Pastor's Corner

13 Nov
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Mid-Week Challenge

With all of the negative news we hear in the media today Christians often wonder if their efforts are making a difference.  Some have asked, “why bother?”  Many times we focus on the big picture and miss all the little victories happening around us.  At this time of year we all have an opportunity to make a real difference in our world with minimal money and effort.  Christians have been helping Samaritan’s Purse make a difference in the lives of boys and girls around the world since 1993 by supplying more than 150 million shoeboxes through Operation Christmas Child.  Operation Christmas Child is an annual event in which volunteers pack shoeboxes with gifts – with everything from toiletries to toys – for children around the world. Samaritan’s Purse then distributes the boxes to children along with the Gospel.  An easy way to make a difference, but is it really working?   Alex Nsengimana says yes! Alex is now a young man who fled the Rwandan genocide as a boy where he saw his family killed along with as many as 800,000 people.  He was bounced from family to family, each seeing the horror of the 1994 genocide of his people.  He was left bitter and angry at God. By the end of the genocide he found himself in an orphanage and it was there that Samaritan’s Purse brought him a shoebox.  Alex was eventually adopted by a family in Minnesota where he committed his life to Christ.  Alex spends his time now traveling around the world telling other Christians just how important that box was to him at that time in his life.  “Just having something that we could call our own – that we could play with and that could take our minds off of what happened during the war – receiving that shoebox was just the beginning of my faith. It reminded us that someone out there cared for us,” Nsengimana said.  Alex has returned to the Rwandan orphanage where he grew up to help distribute shoeboxes to children.  “God is going to use that box. It reminds me how blessed I was when I received my box. “Life is tough, but God is still faithful,” he said.  https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/michael-foust/rwandan-genocide-survivor-god-used-a-christmas-shoebox-to-save-me-as-a-child.html

Our church has been a part of these efforts for more than 10 years and each year we have seen the goal number grow.  Now we are being introduced to the men and women who were the boys and girls when we started.  God uses what the world considers little for something big.  It made a difference in Alex’s life, how many more like him are out there; how many more are yet to be reached?

Pray over each item as you pack your box.  Imagine how the boy or girl will respond when it is opened.  Pray for the minister who will share the Gospel with them.  God is using you in a powerful way!  Find encouragement in that truth today!   

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.  Philippians 1:3-5

Serving the Savior 

Bro. Jonathan

By: Dr. Jonathan Richerson

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