Today was the long awaited Missions Sunday at GracePointe, our sponsoring congregation. The basic idea is to raise all of the money for missions for the entire year in one Sunday. GP supports us and also provides partial support for a missionary in Guatemala with Health Talents International, a medical mission organization. The final portion of GP's commitment to mission work is beginning a fund that can help our own members go out with the church's financial and spiritual support.
The missions committee set a goal of $75,000 for the financial support of these 3 goals. Needless to say, when you're trying to raise this much money, you never really know what will happen. Some people were very confident that we could raise this much cash, while others were a little more...nervous. It was definitely a challenge to everyone's faith, and we all learned alot about trusting in the Lord and sacrificial giving.
Our theme for the weekend was God's rain contrasted with God's reign. One sustains us physically, the other sustains us spiritually, and both are necessary to carry out God's purposes in the world.
So the whole time you've been reading this, you're probably thinking, "Ok, ok, tell us how much was raised already!" I can understand that. We have exhausted ourselves praying, planning, preparing, and working, and all the while we have wondered, sometimes aloud and other times secretly, "Can we really raise this much money in one Sunday?" GracePointe is a church of only about 300 people, and it takes more than just pulling the change out from underneath the cushions on the couch to raise $75,000. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He was gonna have to sell a few if we were going to reach the goal that was set. The committment to missions that GracePointe has made was tested by the Lord, and they passed, if you can call obliterating the goal just simply passing...
Ok, ok, we raised $105,000!!!God be praised, our brothers and sisters at GracePointe be thanked, and we ask everyone who knows and loves us to join in our rejoicing in this amazing blessing! The floodgates of heaven were opened on us and on our church. I've always loved playing in the rain...
5 comments:
Praise God that he chose this moment to solidify everyones faith. I know that money will be a blessing to everyone that it touches!
The "rain" of generosity last Sunday definitely showed us that God has ALWAYS intended for you to share His Word with the people of Togo...
Sometimes the "rain" is a cleansing agent and we are cleansed of any doubts for sure...
You go, sweet kids!
love and hugs, MOM and DAD E.
what a glorious testimony of God's strong arm holding you up.
It is like God decided to let you know how he feels about you going to Togo.
I mean, seriously, what more of a faith-building, confirming experience could you have asked for?
I remember when I was a kid wishing God would just materialize right in front of me and say, "Hey Mike, I'm real!" and then de-materialize so I would know this faith of mine is not in vain. As I've gotten older I've found that He actually does just that! Through things like this, He does it all the time. And this is one of the more obvious examples! I love you three!
--Mike
Your church gives money to missions. The missionaries come and speak to your church and you give because you're supposed to. But when you pray, work, and play along side the missionaries for a weekend (or 8 months) you give because their mission for God becomes your mission. You step out on the water and you give more than you can and you PRAY more than ever because you love these 3 blessings from God. They're your family.
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