Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:
Yesterday at school, I got the opportunity to have an in-depth spiritual conversation with one of my teachers, Gladys. She was very receptive and curious as I shared the Truth of Christ, and I´m hopeful that God will use those seeds planted in her and will give our team more opportunities to share with her.
Prayer Necessities for the Skimmers:
1. Pray that the Lord would move in the hearts of Brooklynn and Gladys and that He would continue to draw them both to Himself.
2. Continue to pray overall for the Quechua of the Chayanta province. As I learn more about this culture, it is so easy to see how the people have been frightfully deceived by our enemy (I´ll be sharing more about this in the next blog). Please pray that God would open their eyes to the Only Truth: His.
3. Back in Sucre, we just had four new believers added to our number by baptism. Praise the LORD that we have three new brothers and a sister, and pray that they would come to know Him more deeply and to serve Him in obedience.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know (Bonus for the Readers):
I´ll go ahead and tell you now that this blog is difficult to post. The topic might be controversial for some of you, but I hope you´ll listen anyway. Here goes:
As most of you know, I used to be a pediatric cancer pharmacist. I loved the people I worked with, my patients and, most of the time, the job itself. :) As part of my training for my profession, I spent a year at St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a great experience that I´ll never forget, though there were more than enough sad days.
St. Jude is an amazing place. It´s a hospital for children with cancer and other catastrophic illnesses, and the ads are true: No child is ever turned away because of an inability to pay. Every child there receives whatever treatment the doctor deems necessary, without a question of how it will be paid for. The health care professionals there are among the best in the world. And the research done there has dramatically improved the cure rates for childhood cancers. There´s a reason the name "St. Jude" is world-renowned.
And, basically, the majority of that comes down to money. St. Jude´s fundraising personnel are also among the world´s best. No expense is spared when it comes to research or the provision of care for children with cancer or other catastrophic diseases... nor should it be. The hope is always to find a cure.
Are you wondering where I´m going with all of this? Well, let me tell you.
Last year, the International Mission Board´s Lottie Moon Christmas Offering fell $29 million short of its goal. As a result, the IMB cut its short-term (2-3-year) mission programs completely and has reduced the number of long-term personnel being sent to only those who meet particular strategic needs. The Board has delayed or turned down numbers of people who are called and willing to go... simply because they don´t have the funds to send them.
Now you tell me: Which one is more important?
Please don´t misunderstand me here. My brother died from cancer at age 17. I spent nine years working with children with cancer, and I´ve seen many of them lose that fight. It breaks my heart every single time. There aren´t may things I´m more passionate about than helping kids with cancer.
But I am more passionate about taking the Gospel to the nations.
Why? Because finding the cure for cancer won´t give anybody eternal life, but giving them the Good News of Christ will. Because finding the cure for cancer may give a kid fifty more years on this earth, but it won´t keep him from eternal death. And because finding the cure for cancer may let a kid experience adulthood, but it won´t let him experience real joy.
But the Gospel is eternally more important.
Yesterday at school, I got the opportunity to have an in-depth spiritual conversation with one of my teachers, Gladys. She was very receptive and curious as I shared the Truth of Christ, and I´m hopeful that God will use those seeds planted in her and will give our team more opportunities to share with her.
Prayer Necessities for the Skimmers:
1. Pray that the Lord would move in the hearts of Brooklynn and Gladys and that He would continue to draw them both to Himself.
2. Continue to pray overall for the Quechua of the Chayanta province. As I learn more about this culture, it is so easy to see how the people have been frightfully deceived by our enemy (I´ll be sharing more about this in the next blog). Please pray that God would open their eyes to the Only Truth: His.
3. Back in Sucre, we just had four new believers added to our number by baptism. Praise the LORD that we have three new brothers and a sister, and pray that they would come to know Him more deeply and to serve Him in obedience.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know (Bonus for the Readers):
I´ll go ahead and tell you now that this blog is difficult to post. The topic might be controversial for some of you, but I hope you´ll listen anyway. Here goes:
As most of you know, I used to be a pediatric cancer pharmacist. I loved the people I worked with, my patients and, most of the time, the job itself. :) As part of my training for my profession, I spent a year at St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a great experience that I´ll never forget, though there were more than enough sad days.
The other day, I was sitting at a restaurant here in Bolivia, and it surprised me to look up and see an ad for St. Jude on the television screen. Seriously, who knew that even Bolivians give money to St. Jude? And all of that just got me thinking.
St. Jude is an amazing place. It´s a hospital for children with cancer and other catastrophic illnesses, and the ads are true: No child is ever turned away because of an inability to pay. Every child there receives whatever treatment the doctor deems necessary, without a question of how it will be paid for. The health care professionals there are among the best in the world. And the research done there has dramatically improved the cure rates for childhood cancers. There´s a reason the name "St. Jude" is world-renowned.
And, basically, the majority of that comes down to money. St. Jude´s fundraising personnel are also among the world´s best. No expense is spared when it comes to research or the provision of care for children with cancer or other catastrophic diseases... nor should it be. The hope is always to find a cure.
Are you wondering where I´m going with all of this? Well, let me tell you.
Last year, the International Mission Board´s Lottie Moon Christmas Offering fell $29 million short of its goal. As a result, the IMB cut its short-term (2-3-year) mission programs completely and has reduced the number of long-term personnel being sent to only those who meet particular strategic needs. The Board has delayed or turned down numbers of people who are called and willing to go... simply because they don´t have the funds to send them.
Now you tell me: Which one is more important?
Please don´t misunderstand me here. My brother died from cancer at age 17. I spent nine years working with children with cancer, and I´ve seen many of them lose that fight. It breaks my heart every single time. There aren´t may things I´m more passionate about than helping kids with cancer.
But I am more passionate about taking the Gospel to the nations.
Why? Because finding the cure for cancer won´t give anybody eternal life, but giving them the Good News of Christ will. Because finding the cure for cancer may give a kid fifty more years on this earth, but it won´t keep him from eternal death. And because finding the cure for cancer may let a kid experience adulthood, but it won´t let him experience real joy.
I´m not telling you to not give to childhood cancer research. To my way of thinking, there´s only one cause around more important than that one.
The cure for our real illness has already been found. Don´t let the poor economy keep you from getting it to those who need it.
.
4 comments:
Kelli, I am totally with you on priorities in our giving... once a person has a genuine understanding that this is not our home, it changes everything.
May God bless you ~David Nobles
Kelli, that is not controversial at all. It is spot on. Thank you for being honest about the subject. With your permission, I am going to read it to my congregation. By the way, when are we going to get an invite to join you for a week or two?
Kelli, to the extent that this is controversial is only to the same extent that we have lost our eternal mindset. It should be the norm for a Believer's thinking for sure! It reminds me of a quote by Elizabeth Elliot in the preface to her book about her beloved husband Jim when she writes, "When Jim was twenty years old he prayed, 'Lord make my way prosperous, not that I may achieve high station, but that my life may be an exhibit ot the value of knowing God.' His life was that to me, who share dit more intimately than any other. Was it extraordinary? I offer these pages so that the reader may decide for himself. If his answer is yes-if he finds herein the 'stamp of Christ,' and decides that this is extraordinary-what shall we say of the state of Christendom?"
Stay close to Him! Todd
Right on target Kelli!
We would rejoice if a cure for cancer is found, but all of Heaven rejoices when a lost sinner is saved!
"It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someon else's foundation. Rather, as it is written:
"Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand."
Romans 15:20-21
Sound familiar? :)
Be encouraged!
Stan & Linda
Post a Comment