Accommodations

Often people think that because we're in Africa we must be living in a tent, a mud hut, or in the bush... however, the reality is we are living quite large - ESPECIALLY compared to the common man in Ethiopia. To help everyone get a better picture of where we are and how we are living, here is a visual guide.

This is our bedroom at the SIM Guesthouse. We have our own room - such a blessing, a bed, a dresser, a closet, a desk, a side table, a window, and two lamps. The bathroom/shower situation is community style... separate stalls, but all in the same area like a summer camp. Hot water, toilets, wonderful things.

Here are additional photos I took while standing on the 3rd floor of one of the government offices. See the mountains in the distance, beautiful... and the homes all below. These are nicer homes... the last picture shows a common street home - see the blue tarp - very common. I'll work to get some additional photos maybe of the living conditions, but often you cannot understand until you see with your own eyes. We are blessed - VERY BLESSED and too often we take it for granted.

Another Day

Today (Thursday) has been a tough one for me. I did not sleep well last night, waking with a nightmare or two (odd, before last night I couldn't tell you the last time I had one of those) and unfortunately woke up with a timid and somewhat upset stomach this morning. It has continued most of the day, although I have not thrown up, nor feel as if I need to. I just feel a bit unsettled, a little nauseous, and super tired (NO - I'm not pregnant).

Desiring to hopefully work through the uneasiness of my body, I went ahead and started the day as normal. By 2pm or so, I was not feeling better. I decided to give my body what it seemed to be craving - REST. I got dropped off at the guesthouse, came up to the room and slept until Mr. McGoo arrived at 6pm (3hr nap). I'm still feeling exhausted and a bit unsettled, but am praying I'm like new in the morning.

Although I missed it, today we had our second girls football session. It was scheduled for yesterday and many girls came with great anticipation, but we had to cancel yesterday due to the length of the community coaches meeting that was behind held at Onesimus. I had a chance to sit with all the girls for a quick bit and let them know about the cancellation, the reason for it, and the expectation of tomorrow (today). I gave them an overview of what we'd work on: communication with your teammates, passing, dribbling, a few games/scrimmages, and if they were "good", I might have a prize for them. They were a little disappointed about missing Wednesday, but definitely looked forward to today. I told them that we'd "leave the boys behind and go have a good time". :)

Thankfully, Mr. McGoo took over for me today with the session. I bet he'll say a little about that on a future blog of his own, but I'm thankful that he's in the know, probably more than me anyway, and was able to utilize the time and not disappoint!

To leave today's post on a bit more positive note, yesterday (Wed), I brought out the "big" camera and started taking JUMPING PICTURES with the children and staff. HILARIOUS as always, and they ALL got a huge kick out of it. Here are some for me to share... I'm planning on trying to get copies of these printed for the folks because I have a feeling they'd be more than excited to show it off to others.

Thank you for your prayers.

Please continue to pray that there is LESS OF ME and Mr. McGoo and MORE of Christ showing through and in us to each child, adult, and random person we are in contact with. God is definitely at work and we want to be ready and available as a vessel for Him as He chooses. Thank you!

We're headed out of Addis Ababa tomorrow (Friday) to Lake Awassa with Nega (director of Onesimus) and his wife, Emu (also works in the Onesimus ministry leg/department). We are looking forward to seeing Ethiopia outside of the city of Addis Ababa. The lake is about 4 hours away and we're praying that this time not only gives us an opportunity to further invest in our relationship with these two amazing people, but that God also uses this time to recharge their batteries, spoil them a bit, offer them rest, and gives them time away from distraction to connect with each other! We should be blogging and updating while there, but just in case internet becomes touch and go we'll be gone from Friday until Monday! Until we meet again.


UPDATE: Feeling MUCH better now. Thank you for your prayers. Taking it easy, eating some dinner, and getting some liquids have seemed to make a big difference, but I imagine prayers have done the most. We've enjoyed a night skyp'ing with our little sis and TFC friends, as well as playing cards with Kelly D - she just left to head back home to the US. Please keep her and her travels in your prayers.

CHILDLIKE

Out of all the things that I experienced today, one thing in particular has me pondering tonight. Twice today, while driving to and from destinations I saw children playing on the street with a self made tetherball. I'm talking about finding a pole to utilize and some rope and any circular/round ball type object (never a TRUE ball, I'd imagine that is too difficult an item to find, too much a prized possession by those who have them) that could be found would be attached. They were playing what we'd call Tetherball with what they could find. It struck me the first time I saw it, but by the second I began to ache a little. How many children, heck how many adults, no let me get really real with what I was feeling, how often do I sit on my tail end and watch tv and veg like a bum, or neglect or take for granted the many forms of entertainment I have at my disposal at home - board games, card games, internet, computer games, Wii games, soccer ball to grab whenever I want, a basketball goal nearby to play, etc, etc, etc. How much have I taken for granted in my own home, while children EVERYWHERE (just gotta look outside of our own neighborhoods to find them) are grasping to use their imagination to make some sort of entertainment for themselves. Everything inside of me wanted to jump out of the car and hand them a new toy, a real ball, a coloring book, or something... but they were playing - the game was working. After my urge to jump out of the car and head their way, I realized that they were PLAYING, they were acting like children, and to see that here, out on the street even, it made me smile. Too often here, and in many places of the world, children are not given the luxury of being children very often. You have children raising other children, fending for themselves, and more horrific things than we might want to think of... but these children, in that moment, were children.

That concept is one reason (of many) I love this organization so much... not only are they working to help the community at large to be able to help themselves, not only are they providing and sharing the everlasting hope of Christ, and the many many many other things they are doing, but they also provide a chance and opportunity for the children within the ministry to be just that - CHILDREN!!!! Such a beautiful thing! How are we to come to Jesus with childlike faith or "receive the kingdom of God like a little child" , as He says in the gospel of Mark, chapter 10, if we were never granted a childhood or a moment of childlike-ness?! I'm not saying that if someone lacks a childhood then they are doomed as far as their relationship with Christ is concerned, rather I'm saying how much more beneficial for someone reading this verse to grasp the Lord's meaning of "like a child" IF and WHEN they've experienced days like a child?!!!

So that's my soapbox. Sorry. I'm not surrounded by the distractions of "daily life" in America right now, so it becomes easier at times to hear God speaking or YELLING sometimes at me - truths I know, but do I live like I KNOW?!

Today, as Mr. McGoo mentioned on his post, we were able to inventory all of the gear/donations and it was FABULOUS and such a blessing. THANK YOU - THANK YOU to all who gave. I cannot tell you how many "Wow!!!!"'s we got during our inventory. We also began our first session of Sports Ministry with the girls. And, although the session did not go as planned or the way I thought it might during our preparations, THE GIRLS LOVED IT! They were so happy. They were able to play football, they were able to go play, while the boy beneficiaries stayed behind, a role reversal for sure, and before the sessions was nearly complete, I already had many asking, "tomorrow?!". And with that in mind, I will say that today's event was awesome - regardless of how it would compare to a session on the States, it doesn't matter - the girls loved it. We had 15 participating and I wouldn't be surprised if more joined tomorrow after the others begin to talk. We focused on dribbling, passing, and trapping the ball on a "field". I'll be sure to get Mr. McGoo to snatch a photo of the "field" because EVERY descriptive thought in your brain right now is wayyyy off. But we were blessed for the square footage and the flatness of the area.

Today was a good day! May God be glorified through every little bit - less of me and more of Him! Thank you for your prayers!!! I think we both might be meeting with the government tomorrow, definitely Mr. McGoo is going. Onesimus wants to continue to show the government how serious they are about sports ministry and showing how foreigners have come to assist will help their cause and hopefully help them continue to win favor from the government. In addition, Mr. McGoo will sit in and speak at the community coaches meeting tomorrrow. Pray that as he's able to share about himself and his knowledge of sports and coaching that he'll be able to present his faith fluidly within and the Spirit can plant a seed or begin to water what has already begun! GOD IS GOOD!

Mr. McGoo and some of the kiddos that cannot get enough of him. He spent over an hour watching and playing table tennis with them, you could tell it filled them with pride to have him watching.

After the soccer session with the girls, Alemeyu - in charge of ministry and leading the sports ministry, gave the girls a good summing up discussion of the day.

Lunch time in the Drop-In Center. In Ethiopia, during lunch time, all the children leave school and go home to eat - a select few in the Onesimus ministry are selected to eat at the drop-in center should they meet the necessary need and criteria.

Faith and Deeds and Ethiopia

Monday morning, we made our way to the Drop-in Center for Onesimus. We had plans to use this day solely as a rest day and work to get our bodies up to par with the climate change, time change, etc, but we decided to begin taking baby steps in order to get our bodies into the correct time zone and schedule. We first had breakfast at the our place of residence, the SIM Guesthouse, then headed out the door about 830am (1130pm CST). The center looks so nice and clean - the team had a cleaning day a few days prior to our arrival and the hard work really showed. Because all of the children (for the most part) are in school during the day, the mornings at the Drop-in Center are a cherished and quiet time period for the staff. It is a few hours available for them to get extra work off their desks done and most importantly do a devotion time together and sing praises to God. We were able to be a part of that experience Monday morning, and I am so thankful.

The staff are currently reading through the book of James. We read chapter 2 verses 14-26. It was beautiful to hear the reading of the Word in Amharic while Mr. McGoo and I and Kelly D. followed along in our own English Bibles. I couldn't help but find myself smiling... thinking that this is what it's all about, different languages all around reading the same TRUTH and sharing in the same HOPE of Christ. Gives me chills. We had an awesome discussion, mostly in Amharic, with translations here and there and our English input at times too, regarding what James tells us about the inter-relationship between faith and deeds. It was so cool to hear the staff talk about the Ethiopian church and the challenge that they face in which many praise and sing on Sunday - looking to worship our God, but lack the praise and worship within their daily lives. We discussed how James seems to pinpoint the need for daily worship through our actions. If we believe, we should be showing that belief in physical ways. People should see our deeds and God be glorified through them. Ironic how we can say the same thing about the church in America - lots of folks in the pews - but are we changing the world? Are we as a church (am I) pursuing the things of Christ? Awesome stuff. We even discussed how it is easy for folks to desire to discount with James says here in regards to faith and deeds, because in Galatians its says "by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit", to which our friends so eloquently stated... faith and deeds are two different sides of the same coin - you cannot separate the two. YES, we are saved by faith and faith alone, however James challenges us to say if you have faith but no deeds, no fruit coming out of your life, is there really any faith at all?
SUCH GOOD STUFF and a constant challenge for me. Yeah, I'm here in Africa, in Ethiopia for 16 days... but what does my life look like the other 340+ days?! Is the Spirit pouring out of me in word and deed? And then I'm left with two statements I've read in the last day or so in the book: The Hole in Our Gospel...

"Are you willing to be open to God's will for your life?"

"...God expects us to serve Him on His terms-not ours. (Luke 9:57-62)"


So after our morning devotion with the staff at the Drop-in Center, we took time to plan a bit for the weeks ahead with Nega and Alemeyu (we call him Alex most of the time) and then we simply enjoyed the children around us. We loved on them, helped teach a few of them how to properly shoot a basketball, had my hair breaded (uhhh... crazy hair picture after the fact - taking breads out of your hair after 8 hours or so makes for a Mufasa looking fro on this white girl... think 80's crimpy look but will more poof - photo below), and ate lunch. We then headed back to the guesthouse to rest up - meaning a 3.5 hour nap for Mr. McGoo and a 2hour nap for me - much needed! We then enjoyed a great dinner with 4 of our Ethiopian friends.

Check this... you think your money cannot make a difference - here is proof how the rest of the world does not live off the same amount we do in America - we paid for the meal for all 7 of us. Seven people: one pizza, two big burgers and french fries, a club sandwich and fries, and a large traditional Ethiopian dish, 8 cokes/Sprites in a glass bottle (no free refills), 4 machiottos, and 1 tea.... ready... LESS THAN 20 USD. Seriously!

PROOF that your $5 per month to TFC (www.theforsakenchildren.org) can make an amazing difference here. We ALL have something to give, whether to this organization or another - YOU have something to give.

After dinner we made our way back to the guesthouse and Kelly D. and I enjoyed playing cards together. We both have hubbies that do not play, so an extended game of Rummy was GREAT FUN for us both. Mr. McGoo laughed at our dorkiness, but nothing is new with with that, right?

And then we experienced something more cultural than we have ever before... the three of us (me, Mr. McGoo, and Kelly D) made our way with Nega and his brother, Mande to a restaurant at almost 11pm. The city was silent as we drove, no one was to be seen, and then we arrived to this hole in the wall place. A place, in Memphis no one would go into on their own - dark, secluded, filled with people... Nega went inside first to make sure there was room and then invited as all in... although we were the only farengies (sp?- what Ethiopians call white people or foreigners) in the place, we were all there for one purpose: Arsenal vs. Manchester United football match. Kelly D. and I were the only women in the place and even though we found a small corner to sit into, we were stared at regularly until the lights were turned out for the match. It was a cool experience. A dungeon/basement like environment, complete with the musty smell and more chairs put out than the room could actually hold (US fire marshals would have had a field day with this one)... but it was fun. Intense at times as ManU scored, or Arsenal came close... fun and a true cultural experience.

So today is another day... we should start our soccer camp/sessions for the girls this afternoon. Below are some photos to share.

The staff of Onesimus on their clean up day - photo thanks to Kelly D

Coffee and Welcome Ceremony

Hanging out with some of the halfway home girls during the coffee ceremony - they didn't have school Monday

Cannot get enough of goofy pictures - the girls LOVED this face by Mr. McGoo



Mufasa, need I say more?



Star Trek photo - for Kelly D and KC



Machiotto - YUM, I love!

Ethiopia Flights & Arrival

After 20 hours in a plane and a couple layovers (Chicago and Istanbul) adding additional travel time, the McGoo's are now safe and sound in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is so good to be here. Everything seems so familiar as if we haven't left that long ago. Staying at the same place we did this June, the SIM Guesthouse probably has a lot to do with helping it feel like "home" and then you add the people we know and adore and it's like maybe we never left at all.

The journey here was long, but thankfully successful. We did have our fair share of interesting occurrences along the way... First, we met new friends during our Chicago layover... Kelly is the founder of Ordinary Hero (www.ordinaryhero.org) that was established in Nashville, TN and now has an international leg of their ministry also. She was traveling to Addis Ababa with her daughter, Lauren, and sister Kristi. We were told to keep an eye out for these gals by a friend, but before we knew it Kristi found me with my Amazima Ministries (www.amazima.org/) t-shirt on and we began talking before we ever knew we were the ones each other was supposed to find. As God would have it, we even had seats on the same row together for our flight to Istanbul. It was a nice treat on our journey. Unfortunately that flight didn't go as delightful as it began, and our second interesting occurrences occurred leading up to our landing. Maybe the pilot forgot to take us down to a certain altitude prior to needing to be there, or bad weather forced the issue, I'm not sure. Regardless, somehow the plane when from high to low more quickly than I've ever experienced, and to top it off at the lower level we experienced bad turbulence. So combine a quick drop with shaking and you get a bunch of uneasy stomachs rumbling. I even felt it. Unfortunately it got the best of a large number of our cabin mates and before we knew it, our new Ordinary Hero friends had someone puking in front of them - multiple, I mean multiple times - and then we had someone behind us do the same... to which I believe the entire cabin experienced here and there - wow! Thirdly, our flight from Istanbul to Addis Ababa had us sit in the plane for over an hour before they could get clearance to take off. Needless to say, we left Memphis at 430pm, headed to Chicago - arrived around 6something-pm. We took off from Chicago to Istanbul around 9-10pm, flew 10.5 hours. Had about 45min to get some coffee and walk in the Istanbul airport before boarding, sat 1 hour before departure in the plane, then flew another 5.5 hours to Ethiopia. Our flight was scheduled to arrive at 1:10am in Ethiopia... due to the delay it was 3am Sunday Ethiopia time before we hit customs and about 4am when we got settled into bed.

Now that we're here... we slept this morning from 4am-1030am... then dosed on and off throughout the early afternoon until a late lunch at 2pm. Ate with Kelly Dawson, who has been here a week already and was on our mission trip team in June. We've enjoyed lunch, a soccer match, and dinner and were able to see a few of the kids we've grown attached to during the football match. Now it's time to hit the hay. Thank you for your prayers!!!

A few photos for ya below.



Our New Ordinary Hero Friends - http://www.ordinaryhero.org/

 

Here are two of the halfway home girls - Aster and Hanna



Goofy Photo, What Else 





Loving on Ruth



This is what a 4am bedtime after 20+ hours in a plane and traveling more than one full day straight looks like...JETLAG



Covered In Prayer As We Go

One of the things Mr. McGoo and I are most grateful about as we depart for our next journey to Ethiopia tomorrow is the reality that we know we are covered in prayer as we go. Friends, family, Sunday School classmates, coworkers, and beyond are calling on the Lord to do His will throughout our time in Addis Ababa. There is a peace and a comfort that comes with such covering.... being reminded that it's not about us, nor about our power to accomplish anything... such freedom in that, because we know how unequipped we can be. We are so thankful.

Above is the prayer list we've put together and sent out for our time in Ethiopia... listing specific ways we are asking God to move during the next 16-26 days. Thank you for lifting those items up.

While thinking of prayer and how thankful and blessed we are to have such a strong support group around us, lifting us and The Forsaken Children/Onesimus ministry up, I came upon this chapter of John... as I read over these words in scripture... my heart began to smile. I'm so thankful for God's promises and how He is always with us!

Thank you for your prayers!

John 17

 ¹ After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:    “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ² For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

    ⁶ “I have revealed you^[a] to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰ All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of^[b] your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by^[c] that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.   ¹³ “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. ¹⁴ I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. ¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by^[d] the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
    ²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.   ²⁴ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

   ²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I have made you^[e] known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Advent Conspiracy

Worship Fully - Spend Less - Give More - Love All

It's kind of ironic that I'm doing this post just one post after our Carpe Deal'em, Black Friday splurge purchases... however I think the ideas behind "seizing the deal" are right in line with what I'm about to talk about... It's about saving money. It's about getting the same great items for much less costs. I'll get back to that in a bit. It's about spending time with family/friends while doing it and the energetic drive of it all.

Our dear friends, the Dunlap's have had an amazing year of the Lord revealing His will to them in regards to the orphan crisis and our responsibility as believers and followers of Christ to care for the "least of these" in Fall of 2009. This September, in response to their revelation, they were able to bring their little boy, Yohannes home from Ethiopia. For them, caring for the least of these was adopting and now continuing to advocate for those in need... and it doesn't have to look like that for everyone, but we can ALL make a difference and do as Jesus says in Matthew 25, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me". Like me, Mrs. Dunlap and company have not been able to look at the world and the typical American way the same as before their journey began. No longer can we just sit and say "this is the way it is"... instead, God continues to shows us ways we can make His name known and care for the least of these, somewhat taking us out of the "typical way" of doing things lately in the US.

I'll let Mrs. Dunlap say it herself here, because I'm in total agreement:

To be honest, Christmas feels a little different for me this year.  I’m completely over the whole commercialization of the season.  Don’t get me wrong.  I like to decorate, I enjoy riding around with the kids looking at all the lights, spending time with family is great, etc.  I just think (like many things in our culture) that it’s so excessive.  There are people all over the world literally dying every single day, and we’re busy decorating multiple Christmas trees in our warm, cozy houses and running from party to party and store to store to find the “perfect” gift.  It’s estimated that America spends $450 billion every Christmas.  That is some serious money.  Instead of over-indulging or purchasing obligatory gifts, think about how many lives could be changed with that money.  Since Christmas is the time of year when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, shouldn’t we ask ourselves how He would want us to celebrate?  Several months ago, I ran across the Advent Conspiracy website, and I LOVE the ideas promoted there.  If you haven’t seen this video, check it out:



We’re still buying gifts for our kids and other family members this year, but we’re scaling way back.  We’re also trying to purchase more fair trade gifts & gifts with a purpose.  For example . . . to be able to give a great gift AND help a woman in Ethiopia leave a life of prostitution because she has a real, sustainable, dignified job is AMAZING, and those are the kinds of gifts we want to give this year.  Seeing poverty first-hand in Ethiopia and Haiti this year has changed our perspective a bit lot, and we’re not willing to ignore the reality that exists all over the world anymore.  What about you?  Are you doing anything different this Christmas season?  Do you know of good fair trade companies we can help support?  Tomorrow I’ll be posting about some that I’ve come across recently, so stay tuned!

Seriously take the time to check out the quick video embedded there... should we be okay with that - should we be able to sleep at night that we and our fellow Americans spend $450 BILLION every year often buying things no one needs while people worldwide, even here are hungry, without shelter, dying from diseases that have accessible cures if only the finances were given?! I'm not okay with it.

I went further onto the Advent Conspiracy website and love the concept behind it all: Worship Fully (isn't that what Christmas is REALLY all about anyway - worshiping our God for bringing His Son to us!); Spend Less; Give More; and Love All. Take a quick moment and jump on their site to read about each one - they really have hit it spot on. But for now, I'll share the "Spend Less" concept, as I know some of your are thinking already - what a Grinch, we like giving, shut it... but let me show you this.

[Spend Less]

Before you think we’re getting all Scrooge on you, let us explain what we mean. We like gifts. Our kids really like gifts. But consider this: America spends an average of $450 billion a year every Christmas. How often have you spent money on Christmas presents for no other reason than obligation? How many times have you received a gift out of that same obligation? Thanks, but no thanks, right? We’re asking people to consider buying ONE LESS GIFT this Christmas. Just one.  Sounds insignificant, yet many who have taken this small sacrifice have experienced something nothing less than a miracle: They have been more available to celebrate Christ during the advent season.

How much could be accomplished for others and the kingdom if/when we spend less on Christmas? That's my question for us all today - what can you do?

Now back to how this is in line with Carpe Deal'em and the pursuit of savings. We scaled back this year and have just purchased for some family members. In addition, on some gifts we even purchased items that not only give something just to the person we're giving to, but also for a greater cause. For example, last year I got my mom and mother in law these beautiful necklaces - not only were they given a great accessory for any outfit, but the purchase of this necklace also gives a sustainable job to the women of the Karamojong tribe in Uganda. That's a win/win purchase... and the Dunlap's blog post has some other options for such win/win purchases. In addition, Carpe Deale'm helps ensure we "spend less" - when you get things 50-75% off that leaves addition room in the budget to help the least of these.

So take an extra moment and think of ways you can love on your family and friends, but spend less so you and give more, and/or purchase items that give more than just to the family member or friend... that give to those in need and support a greater cause beyond ourselves. How are you benefiting the kingdom this Christmas and sharing the name of Christ the Lord? With your time? With your finances? I'm challenged by this daily.

2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:

   “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
   their righteousness endures forever.”

 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Purchase with a Purpose.