Satan
Beelzebub ‘Lord of the Flies’, He put his finger directly on the spiritual dimen-
sion of poverty - the satanic challenge to God’s image in a human being, the
attempt at undermining all hope for these poor children and their families.

As with the early church, there is a call for all followers of Jesus to When we give, or we pray, when we take action to advocate for justice
serve generously those who are less fortunate. In doing so, God or work alongside these poor communities, we should never forget that
promises to, “draw near to those who are generous, lend freely and we are not only involved in ‘social justice’ but importantly and vitally,
act with justice”. spiritual warfare.

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Day 9 24th March Day 10 25th March
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TUNE INto Rhema

a, full-day
NZ’s Rhemrs day 25th March
campaign on Thu

Compassion Day aims to release

a wave of compassion that
changes lives around the world.
To kick Compassion Day events
off, TEAR Fund will go live on NZ’s
Rhema.from 6am to midnight.
The day will be dedicated to promot-
ing TEAR Fund Child Sponsorship
and the events and activities of the
Compassion Day Tours to follow.You Every child, created
in the image of God,
will be inspired by live interviews,
in-studio performances, guest pre-
senters and messages from children
around New Zealand. deserves the chance
Tell your friends and seize control
to experience life
fullness.
of your workplace radio, to help us

in all its
get more than 100 children spon-
sored on the day. Find out Rhema’s
frequency in your area at:

rhema.co.nz
Give a child living in desperate poverty that hope today!
Sponsor a child for just $45 a month.
0800 800 777
tearfund.org.nz
10 events nationwide
March 25th-28th
Steve Tollestrup + Restoration Mick Duncan + Shooting Stars

North Tour South Tour

RHEMA
Thursday 25th March 6am to Midnight
Live on New Zealand’s Rhema. Find the frequency in your area by visiting
rhema.co.nz
NORTH TOUR
AUCKLAND & WHANGAREI
SOUTH TOUR
WELLINGTON & CHRISTCHURCH
Venues and times TBA at
tearfund.org.nz