When you are just one person, you can only do so much. As a family, you can do a little more. In God's plan for the restoration of His Kingdom here on earth, the instrument of change - gathered and empowered by the Holy Spirit - is the church. A group of imperfect people, flawed but given new hearts for God and for their neighbors, the church led by Jesus is a force for good wherever it is led.
Our church, though small by today's megachurch measurements, does a LOT here and around the world by itself. Our members do a lot themselves - individuals and groups sponsor over a dozen children through Compassion, World Vision, and other groups. I lost count of how many people donated immediately after the Haiti earthquake through the Red Cross, Samaritan's Purse, and others. We are givers. But we can only do so much.
20 of the buckets you see in the picture above came from the heart of New Hope. So as a result, we were able to feed 20 families in Haiti for a week or a little more. Awesome!
Our church belongs to an association of local Baptist churches. We're sort of the rebel of the group in that what we do doesn't sync often with what they do. But we hold core beliefs in common, and one of those core beliefs is that we cooperate to do more for people we'll never know. The result of that cooperation - through money, through time, through people - is that we are part of something big that God uses to care for people all around the world. In Haiti for example, over 60 tons of food have already been delivered by the SBC to Haiti. Thousands of medical exams and treatments have been given. Children and their families have been cared for and long term reconstruction teams are working right now to provide long term shelter before the rains come. They are working alongside Christians of all denominations, many of which who are doing the same sort of work. They work with whoever - Christian, Muslim, Jew, athiest, agnostic - is there to help the people of Haiti.
Horrible tragedies bring people together. God doesn't waste the opportunity to get the people who already love Him, and those He loves but don't love Him- together. We'll probably learn in heaven how He has used this event to gather more prodigals into the family.
When we work together, God smiles.
And New Hope's 20, added to our association's 700+, added to Florida's tens of thousands, added to the other state's, mean this - It's going to rain hope in Haiti. It'll come down in buckets. Hundreds of thousands of them. And families will know that God cares for them and has put His people on the problem.
Look friends, you can't do everything. But you can DO SOMETHING.
And as part of a local church, you can do more. Get plugged in. Don't just sit there. Do something!
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