The Word for Today in Asia and the Pacific

Where is it available?
How can you get a copy?

The Word for Today is currently available in:

The Cook Islands
Fiji
Indonesia (Indonesian)
Nauru
Nepal (Nepalese)
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Time-Leste (English and Indonesian)
Vanuatu

If you’d like to find out how to get hold of a copy either click on the nation in our Projects menuor use our contact form.

Thanks to the support of donors we printed a total of over 59,000 copies for the people of the nations listed above.

For the first time in 2022, Nauru and Indonesia have received their own edition.

We are grateful to you, and all our supporters, who are praying for our ministry and helping with distribution of these devotionals.

Solomon Islands

Fiji

Vanuatu

Indonesia

Samoa

Nauru

Cook Islands

Papua New Guinea

Update from the Solomons Trip

I recently returned from 16 days in the Solomon Islands. Owen and I started our trip with a week in Munda with the aim of getting Laef FM's station back on air and fixing up the Solar system. We mostly had success! The station is back on air, but the Solar system...

Retelling Christian Olympic Champion’s Inspiring Story At The Paris Games

A century after winning gold at the 1924 Paris Olympics legendary Christian athlete Eric Liddell is set to inspire a new generation of athletes and believers after his story was immortalised in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire. The Flying Scotsman is known for his...

Interview on Vision’s 20Twenty radio show

A recent Interview with our Projects Manager - Grant Kennedy on Vision's 20Twenty show. Vision's Andrew McLennan asked Grant about the work of UCB Asia Pacific and what has been happening lately.

The Word for Today for 2024

For 2024 we are excited to have added Kiribati and Tonga to the nations where The Word for Today is available. The full list is: Cook Islands Fiji Indonesia (Renungan Hari Ini in Indonesian) Kiribati Nauru Nepal (Nepalese) Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands...

Local broadcasts in Baucau

In 2019 we were privileged to help the Radio Voz team establish a number of stand-alone low-powered radio stations in the provincial capitals of Timor-Leste. Including a station in Baucau, the second largest city. Over the past 12 months they have been upgrading the...

Avoid strife

‘For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.’ James 3:16 KJV

The apostle Paul writes: ‘Make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.’ (Philippians 2:2-4 CSB). Strife wreaks havoc in relationships. It often stems from an inflated ego and leads to comparing, competing, and condemning. James points that out: ‘For where envying and strife is, there is … every evil work.’ (James 3:16 KJV) So be a strife-spotter! The moment it rears its ugly head – uproot it!

‘Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many’ (Hebrews 12:15 NLT). If you want to walk in God’s blessing today, try to live in harmony with others. Is that always easy? No, but the sooner you learn to do it, the better things will go for you. When God prompts you to turn the other cheek, or do the thing no one else wants to do, draw on His grace and do it.

Pray: ‘Lord, give me Your wisdom in this situation.’ He will. ‘But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, free of hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.’ (James 3:17-18 NASB20). Bottom line: if you want God’s blessing on your life – avoid strife.

SoulFood: Heb 11:23-28, Exo 3:1-22, Exo 33:7-23, Exo 34:29-35

Think carefully before you speak

‘The one who guards his mouth protects his life;’ Proverbs 1 3:3 CSB

Here is a Bible verse we should all commit to memory: ‘The one who guards his mouth protects his life; the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.’ (Pro 13:3 CSB) Simply put, your tendency to speak without thinking will keep getting you into trouble.

The story is told of a vacuum cleaner salesman who had been given a remote rural area as his territory. He was going from farmhouse to farmhouse on his first day on the job, attempting to sell vacuum cleaners. When he arrived at one farmhouse, he knocked on the door and was met by a farmer’s wife who asked him what he wanted. Without asking permission, he shoved right past her into the kitchen and said, ‘I’m selling vacuum cleaners.’ Shocked, she replied, ‘Wait a minute!’ But he demanded, ‘Ma’am, before you say anything, I want to show you something.’ Then he reached into his bag, pulled out a bucket of dirt, and threw it across her kitchen floor. ‘If my vacuum cleaner won’t pick up all that dirt,’ he bragged, ‘then I’ll eat it!’ She looked at him and said, ‘Then you better get busy, ’cause we ain’t got no electricity!’

How often do we have to eat the words we so recklessly toss on the floor of everyday living? Be careful. Jesus said one day, we will give an account for every idle word we speak (see Matthew 12:36). So unless you want to eat your words, think carefully before speaking.

SoulFood: Neh 5-7, Luke 21:25-38, Ps 78:32-39, Pro 23:29-35

Don’t be afraid to go

‘You must go … And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you.’ Deuteronomy 3 1:7-8 NKJV

When God tells you to go, remind yourself that every detail of your future is already known to Him. Centuries ago, when a mapmaker ran out of the known world before he ran out of parchment, he would frequently draw a dragon at the edge of the scroll. This was intended as a sign to explorers that they were entering unknown territory at their own risk. Many, however, didn’t regard the dragon as a mapmaker’s warning sign but instead as a prophecy. They foresaw disaster beyond the known worlds they travelled, and their fear kept them from pushing on to discover new lands and peoples.

Other more adventuresome travellers, however, saw the dragon as a sign of opportunity and a doorway to new worlds worth exploring. Each of us has a mental map that contains the information we use for guidance as we begin each day. And like the maps of long ago, our mental maps have edges to them, and sometimes those edges seem to be marked by dragons or fears. We fear failing, or being rejected, or ridiculed, or that we won’t have enough, or that we will lose what we have.

If that’s how you feel today, read these words spoken by God to His people when they stood on the threshold of the promised land without knowing what awaited them when they went into it. ‘The Lord, He is the One who goes before you.’ (Deuteronomy 31:7 NKJV) So, write down your goal, work out a strategy, and set a deadline. Then commit it to God, believing that He has gone before you to prepare the way.

SoulFood: Neh 1-4, Luke 21:12-24, Ps 78:17-31, Pro 23:26-28

The two rules

‘From any tree of the garden you may freely eat.’ Genesis 2:16 NASB

Adam had the perfect job, perfect home, perfect marriage, and the perfect environment; all the things we strive for. So how did it come about? As a result of his relationship with God!

God basically gave him two rules to live by: ‘From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die’ (Genesis 2:16-17 NASB). So, the two rules are these:

1) With God, what you get back is always greater than what you give up. ‘From any tree of the garden you may freely eat.’ But what we so often do, and what legalistic religion does, is look at that Scripture and similar Scriptures and focus on what we can’t do. The truth is, when our list of can’t dos exceeds our list of what we’re free to do, we have gone far beyond what the Scriptures intended. The Christian life should be measured by what you’re free to enjoy, not by what you’re denied.

2) When you live your life according to God’s Word instead of your own impulses, you’re blessed. ‘Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!’ (Deuteronomy 5:29 NIV).

The only thing God denies us is the right to determine for ourselves what’s ‘good or evil’ because He knows we’re not qualified to do it. We must live by divine revelation rather than human inclination. God, in His love and wisdom, set this limitation in place to protect and bless us.

SoulFood: Col 3-4, Philemon, Luke 21:1-11, Ps 78:9-16, Pro 23:22-25

Grace and confidence

‘Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence.’ Hebrews 4:16 NIV

If you feel unworthy to approach God in prayer, stop and read these words: ‘Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need’ (Hebrews 4:16 NIV). The word grace means undeserved kindness, mercy, favour, and help when you need it. Notice three important things:

1) When you need grace, you can approach God with complete confidence. Why? Because you’re coming to a throne of grace and mercy, not a throne of judgment. All your sins – past, present, and future – were paid for the moment Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ Satan, whom the Bible calls the accuser, wants you to feel condemned, guilty, and unworthy to approach God. But the moment you placed your trust in Christ, God clothed you in Christ’s righteousness. Therefore, you can always come to Him with confidence.

2) When you need more grace, pray more. God has all the grace needed to help you, but you must go before His throne and ask for it. A prayerless Christian is a graceless Christian. The Bible says, ‘Grow in grace,’ and if you’re not praying every day, you’re not growing in your spiritual life. So, what’s the answer? Spend more time hanging around the throne that dispenses grace.

3) God’s grace is given based on your need at that moment. He won’t give you tomorrow’s grace until tomorrow, so don’t bother asking for it. But don’t be concerned; the supply of grace you have in Christ will not run out tomorrow or ever! That means you can’t wear out your welcome by going to the throne of grace too often.

SoulFood: Col 1-2, Luke 20:41-47, Ps 78:1-8, Pro 23:19-21

The Word for Today in Honiara

Reaching under developed regions…

Greetings

I came to know The Word for Today devotional when I was in Bible college at Surkhet. So for 3 years, I am regularly reading this devotional book.

This is so interesting to read every day with a different topic and it’s easy to understand and short. This really helps us to grow our spiritual life and helps me to prepare the Word of God in my sermons.

I am really thankful to Message of Hope Nepal for your contribution to serve through this kind of ministry. I knew that you send us this book to Humla as well. My place is very underdeveloped. there are no proper transport facilities. I am happy that Message of Hope Nepal is able to send books to the Hope Church in Humla. We will be praying for you.

Kalpana Buda, Humla, Nepal

COVID Isolation for a Pastor

Recently Pastor of the GPWC, Pastor Abraham Living Taning, entered the COVID-19 isolation room critically unwell.

Radio Voz was told about this need and we were asked to pray.

Pastor Abraham Living is a pastor who is good friend of Radio Voz. Praise God after being prayed for from afar with all the GPWC congregation a week later his health condition gradually improved and he is now recovering.

Find out more about Radio Voz at their website www.radiovozfm.com

Praying for Mr Alberto

On September 19th, Zakiel, our technical staff, was sick and was admitted to the hospital. The next day Melly, Hadasa, and I visited him and prayed for him. After praying for Zakiel, apparently, there was a patient next to Zakiel who heard us praying and apparently he recognized our voices because he often listened to Radio Voz. He had indigestion. He asked us to pray for him and we prayed for him.

The next morning, I got a call from Zakiel that Mr. Alberto wanted to meet and talk to me. And after meeting he told me that he had been able to defecate twice. And asked to pray for him one more time.

Rio
Station Manager – Radio Voz
Timor-Leste

News from The Solomon Islands

A young man checks out Laef FM after seeing the poster

We have recently been able to get our Honiara station back operating at full power. Here is an update from our Board Chairman Coxwain. He writes….

Thank God for His grace and faithfulness!

There are key people (leaders), who already locked into the Laef FM 93.5 as regular and keen listeners, even before the 300watts transmitter was installed.

On Thursday morning, after Bible Society board meeting, I asked an Anglican prominent leader if he tried Laef FM 93.5, to my surprise, he answered me plainly. “I am a regular listener of the station.” and he asked if I have posters that he could put up on the Church notice board. Yesterday afternoon, I brought him 3 A4 posters. He was very pleased.

Another Church leader, a Finance & Administration manager of SIBC told me that he is a regular listener of Laef FM 93.5. He tuned in the mornings and in the evenings listening to the messages each day.

The Director Of Finance Intelligent Unit of CBSI told me Tuesday previous week that he is a keen and regular listener to Laef FM 93.5. He strongly recommended that God’s Word must go out to people in various forms. I gave him 5 sample Car Stickers that day. He has 5 vehicles. Two land cruisers, two buses and a private car. He uses 4 vehicles as public transportation. He promotes the station through his vehicles.
Not only that but last week, I gave him 5 A4 Laef FM posters at his office. He is very happy with this and said that he will distribute 4 posters to his subordinates to promote Laef FM 93.5 in their respective areas and will use 1 at his own shop.

Taxi drivers are also faithful promoters of Laef FM 93.5. When the station is off air, they call and remind us about it.

Hopefully, many more people will be become regular and faithful listeners of Laef FM in the coming weeks and months ahead as the Lord touches their hearts. I believe, many people, in the eastern & central side of town are slowly tuning into Laef FM.
Regards,
Coxwain
Solomon Islands.

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