{"id":217,"date":"2022-06-03T11:38:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T10:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opendoorsuk.org\/?p=217"},"modified":"2024-02-14T14:03:10","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T14:03:10","slug":"what-does-good-news-look-like","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/blog\/news\/latest-news\/what-does-good-news-look-like\/","title":{"rendered":"What does good news look like?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"930\" height=\"399\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/nigeria-good-news-930.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/nigeria-good-news-930.jpg 930w, https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/nigeria-good-news-930-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/nigeria-good-news-930-768x329.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 930px) 100vw, 930px\" \/><figcaption>When Pastor Andrew&#8217;s community came out of hiding from Islamic militants, they immediately began rebuilding a place to worship<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How a church community in Nigeria encourages us not to give up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We all need good news \u2013 especially at the moment with all that is happening around the world. But when we think about good news how do we picture it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Isaiah 61:1-4 the good news which the prophet proclaims to the poor looks like lots of different things. It looks like release from captivity and comfort for those who mourn. It looks like people wearing garlands of flowers rather than the ashes of mourning: \u201c\u2026a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.\u201d (Isaiah 61:3) I\u2019m not sure what a garment of praise looks like, but I like to imagine something with a&nbsp;<em>lot<\/em>&nbsp;of sequins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most of all, for the exiles and captives who knew that Jerusalem lay in ruins, good news looked like rebuilding. And that\u2019s certainly what good news looked like for Pastor Andrew in Nigeria. For him and his traumatised congregation, good news looked like some burnt zinc roofing materials perched precariously on some poles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Burnt zinc and some sticks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the Nigerian village of Guyaku was attacked by Boko Haram extremists, Pastor Andrew could only watch on in horror as the village burned. When they returned, several believers had been killed, and all but six of the houses in Guyaku were burned down, including the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe lost everything,\u201d Pastor Andrew says. \u201cThe persecution was so much that I never imagined we would come together again to worship in the church.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n    <div class=\"pull-left-wrapper \">\n        <blockquote><p>&#8220;We brought all our burnt zinc together and some sticks to make a worship place&#8221;<\/p> <cite>PASTOR ANDREW<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many people decided to leave. But Pastor Andrew and other church leaders chose to stay to serve the community and rebuild the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI called the attention of some of the church members, and we brought all our burnt zinc together and some sticks to make a worship place,\u201d he says (pictured above).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As you can see, it\u2019s just a shelter, there was so little left to build with. And yet this single, defiant act of rebuilding was good news. It gave a shape to hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These sheets of burnt zinc and rickety poles became a sign that the church could not be destroyed. And with the help of Open Doors local partners, the people of Guyaku were able to receive not only emergency relief and food aid, but also trauma counselling and support for the longer-term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does hope look like for you today?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Jesus returned to Nazareth and spoke at his home synagogue, it was this passage from Isaiah that He used. And His life and teaching showed that the good news takes many different forms. Indeed, the ultimate expression of good news looked for all the world like failure, like the death of a man on a cross.<\/p>\n\n\n    <div class=\"float-right-wrapper\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"What does good news look like?\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/nigeria-good-news-box.jpg\">\r\n\t\t    <\/div>\r\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The good news might not look much in worldly terms. Isaiah talks about \u2018oaks of righteousness\u2019 but even oak trees don\u2019t look like much at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, what does the good news look like for you today, I wonder?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Does it look fragile? Make-shift? A bit ramshackle and rickety? Maybe all around you is rubble and ruin and you are struggling to see signs of hope. But be encouraged by the words of Isaiah and by the faith of Pastor Andrew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Boko Haram thought they were wiping out Christianity in Guyaku. But God had other plans. The exact opposite has happened: the church is growing and they\u2019ve had to build a bigger place to worship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBecause of you,\u201d says, Pastor Andrew, \u201cmy church is living hopeful, thinking of the kingdom of heaven.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps \u2018thinking of the kingdom of heaven\u2019 is the key to \u2018living hopeful\u2019. Thinking in worldly terms might only leave us seeing see ashes, rubble and ruin. But in the kingdom of heaven different rules operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A church can be made with just some sticks and old roofing. Ruined cities \u2013 and ruined lives \u2013 can be rebuilt. And a spirit of despair can be replaced with a garment of praise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Questions to consider<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What does good news look like for you today? How do you picture it in your life?<\/li><li>Pastor Andrew talks about \u2018living hopeful\u2019. In what areas of life can you live more hopefully?<\/li><li>What do you need God&#8217;s help in rebuilding? Ask for faith to make a start, even though it might not look like much.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How does Pastor Andrew&#8217;s story of hope from despair in Nigeria relate to Isaiah? And what can we learn from both today?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":220,"parent":8268,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":""},"categories":[36,1],"tags":[132],"class_list":["post-217","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-open-doors-uk","tag-nigeria"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.8 (Yoast SEO v28.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What does good news look like? - Open Doors Ireland<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What does good news look like?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How does Pastor Andrew&#039;s story of hope from despair in Nigeria relate to Isaiah? 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And what can we learn from both today?","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/8268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}