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PRAYERFULLY PLAN a PROCESS. Include PEOPLE. Lots of them. Even strangers. Risk PRIVILEGE. Use your POWER for good. Assess where you are now. Move ahead from here. Do the next right thing. ONWARD.

This week, FINALLY, Jerusalem! 3 days in Jerusalem listening, gaining perspective of residents, building trust. Then, Nehemiah does his own assessment before he formulates a plan. Gets to work. Doesn’t wait until there is a fully licensed construction crew with detailed blueprints and a color palate everyone likes.

Nehemiah 2:1 – 3:18* I went to Jerusalem and stayed there for three days. Then at night I took a few other people with me to check out the walls. I hadn’t told anyone what my God wanted me to do for Jerusalem. There weren’t any donkeys with me except the one I was riding on. *Some names are redacted for ease of listening. I also left out references to their father’s names for speed of listening.

That night I went out through the Valley Gate That night I went out through the Valley Gate. I went toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate. I checked out the walls of Jerusalem. They had been broken down. I also checked the city gates. Fire had burned them up.

I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool. But there wasn’t enough room for my donkey to get through. It was still night. I went up the Kidron Valley. I kept checking the wall. Finally, I turned back. I went back in through the Valley Gate.

The officials didn’t know where I had gone or what I had done The officials didn’t know where I had gone or what I had done. … I said to them, “You can see the trouble we’re in. Jerusalem has been destroyed. Fire has burned up its gates. Come on. Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Then people won’t be ashamed anymore.” I also told them how my gracious God was helping me. And I told them what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let’s start rebuilding.” So they began that good work.

Eli the high priest and the other priests went to work Eli the high priest and the other priests went to work. They rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They set it apart to God. They put its doors in place. They continued to rebuild the wall up to the Tower of the Hundred. They set the tower apart to God. Then they continued to rebuild the wall all the way to the Tower of Han. Some men from Jericho rebuilt the next part of the wall. And Zak rebuilt the next part. He was the son of Imri.

The sons of Hass rebuilt the Fish Gate. They laid its beams The sons of Hass rebuilt the Fish Gate. They laid its beams. They put in place its doors with their metal bolts and bars. Mer repaired the next part of the wall. … Next to Mer, Mesh made some repairs. … Next to Mesh, Zak also made some repairs. ... Some men from Tek repaired the next part of the wall. But their nobles refused to do any work at all. They didn’t pay any attention to the people who were in charge of the work.

Joe and Mesh repaired the Jesh Gate. … They laid the beams of the gate Joe and Mesh repaired the Jesh Gate. … They laid the beams of the gate. They put in place its doors with their metal bolts and bars. Next to them, some men from Gibeon and Mizpah made repairs. They included Mel from Gibeon and Jadon from Mer. Those places were under the authority of the governor of the land west of the Euphrates River.

Uz repaired the next part of the wall Uz repaired the next part of the wall. He made his living by working with gold. … Han made repairs on the next part. He made his living by making perfume. So the wall of Jerusalem was made like new again all the way to the Broad Wall. Reph repaired the next part. … Reph ruled over half of the territory where Jerusalem was located. Jed repaired the part of the wall that was across from his house. … Hatt made repairs next to Jed. … Mal and Hass repaired another part of the wall. They also repaired the Tower of the Ovens.

… Shal repaired the next part. His daughters helped him … Shal repaired the next part. His daughters helped him. … Shal ruled over the other half of the territory where Jerusalem was located. Han repaired the Valley Gate. Some people who lived in Zan helped him. They rebuilt it. They put in place its doors with their metal bolts and bars. They also repaired 1,500 feet of the wall. They repaired it all the way to the Dung Gate.

This is a very specific text! NAMES! Everyone is in. Everyone matters. names of their fathers names of their neighbors the tools they used the exact portion of the work they did where they were from work they did normally (jewelry? perfume?)

Everyone had a part. The repairs are done by all the people, not just the handymen. Some sections are repaired by family groups, others by towns or craft guilds. Other parts are worked on by the merchants and some by the priests. Some sections were probably better done than others! This was a shared mission. No one shouldered the load alone. They worked together.

4:6 “So we rebuilt the wall 4:6 “So we rebuilt the wall. We repaired it until all of it was half as high as we wanted it to be. The people worked with all their heart.” “The house that is built is better than the house that is dreamed, for the house that is built is real.” (Joanne Hackett, my MIL) Whole-hearted work counts for more than excellent results. Keep working.