100 ABSTRACTS - NUMBER 41 - PENTECOST SUNDAY

Pentecost Sunday is a major festival in the Christian church, the name being derived from the Greek word "pentekoste" which means fiftieth as Pentecost Sunday takes place on the 50th day of Easter.  It represents the beginning or birth of the Christian Church and is a reminder of how Jesus’ promise that God would send the Holy Spirit was fulfilled.  

On this day, many years ago, what looked like tongues of fire appeared on the heads of those present - after which they spoke their own native tongue and in new languages and miraculously, everybody understood everyone else.  

As Christians, we believe that the same Holy Spirit that has powered the Church for over two thousand years still empowers us today, but the Holy Spirit is not just a force, He is the third person of the Trinity.  

Personally, I think it would have been quite a frightening experience, with a violent rushing wind and with what looked like “tongues of fire” on people’s heads but those who were there and witnessed all this must have been influenced by the Holy Spirit because 3,000 new believers were baptised into the Church on that day.

We had a great Pentecost service at Zoom Church this morning with a good sermon by Frank and a timely word from Ruth, and while I was thinking of a suitable abstract for today, and after I took this shot, a song that we sing came into my head that has as the chorus the lines:

You came from heaven to earth
To show the way
From the earth to the cross
My debt to pay
From the cross to the grave
From the grave to the sky
Lord, I lift your name on high

So here is my next abstract, Number 41 in my 100 Abstracts Challenge, to remember that this is Pentecost Sunday and also to raise awareness of the wonderful work that the Mamie Martin Fund is doing to help young women and girls with their secondary education in North Malawi.

NGANGILE ZGAMBO has been supported by the Mamie Martin Fund since she started her secondary school education in Malawi. She studied at Ekwendeni Girls’ Secondary School and then moved to Embangweni Secondary School for Deaf Children where her needs could be more fully met.  She has had a difficult life and has overcome serious health problems and family issues, but with the help of the Mamie Martin Fund, she is now doing well at school.  You can read more about her story here.

Thank you very much to all those who have sponsored me - you are helping so many girls in North Malawi to achieve their potential and many of them are now wonderful role models to younger girls in their communities.

“Bethlehem was God with us,
     Calvary was God for us, and 
          Pentecost is God in us.”
Robert Baer

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MaureenIles