The special day of Thanksgiving for this year, which is 3rd October 2010 is around the corner. This year we have a double portion of blessings – our Chief Apostle will be visiting our district of Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe in the same month. For this we are deeply thankful.

At the beginning of this year, our Chief Apostle gave each one of us a task and I quote:-

"I would like to give each one a task. This year, I call upon all of us to persevere. Perseverance is an important part of faith….."

This year, we want to persevere in all things as our Chief Apostle has admonished us (c.f. African Joy, April 2010, page 4) to include perseverance in giving thanks to our heavenly Father. He never gets tired of giving us the provisions of life; equally we should not also tire in offering thanks to Him.

This Thanksgiving, just like prayer life, helping around, making peace, building good and untroubled relationships, testifying and so on, should grow and be sustained to the end and then we shall be saved. This also calls for each one of us adopting the motto given to us, to continually examine ourselves and measure ourselves against the word.

My dear brothers and sisters, to persevere is to remain steadfast and endure until the end. But also there should be growth. I am aware that most of you are faced with several hardships of life, such as disasters, unemployment, hunger and illnesses, to mention just a few. Yet others are faced with hardships of spiritual

nature such as lack of peace and joy, diminishing faith, doubt about the promises of God and so on. In all these circumstances, please remember that you are not alone. Our heavenly Father gives us a precious promise acknowledged by the Psalmist:-

"You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble….. I (God) will instruct and teach you the way you should go, I (God) will guide you with My eye. (Psalms 32:7-8)

Many a time we have fallen short of the glory and grace of God. Even in these situations we continue to receive the natural and spiritual provisions from our heavenly Father. As children of the light, we sometimes take this for granted, but we shall take all these provisions out of the hand of our heavenly Father with thankful hearts. This thankfulness is demonstrated by our love and „fear‟ of God and out of our works of faith and sacrifices in the congregations. These works include a good offering to the honour and glory of our heavenly Father.

At Thanksgiving service, we embrace everything in life which we are thankful for and we bring a special offering to God for all the blessings we have received. The Psalmist again said:-

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever". (Psalms 136:1)

Our thankfulness should also be enduring and not only when we experience the Lord‟s help and afterwards turn our attention to everyday earthly matters, Our thankfulness should never evaporate.

On Thanksgiving day, I shall be in Lusaka Central congregation where I will remember and unite myself with all of you. I want to take this opportunity to also ensure that our preparations for the coming of the high servant of God are on course so that we are ready to draw blessings from his visit.

With love and hearty greetings from me, our dear Chief Apostle and my fellow apostles.

Yours sincerely