The Nobility of Harvesting the Fruits of Hard Work

By Dr. Dess Amanu

There is incredible humility in harvesting the sweat of one’s own extreme hardwork and applying the proceeds to lovingly benefit others. Despite the devastating abject-poverty from which he suffered from his very birth to the end of his nineteenth birthday, Dr. Dess. received several award-winning educational credentials including recording historical first-time landmark achievements detailed in the book. His efforts bore extraordinarily fruitful blessings of outstanding professional jobs ending with a Doctorate in Ministry preceded by a Ph.D. in Business Administration. Such important issues as discipline, exhortation, inspiration, advice to commit to the doctrine of covenantal marriage bond, and motivation are critically reviewed and very encouraging reconciliatory recommendations have been offered in this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664256170

Dr. Dess Amanu

Dess. Amanu holds doctorate in Ministry from Oakland City University, USA. Relinquishing his admission to Kennedy School of Harvard University, God’s divine grace redirected him to Fordham University to be blessed with MBA. Immediately after graduation he joined the United Nations where he served for 18 more years. This was preceded by a 24-year servanthood services as professional Auditor; Finance Director; Chief, Finance and Budget; and, Controller, in four different prestigious international institutions abroad. Dess believes in the principles of humility which encourages that we must serve even without a payback benefit that we may deserve, noting that the loving God will prevail according to His Sovereign will.

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-5616-3 (sc)

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2022901494

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/04/2022

Contents

About The Author: Humility In Lovingly Serving Others

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1

The Outlook

This Testimony’s Central Theme – Extreme Hard Work

Noble Work Envisioned in Virginia’s First Charter

Chapter 2

The Author’s Humble Plea To Able-bodied Workers

Pleading For A Cause That Is Deserving

Lessons Shared To Encourage Energize and Exhort

Answering the Call with Humility

Determination To Handle It Never Made Me Retreat

Never, Ever, Submit to Defeatism

Chapter 3

The First Fruit of Hard Work

Turned Down for Not Dressing Down

Surprised But Not Deprived

The Test That Rewarded the Best

A Rigorous Test To Defeat

Passing the Test, Accepting a Job, the Greatest

Never Abandon a Job Well Done

Think Big but Yield — God Will Provide

Progress With Confidence

A Bond Of Friendship Through Hardwork Partnership

The Love In Which To Delve

The Opportunity Nearly Missed To Work Hard

Christ Honoring Sacred Marriage Bond

Chapter 4

The Second Fruit of Hard Work

Reneged, But Inspired to Supremely Succeed

Nearly Lost On Auditing Assignment

Lessons That Are Good, Given Only By God

Guarding The Tongue To Earn Godly Exhorting Hug

Converting Vanity to Good Christianity

Chapter 5

The Third Fruit of Hard Work

Aspiration Tested—Devotions Effectively Resolved

Nearly Killed But Spared Only By God’s Power Indeed

A Heinous Murder That Chased Away My Son To Look For Cover

A Company Bested in Superior Integrity

Succeeding Struggling To Supremely Enjoying.

Crossing the Bridge Helped Me to Gallantly Emerge

Tackling the Most Difficult Exams—Preparing for Success

Meritorious Award For A Historical Landmark Achieved.

Chapter 6

The Fourth Fruit of Hard Work

The Professional Job Hardwork Earned to Grab

The Gift of God is Never Questioned

Adoring the Salvaging God Is Mercifully Giving

Chapter 7

The Fifth Fruit of Hard Work

My Brokenness Rebuilt By My Meekness

God’s Providence Showing Up In Abundance

Saved in a Millisecond from Being Shot Dead

The Gift of God That He Blessed

The Transition: Enabling My Adoption

Legendary Biblical Education Greatly Helping Me To Settle-In

Chapter 8

The Sixth Fruit of Hard Work

The Education Applied To Mind Rejuvenation

Missing Education Of Harvard University To Receive Biblical Christianity

Preparing for a Healthy Sportive Lifestyle

Dr. Bezy: My Beloved Daughter And My Motivator

Redemptively Restored When In Christ I Professed

Believe It, So You Can Harvest It

The Teachings By Example That Made Me Truly Humble

The Road to My Doctorate the Lord Put In My Sight

God’s Blessing Never Goes Wrong

Chapter 9

Born To Be Spiritually Born Again Heading To Heaven

Conclusion

Glossary

Notes on Use of Scriptures

Bibliography

About The Author: Humility In

Lovingly Serving Others

Dess Amanu, founder and President of an international charitable nonprofit restorative care that restores dignity by caring for others, holds a doctorate degree in ministry from the accredited Chapman Seminary of Oakland City University, USA. To defend his doctorate, his project was titled: The Impact of the Minister of Reconciliation Upon Discipling For Evangelism: A Case Study of Selected Churches focusing on disciple multiplication according to the Great Commission in line with Matthew 28:16-20. Instead of letting him pursue the processing of his admission to Kennedy School of Harvard University, the grace of the Divine Providence led him to Fordham University to be blessed with an MBA, according to the plan of the living God. That plan with incredibly positive outcomes materialized.

After graduation, Dess was employed by the United Nations. He gratefully celebrates his longest extraordinarily committed and dedicated services of over eighteen years in the organization. Dess calls the United Nations my precious employer, where he rendered his most enjoyable, invaluable, dedicated and humble humanitarian services as a peacekeeping Chief Finance Officer (CFO). It was preceded by his twenty-four-years devoted extraordinarily committed and dedicated services with four humanitarian international organizations, two of them being United Nation’s overseas parastatal organizations.

Dess’s first incredibly energizing and gratifying part-time employment was as a Personal Assistant (PA) to the Secretary General of a Red Cross Society. To be employed at that capacity he had to convincingly pass rigorous historical exams, conducted personally by the Secretary General, named Onni Niskannen, from Sweden. With this organization, Dess very happily practiced tender humanitarian care with humility for two fruitful years. In the above-mentioned other four different prestigious international organizations, by directly reporting to the head of each organization over a period averaging six years each, Dess served as a full-time professional Auditor, Administration and Finance Director, Chief of Finance and Budget, and Controller.

Dess Amanu strongly believes in the godly blessed humility which encourages, energizes, exhorts, inspires and motivates us to serve even without the monetary benefit that we may deserve. It is only prudent and biblical to trust that the living God, that created and sustains the entire universe, will always prevail by His Sovereign will. The accountable, responsible and transparent role of human beings is to be the humbly obedient children of the living God whom He has already blessed. Also, to fruitfully build and maintain our relations with the Lord God, He gave us His written Word, which is truthfully a

"lamp to our feet and a light to our path."¹

Acknowledgements

My appreciation goes to my wife, Tarik Amanu, who ably endured our homemaking while I had to devote with dedication a huge chunk of my time to writing this testimony. I am also grateful to Bill and his wife Lois Spruill for their help in editing. Mrs. Lura Giordano did the preliminary editing for which I am thankful.

Abbreviations

Foreword

Having known Dr. Dess Amanu professionally and personally for several years, I had been given the privilege of reviewing the first part of his testimony in his other book titled The Humility of Multiple Blessings. That thrilling book enlightened me about his extreme dedication to be educated, elaborating the enormous level of unbearable hardships he encountered.

Dess had achieved unprecedented remarkable successes as manifested in the blessings of his outstanding educational award-winning achievements that were bestowed upon him by the grace of the loving God. I strongly felt that the testimony he articulated in that book presented an awesome role model to be followed by any generation, secular or religious entity. I was rather eager to hear what the final part of his testimony would furnish. My inquisition was answered in this inspirationally titled testimony – The Nobility of Harvesting the Fruits of Hard Work.

The testimony in this book clearly revealed to me how much the loving God mercifully restores his children from down under the ashes of destruction into superabundant successes in many ways. This is especially visible in the aspect of spirituality – the divine restoration and healing of the broken relations between humanity and the Triune God. Given the fact that Dr. Dess had invested in his education to achieve excellence by gallantly overcoming the enormous struggles – scourging, mostly naked and barefoot, often hungry and thirsty – the revelation in this testimony manifests the results of his blessed efforts in that part of the season of his life.

From this book one learns earnestly that hard work is beneficial when it is genuinely performed with integrity and transparency, but without submission to any kinds of failures. Dess believes that any fearful submission to demonic temptations can deceptively lead to an unwanted defeatism. It is crucially important to trust in the living God and value our own contributions to be the bed-rock foundation of successes when the providence of the Lord God is fully in it. The only thing work cannot produce is grace, which is an undeserved free gift from the merciful God to those He elects that eventually produce spiritual fruits via such grace through faith in Christ alone.

Dr. Dess presents with humility a testimony that remarkably leads the readers to an exemplary role model of an extreme hard work the example of which many people may want to adopt and pursue in order not to surrender to defeatism. Extreme hard work promotes seriousness in devotion and dedication performed as a noble principle to overcome even the overwhelming challenges often bordering all kinds of toughest persecutions. All who read this thrilling testimony clearly see humility relentlessly applied in its practical terms from beginning to end.

In one occasion, Dess was awarded a meritorious promotion by his employer to go from one overseas country to another to claim the promotion. On the day of travel to claim his promotion at his new destination, he was in the process of loading his heavily stacked items in the luggage that he had to take with him to the new location where the promotion was to come into effect. In the process of loading the luggage on a vehicle to head towards the airport he terribly fell on the ground under the weight of the suitcases.

His two legs went apart to the opposite extreme direction. It was so life-threatening that an emergency ambulance had to be called to take him to the hospital where he had to be under intense treatment for some time. The accident eventually ended up in motivating Dr. Dess to pursue the recommended recovery regime through athletics. Dedicated pursuit of the Doctor’s directives resulted in making him intensively develop ten such athletics skills as playing badminton, basketball, lawn tennis, pickle ball, running, soccer, table tennis, swimming, walking, and volley ball.

Dr. Dess persistently had a series of amazing events in his life that almost always brought him down but eventually ending in bringing him back up stronger again without submitting to any kinds of defeatism. In almost all cases the seeming failures ended up becoming even the best motivators for his incredible successes. This surely happened as a result of genuine commitment to extreme hard work with which the loving true God had blessed him. It is abundantly clear from the Word of God in Proverbs 12:11 and 13:4 that respectively says,

A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies has no sense. Lazy people want much but get little; but those who work hard will prosper.¹

Also, his high class international professional employment, including professional auditing, made him remain persistently committed to justice, fairness, and immaculate integrity.

At one stage, Dr. Dess Amanu was nearly killed by an employee who practiced thievery. As the person wanted to carry out such unbiblical acts, Dess firmly stood in favor of what was right, accountable, responsible and transparent. When he caught that employee deceptively stealing his organization’s funds, for which he was responsible as the Director of Administration and Finance, the thief wanted to cover up by maliciously killing his own immediate supervisor and ran to do the same against Dr. Dess. Praisefully, he was dramatically spared by the timely arrival of Law Enforcement Officers at the scene to save Dess’s life merely by the Divine providential will. Justice took care of the thief in a couple of weeks by the then existing capital punishment.

What a testimony! When one reads through it all, one can’t help to notice the way his own prestigious employer reneged on the promises to advance his education by sending him abroad for furthering his education. When the reneger persisted, the Divine Providence instantly provided Dess with even a supremely beneficial long-term employment with a more prestigious organization. This kind of amenity almost looked like the living God was continuously blessing Dr. Dess to smoothly sail through so many enormous difficulties that he encountered in almost all seasons of his life.

But, the grace showered upon Dess is huge. These include being called and led to spiritually develop and grow to maturity by being on the secured lane of sanctification with faithful certainty to end with glorification upon the glorious return of our Lord, Jesus Christ. As I conclude, I would rather leave to the readers to enjoy the rest of this outstanding and incredibly fascinating testimony that almost looked like the biblical king David who went against the gigantic Goliath and overcame the enormous hurdles. Even when there is no similarity in physical activities in the kind that king David overcame, as described in 1 Samuel 17, the incredible bravery and integrity by which Dr. Dess was enabled to successfully overcome the extremely challenging and often tragic episodes and giant series of malice in negative bureaucracies, is quite amazing, to say the least.

It is my honor to earnestly introduce by reiterating, with utmost humility, The Nobility of Harvesting the Fruits of Hard Work that emphatically relays to any generation the most exhortative, inspiring and motivational spirit to help us all maximize on the application of his dedicated and devoted life style of such role-model as Dr. Dess Amanu. His commitment to extreme hard work is something many people would value and apply it in their lives. They will realize that failures and hardships of any magnitude do not mean much so long as people can positively interpret them and apply their potentials of heavily contributing to successes. The absolute necessity is in faithfully believing in what we are doing, from where the loving, living and merciful God turns it around to beneficial outcomes for His own glory.

Workineh Torben, Ph.D., Asst. Professor, Microbiology; Author/Co-author of more than 33 Scientific Articles, and Review of some Scientific Journals and NIH Grants, Louisiana State University, USA.

Preface

The Nobility of Harvesting The Fruits of Hard Work is presented as a sequel to complement the testimony the other part of which has been provided in my other book titled The Humility of Multiple Blessings. Even though I do not claim to be a prolific writer, my humble determination to accountably give readers the entirety of my testimony played a key role in writing this book. My humility in accountability emanates from the extensive education with which I was blessed in my university’s core accounting disciplines of accountability, responsibility, transparency and stewardship, (a.r.t.s).

Also, I must say that the revelations in this testimony could exhortatively inspire, motivate, energize, and stimulate honest aspirations of those who energetically face them with humbly determined willingness. The testimony in the two books may also equip readers to passionately focus on a well-grounded, bible-based, and doctrinally sound spiritual development, growth and maturity by maximizing the use of every gift bestowed upon us all. A Christian is expected to face persecutions that may end with positive outcomes; or it may not be the case. One may consider extreme hard work a type of persecution? Not really! We should not think maliciously. To warn us against such feelings, Peter’s first letter, 2:1 says that we must:

Put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.¹

The harder we work, the more inputs we make to the society’s production pool. We may end up being the beneficiaries. In the first Corinthians letter verse 3:2, God’s command says

I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready for you are still of the flesh. ²

It could be considered that we are still of the flesh when we are disobedient to God’s commands. But we have been given authority over all creations of God, which requires working to keep up with our responsibilities with distinguishable accountability supported by transparency. Surely, working hard is a sign of maturity in taking on serious accountability with responsible transparency. Peter’s exhortation comes from 1 Peter 2: 20-21:

If when we do good and suffer for it we endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you