Lesson #4: God is always at work
Finally, we must not just stop to notice what the CHURCH is doing, but what GOD is doing. Over and over on the trip, we saw the truth of Jesus’ words from John 5:17: “God is always working, and so am I.” Here’s one example:
At one Compassion center, one of the pastors of the church was leaving the next morning for another Caribbean island to speak about marriage at a women’s conference. At the end of our day there, we were giving the staff the gifts we had brought for them from the U.S. (For example, I brought several deflated soccer balls and pumps, to give the kids some additional options for outdoor play.)
One couple in our group—a lead singer for a well-known Christian band, and his wife— pulled their final gifts out of the extra duffel bag that they had brought along, then looked at the now-empty bag.
“Hmm,” the singer said to the pastor, “Could anyone use this duffel bag?”
The pastor looked thunderstruck. Almost to the point of tears. Through the translator, she told him that she had prepared her message and had set everything in order to leave early the next morning. But the one thing she didn’t yet have (and couldn’t really afford) was a bag to pack her clothes into for the trip.
All of us wanted to cry, right along with her. What a small signal of a big God working—always working—behind the scenes in our lives.
A final note: If you feel God calling you to be a part of what He is doing through Compassion, I’d urge you to take the leap. I’ve seen firsthand how He multiplies the resources needed to sponsor a child. For $43 a month, you can lift a child out of poverty by providing them with food, clean water, education, medical care (for their whole family), encouragement (you can write and get to know them if you want!) and learning about Jesus. Sponsor a child with Compassion.
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