There is Power!!

Life without electricity is hard in Chikankata. The taps run dry, the electric stove remains damp cold while the refrigerator gives way to melting ice. The few bore holes within the mission become refuge for thirsty throats and charcoal stoves are alive again! Working in the hospital under the cover of darkness can really be tricky and risky. Our big machines in the operation theatre become lifeless, the oxygen machines and the concentrators are themselves devoid of the life-giving gas. Of course our patients are the ones who suffered most.

The blame for the frequent (and for long hours, which can be so long that within 24 hours the frequency can be zero!) load shedding has been put on the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2010 in neighbouring South Africa. It is said that the bulk of electricity generated by the Zambian Electricity Supply Company (ZESCO) has been exported to South Africa whose demand for power has been acutely increased in its preparation for the world event.

But here there are powers too!! The evil power, the power of darkness which constantly bring sufferings, chaos and confusion among the people. The practices of witchcraft, astrology, polygamy and many others. And over there, the developed societies have their own evil powers too for which they are put under great challenge - homelessness, addiction, broken family and immorality. I think this is what compelled President George W. Bush, during his 2003 State of the Union address, to borrow from the chorus of the old hymn by Lewis E. Jones, There Is Power in the Blood: “For so many in our country—the homeless…the fatherless, the addicted—the need is great. Yet there is power, wonder-working power in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people… I urge you to pass both my faith-based initiative and the Citizen Service Act to encourage acts of compassion that can transform America, one heart and one soul at a time.”

There Is Power in the Blood by Lewis E. Jones
1. Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.
There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-working pow’r
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-working pow’r
In the precious blood of the Lamb.

2. Would you be free from your passion and pride?
There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;
Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide;
There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.

3. Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?
There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;
Sin-stains are lost in its life-giving flow;
There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.
4. Would you do service for Jesus your King?
There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;
Would you live daily His praises to sing?
There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.

Problems such as addiction, crime, and homelessness are almost always symptoms of deeper, spiritual problems. Until this is acknowledged, there is little hope for any permanent change in the lives of those caught in the vortex of sin and misery. There is overwhelming evidence that the life-changing message of the Gospel is necessary to effect permanent behavioural change. The need of the hour is Jesus Christ, the Light of the world. The only hope for the down-and-outs of society is: Changed lives through the power of the Cross.