“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong; that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.” Romans 1:8-13
A couple of days ago, I wrote about those unexpected witnesses who came along side you while on your journey. Who might they have been? A spouse, a friend or perhaps a stranger? Today, I want to ask if you have ever met a missionary? The apostle Paul was a missionary. The online dictionary shares that a ‘missionary’ is someone who leaves their home and goes to live, work and witness in another location. It doesn’t mention anything about them sharing the Holy Gospel or healing a disease, helping them build a school or putting a meal on their table at lunch time.
I hope that you have had an opportunity to meet a missionary and that they have been a blessing to you and your earthly journey. The three Haitian children in the attached photo are missionaries from the Lutheran School in Ouanaminthe, Haiti. They are young but with your help, they will be very wonderful missionaries to their neighbors who have not yet heard the saving message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Their colorful wrist bands tell the story of creation, baptism, death, resurrection and salvation; the saving message is easy to understand in ways that can only be told by a child to another child or their parents or grandparents. These three would probably have been favorites of the Apostle Paul; they are favorites of mine because they will be spreading the Gospel message to the lost throughout Haiti in the coming decades.
Thank you for supporting missionary preparation through Trinity HOPE; it only takes a quarter to provide a hot lunch for one of these Kingdom builders. Consider for a moment that one small quarter could be all that it takes to keep one precious life out of satan’s grips. One small coin in the right place could win a soul for Christ; that is a God thing and we just can’t begin to fully understand or appreciate the slogan, “ain’t God good?”
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, 8not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay