A Walk with God through the Fields

By Pastor Joe Yaka

The greatest need is to enjoy a fulfilling life. Can we seize an opportunity whilst being faced with difficult challenges? It really depends. When faced with the same situations, people respond differently. The situation is not the problem. Attitude is.

This book will help you develop a better world view of life. You need inspiration and encouragement to be courageous.
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The book takes you from where you are to where you should be as you are challenged to discover who you are while you grow with your trust in God. The keys to your growth include self-discovery and change.

Good and unfavourable moments will come, and regardless, pressing forward must be a choice. Lean on the sufficiency of the grace of God. Enjoy your life and serve with passion.

Some go on in life and others give up. Think! The world is falling apart but some will still occupy it. LIVE! To turn the tide around in your life, read this book!

In this book, the author honestly narrates his life story to inspire his readers.

About the Author
Joe Yaka is a well-known minister of the Word of God, helping people to see the great possibilities in every impossibility. He became a Christian while at high school, and studied until he qualified as an educator. He graduated with an associate degree in theology in Minnesota, USA and is respected for his disciplined prayer lifestyle. A classic motivational speaker, pastor and teacher, he hits the nail on the head with this inspirational book. Pastor Joe Yaka is a family oriented man, married to Koleka. They are blessed with three children, Zola, Zuko and Zintle. Pastor Joe strongly believes that looking forward with an upward look, together and united, make every walk of life even possible!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pastor Joe Yaka
• Release date: Mar 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005660475

Book preview

A Walk With God Through the Fields

A walk with God through the fields

PASTOR JOE YAKA

Copyright © 2021 Pastor Joe Yaka

Published by Pastor Joe Yaka Publishing at Smashwords

First edition 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Published by Pastor Joe Yaka using Reach Publishers’ services,

P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

Edited by Laura Grey for Reach Publishers

Cover designed by Reach Publishers

Website: www.reachpublishers.org

E-mail: [e-mail]

Pastor Joe Yaka

[e-mail]

Table of Contents

Dedication

Foreword

Introduction

1 Life is Worth Sharing

2 The Tide Turned Around

3 My God and I

4 Sharing the Vision

5 A Call to Prayer Partnership Ministry

6 Divine Connections and Destiny

7 But! Save a Dream!

8 His Grace is ALL Sufficient

9 Not My Will But Yours Be Done!

10 Knowing God Even Better!

Dedication

This book is humbly dedicated to all those people who directly impacted my life, making a vital and immeasurable contribution:

Men and women of God who walked before us, setting the pace. Rev Abiel Thipanyane and Jemina, Fathers Gila, Eddie Mahlutshana, Elfort Myeko and many more.

Prayer Partnership Ministry and Bible Life Family Church members: I thank you saints for being the field set up by God to process my life. It’s worth it!

High Impact Family Church and our sister churches: thank you for being authentic and teachable. You touch my heart as we seek to grow deeper and wider together.

To my wife, Kolie, a resilient, courageous and supportive woman. I know your motivation, strength, commitment and passion. I will always cherish you.

Zola, Zuko and Zintle, our children and our future. You are our joy and a great blessing at home. You are each special and you just excel. I thank God we have you!

Praise, glory and honour to God who has made this possible through it all for His own glory. Thank you, Father. I am and will always be forever grateful to you! You give me meaning to my life.

Foreword

Early on a Saturday morning, whilst still in bed, praying and pondering on what to do with the baton left by the two great men of God, Albion M Fumba and Edwin M Mahlutshana, who were buried the previous day, an exciting call came to me. Picking up the cell phone, it was Jongikhaya Yaka affectionately called Joe.

Instead of saying hello, I shouted, What is it, Apostle Joe? What do you want from me now?

A FOREWORD for my book, he calmly responded, and that caused me to be settled and we spoke at length.

What a borrowed honour to me, being asked to engage in what I had never done before. At that time, I was still in pain, grieving through the loss of our great role model discipler, Christocentric and Bible-based preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jongikhaya Yaka is a precious stone in the House of the Lord at this age. He is one man with the courage to succeed. I want to encourage you to read the book with a sense of expectation for a push and a pat on the shoulder to go forward in order to succeed. Please read the book with this brief background.

Pastor Joe is a handsome, very active man who has experienced both sides of life, pleasure and pain, according to a theological theory of utilitarianism, a theory of morality, which advocates actions that foster happiness or pleasure and opposes actions that cause unhappiness or harm. Utilitarian philosophy would aim for the betterment of society as a whole. This is a brief introduction to describe the author.

I ask you to use these spectacles in order to absorb enough from the writing of this gifted and playful motivational speaker, an organiser and the builder of the House of God. Joe is uncompromisingly the lover of God and His children, a very simple and faithful servant of God and a seasoned dynamic preacher and teacher of the Word of God with a very warm, sweet and humble personality.

I first met him at Butterworth Teacher College of Education where he was the Chairperson of the Students Christian Movement (SCM). I was an organiser, together with the late brother Captain Sidumo Makaluza. What an active musical young man with excellent articulation every time he was before an audience. This is a well-known founder of Prayer Partnership Ministry (PPM) known in the whole country and beyond. ENJOY the book of a champion, a visionary and a charismatic leader.

A principal of a high school in the early 80s approached me and the late Mr Edwin Mahlutshana, as he always saw us preaching the Gospel.

He said, I have a mathematics problem in my high school. Can you recruit a young man like you?

Joe Yaka became a candidate for that special maths post. He changed maths results and shone in the classroom whist running a successful SCM group.

When learners were preparing for exams, the principal phoned me, saying, Run around and get your preacher Jongikhaya who has left the school, saying that the Lord has called him to preach.

I found him preaching at a taxi rank.

I shouted, Jongikhaya, how can you leave the school, when learners are about to write exams?

He smiled and said, I finished the syllabus and revision in August. Maths results will be a record again this year.

Confidence! I took him back. Imagine the excitement of learners, seeing their guru.

When solemnising their wedding with his beloved wife Koleka, I handed him a fragile plate. Before he grasped it, I let it fall and it was broken into pieces. He was shocked and embarrassed as it appeared to jubilant wedding guests as if he was careless. He tried to collect the broken pieces.

I said, Make sure that you do not break your wife.

That lady journeyed with him to this book’s success.

When I went with him, Brother Dlambewu and late Pastor N Mamane, to establish, evangelise and revive Cape Town SCM branches and Scripture Union camps, he stopped the car between Beaufort West and Aberdeen and said, "Ndibetheni, beat me as you always say I don’t listen to you when reprimanding me."

I knew there was gold within him.

Let the world enjoy this gold within him. Pastor Joe, as he likes being called, caught the evangelism vision as vision is not taught but caught. He has experienced life in totality as it is. The young man has grown!

Thank you!

Rev Canon Elford Z Myeko, who was a SCM and Scripture Union staff worker. His wife is Pumla. He is a retired, not tired Anglican priest of the Diocese of Mthatha.

Cell: 082 660 2054

Introduction

Let me first of all thank you for picking up this first book of mine. It’s normal to go through the book before you decide to buy it to add to your library. Why scan? We browse through because we want to see if we really need it. We want to find out if there is something specific for us. We want to find out if the book talks to us.

There are different reasons why authors write books, big and small. The common factor is that we all want to address something whether it is life skills, business, economics, history and so on. There are many different reasons. Some authors are fortunate because we buy them not their books. You buy a book because you know enough about the writer and have a fair idea of what you may get.

But, why this one? This is all about my life. Or should I say it is about life in general, including yours. Life has a definition. It is more than breathing in oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide. Look at the experiences. Look at growth, adjustments and movement. All of that is really exciting, more especially when we look back to reflect. Experiences form our lives.

Some experiences are scary, sad and bad. We may feel like running away from them or even consider disowning them as though we do not know them at all. They become strangers that are cursed and shouted at. We want to give a certain impression as if all is well. What is funny is that they form part of our lives, bad as they may be. It is not the whole picture but a section of it. It is so small that we do not have to completely hold fast to it. There is no point. It is something passing or something that we came across.

Others are colourful and bright. I am black. I have the front of my hand lighter than the back. Remember it’s common to have the backyard dirty as long as the front is clean. Why? We put people first and we live for them. We know what people want or expect. I am sure you know that. It’s common practice to smile when people mention the good things we have done. But they must be careful not to mention the bad side of our lives, including our failures.

Through this book, you will be able to understand life and its context. I hope. You will also appreciate and love creation with its mountains, rivers, valleys and plateaus. High mountains create a beautiful world. Think of that landscape that is so attractive to many. You hear people talking of a beautiful world, taking pictures to create beauty in their houses. What about our lives?

Our lives have a good, bright side as well as a bad side. That is a true reflection of our lives. It is not a life when all is well but it is a life we live anyway. Your life is your life even though you go through bad times. It is important to be able to deal with each and every situation you come across. Smile and cry but go forward, well informed about life and what to take out of it. Your heart beats so you have to live more than you occupy space.

The idea is to encourage ourselves, to be honest to ourselves, transparent, and congruent. If you can be honest, you have gone a long way. Dishonest people find it difficult to handle the lives of other people. They cannot connect with the reality. There is a difference between who we are and what we can do. A teacher has his life to look after. Even a preacher has his life to look after. It is important to balance the equation even though it is not easy. That, I know.

This book is about life and how we can appreciate all of it. If there is a problem, we look at it to find a way out. We know there is a way out of every situation in this world or in this life. Congruency is about trying to be outside what we are inside. It’s a combination of different disciplines. That is also not easy. Sometimes we discover later that we have lived other people’s lives because we are afraid of our own.

When a business falls, we know it will gather strength to grow again. When it falls, you cannot feel good. A strong man falls many times to win a fight. To be knocked down