1. What is good about Good Friday? Prepare yourself
The prophets of the past, including John the
Good Friday should not be commemorated just Baptist, Moses, and David, went to the desert
once a year, but every day. and fasted to prepare the way. Jesus also went to
the desert and fasted for forty days and
Jesus died so that we may be washed clean. forty nights to prepare. We do is just
Men, however, are dying for love — lustful the opposite. We fast and then
love. Unlike man, God loves you so fight with each other.
much that He’ll never leave you or give
up on you. No matter what you do, God There’s a voice calling out from the
will still carry you through. desert. “Prepare the way for the
Lord.” The Holy Spirit is calling out
Remember, you have a unique call from for you and me to prepare the way
God. That’s why the devil is afraid of for the Lord. The way is your body.
you. The devil will do anything to destroy man. And Prepare your body. But there are many people who
man in his foolishness is allowing himself to be can’t pray. They can’t live without their phones and their
destroyed by following man-made gods. Man is jobs even for a minute. They work for themselves and
chasing after things that don’t last (money, house, for their families, constantly looking for happiness
business, job). which they never find.
What God wants from you? Then there are those who pray, but continue to smoke
and drink. How can you do that? How can you have evil
God does not want you to carry His image on any part thoughts about your neighbour? How can you be so
of your body or place it in your home. God does not lustful and abusive? If you were to die today, will you go
want you to put Him on an altar. He wants to live in your to heaven?
heart. God says stay with me and I will stay with you.
Abide in me and I will abide in you. But man does not Cleanse yourself
want to do any such thing.
We need the body and blood of Jesus to cleanse
God says receive me in your life and be saved forever. ourselves. Never sit at the table as a family if there’s sin
I am your God who created you. I carved you on the in your life. First wash yourself with the blood of Jesus,
palm of my hand. Every hair on your head is numbered only then sit at the table because the table is an altar of
by me. God. If there’s sin in your life, the food that God has
given you, will turn into poison. Disease will enter your
It’s very simple. God wants you to love Him with all your
body, followed by death. So never forget to
heart, with all your soul, with all your mind
wash yourself before you sit at the table in
and with all your strength. He wants you
the mighty presence of God.
to be with Him every day. He does not
want you to come to Him only when Change your life. Change your ways.
you’re in trouble, but every now and Don’t eat for your stomach; eat for your
then. soul. Then no sickness will touch your
body. Wash your soul with the blood of
Jesus and it will reflect in your personality.
Good Friday is a day to recommit your life to
God. It does not matter what background you
come from. First invite God inside you. Don’t talk. Let
your deeds do the talking. That’s what Jesus did. He
quietly stretched his hands and died for you and me.
– Bro. Manuel Mergulhao

2. The Best Is Yet To Come
Everything I have, I have received through prayer. When you pray God’s Word in faith, things that have been
bound up will suddenly open up. You will say, “I had been trying to accomplish that for ten years!” Yes, but you
did not succeed because you neither prayed according to God’s Word nor trusted in His faithfulness until now.
Belief will open doors that hard work cannot unlock. God says if you believe in me I will give you the best of the
land. This is what scripture says: “And bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of
the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land.” (Genesis 45:18 – NIV).
For example, before giving you the best position at your workplace, God will first put you in a lower position
in order to check your attitude. He will keep you there for a while to develop your character. Once you qualify, God
will say, “It’s time to move up!” Even if people try to thwart you, prayer will foil their plans. Expect God to act and
look forward to the fulfillment of His promise wholeheartedly.
God has promised certain things, and all His promises end with a resounding ‘Yes.’ This is what the Word says:
“But as surely as God is faithful our message to you is not ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who
was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not ‘Yes’ and ‘No’, but in Him it has always been
‘Yes’. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through Him the “Amen”
is spoken by us to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 1:18-20 – NIV) In others words, He wants to give you every-
thing He promised.
Some of the promises in the Bible were spoken to a specific person or a group of people. Yet, the Bible
indicates that Jesus made His promises accessible to everybody. Irrespective of the number of promises God
has made, they are all “Yes” in Christ. Jesus made the contract, which God had given to a specific person or
group, everyone’s contract. Once you know the promise, you can’t say, “If it is God’s will, a person prays in that
way, only when he isn’t sure about something. God does not renege on His promises. That is why praying the
Word is so important.
V The Holy Land
Visiting the Holy Land with Bro. Manuel
Ministries has been a wonderful learning
experience for me. It felt good to be a part of
history and experience God in His chosen land.
Exams cause great fear
Especially when they are very near
So many chapters to revise
So many answers to devise.
The trip to Jordan River particularly stood out. I
truly felt different when Brother Many things to learn by heart
Manuel was anointing us there. The When to stop and where to start?
pilgrimage to Israel with Bro. But worry not when the load is double
Manuel Ministries awakened me The Lord will answer when you are in trouble.
spiritually and changed my life. The And when the long hours start to drain
trip enabled me to connect with God
Just pray to God and rest your brain
with such intimacy that surpasses
Despair not about the answer‛s length
my understanding.
He will send you help from His sacred tent.
– Julian Serrao, Dubai
So whether it is Geography or History
God will resolve every mystery
And when you are tackling Science
It‛s best to make Jesus your alliance.
So kick the exam blues away
Even Maths is easy when you pray
Multiply, divide, subtract and add
When the results are out, you will be glad.

3. SARAH... ARRIVED 5 For this is how the holy women of the past who put
Sarah conceived only their hope in God made themselves beautiful. They
after her name was changed. were submissive to their husbands,
Even though Abraham and Sarah 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him
did not live to see God’s promise master.
fulfilled, it is a reality — Hebrews Sarah looked very beautiful even at an advanced age.
11:12 confirms this. “And so from You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not
this one man, and he as good as give in to fear.
dead, came descendants as
numerous as the stars in the sky 1 Peter 3:7 says: Husbands, in the same way be consid-
and as countless as sand on the erate as you live with your wives, and treat them with
seashore.” respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of
St. Augustine’s mother fervently prayed for, but did not the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your
live to see her son giving up his wayward, sinful life to prayers.
become such a strong disciple of Christ. Today, his Herein lies the secret, brother. If your prayers have
writings are referred to by all churches without reserve. remained unanswered, maybe it is time for you to start
Do not give up praying and claiming God’s promises for treating your wife with respect!
the salvation of your loved ones. Faith truly is the Sarah lived to be 127 years old! Her son Isaac’s grief of
substance of things unseen. Every hope, every dream losing her could only be comforted by another woman,
becomes reality when you trust the Lord. Seal your Rebecca.
claims by faith.
If you read Galatians 4, you will
Though Abraham had other sons by Hagar and realize that being Sarah’s
Keturah, the promise was fulfilled through Sarah. Your offspring figuratively represents
call is special; you are one of the chosen few. The son the New Birth through Christ
you are bringing up may be chosen to be a Moses, or a Jesus!
David, or a Paul. Does that make your role any less
important? Now you, brothers, like Isaac,
are children of promise.
The child promised to Sarah and Abraham was named Back then, sons born the
Isaac, meaning ‘laughter’. God changes our mourning ordinary way persecuted the
into dancing! Our sorrow into laughter!! Son born by the power of the
Spirit (Gal 4:28-9).
God said to Abraham, “Listen to whatever Sarah tells
you.” And Abraham listened even though sending the Yes, the flesh will always come
slave woman away caused him distress. against the Spirit. That is why
the word says get rid of the
1 Peter 3:1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to slave woman! Overcome the
your husbands… flesh, get rid of it. For…
Do you want to know a beauty secret? It is for freedom that
3 Your beauty should not come from outward adorn- Christ has set us free!!
ment such as braided hair and the wearing of gold (Gal. 5:1 )
jewellery and fine clothes.
4 Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the Arise daughters of Sarah to be women of Promise, to
unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of bring forth many descendents to Abraham, to bring
great worth in God's sight. forth children of faith—faith in Christ Jesus the
Try this beauty secret, dear sister, and see how your loving and living true God of the universe!
skin begins to glow. That is the glory of God reflecting In Him, I remain, your sister,
on you for obeying His Word! — Lynette Mergulhao

4. My life took a 360-degree turn after coming to
Bro. Manuel Ministries. I consider myself blessed to
have gotten to know Jesus and the way to His
kingdom at such a young age. I used to suffer from
epilepsy (convulsion/fits) ever since I was a child. I
am now free from that problem. I now know where to
go first if I need anything. Jesus has given me everything—a lovely
home, a good job, and a shepherd like Bro. Manuel. My life bears
testimony to the fact that Jesus is a light to those who are in
darkness and face difficulties. He is my best friend. Thank you
Jesus This year RSF has once again retained its
– Jennifer Gomes 4th position in football although the team eagerly
I was suffering from a severe stomach ache. The anticipated climbing towards 1st position. In
pain was so intense that I thought I would have to skip hockey RSF presently aim to reach the top spot
the Wednesday prayer meeting. But in faith, I came for and emerge as favourites. In a superb attacking
the meeting, applied the oil blessed by Bro Manuel on display of skills RSF crushed L&T 5-0 and in the
my stomach and drank the blessed water. The pain second match RSF trounced Tata Power 7-0.
disappeared immediately. I also began sowing in the Our youth are inspired by our founder and sports
Ministry, after which the Lord taught me how to invest prudently enthusiast Bro.Manuel and all credit goes to our
rather than splurging my money on unnecessary shopping and professional advisors Joaquim Carvalho and
beauty treatments. Bro. Manuel Ministries made a big difference in Nazario Coutinho.
my life. It can renew your life too. — Sanjana Kotal RSF embraces 60-70 boys & girls who are commit-
I was suffering from ankylosing spondylitis, a ted to give 3-4 days a week for football and
rare type of arthritis, for the last 12 years. When I came hockey practices, training & matches.
to Bro. Manuel Ministries a year-and-half ago I used to Through sports, we bring hope to the youth with
walk with a hump. But today my back is erect. My depressive, abusive and destructive behaviour
wife was also suffering from a rare type of arthritis pattern helping them in formation of their charac-
called systemic lupus syndrome due to which her legs ter and learning to live with the right attitudes. We
used to swell. She could not even walk. She was hospitalized for 10 train them with management qualities rstly to
days and prescribed heavy doses of medication. But after attending
manage themselves positively and enable them
the retreats and prayer meetings, she has recovered significantly.
Our marriage has also improved. Just believe in Jesus and all your to make and take the right decisions.
problems will be solved. — Joseph Anthony We empower them psychologically, emotionally,
physically, socially and spiritually by imparting
I had a hemorrhagic cyst in my left ovary. The various management skills like team building,
doctor said since the cyst was quite large, it could
relationships, success, failures, adapt to change,
create complications if it did not regress. When I had
stress and pressures of life. We educate and train
word with Bro. Manuel, he asked me to pray continu-
our individuals to sustain a strong, bold and good
ously and register for the retreat. I registered my name
and went for my usual check up the next day. The character to live in harmony in the midst of all
ultrasound showed that the cyst had disappeared completely. Even economic and social pressures. Think right, do
my doctor was shocked. My relationship with my husband has also right and walk right are the main objectives that
improved considerably. I want to glorify God for everything He has are imbibed in each individual through various
done for me. — Dr. Binita Roy sports.
We appeal to all youth who are lovers of sport or
sport enthusiasts, come join us and we can help
RETREAT
you make a di erence. If you can give us your time
March 13-14, 2009 we can change your character and make life
THANE OUTREACH exciting for you. Together we can be the change
April 6, 2009 and make a di erence.
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