‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40, NIV
I recently celebrated by birthday. Getting older does not bother me in the least. I embrace each year more and more because life just keeps getting better. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly,” John 10:10, NKJV. Commit your life fully to Christ Jesus and find out for yourselves exactly what I’m talking about.
As you might expect, I received birthday greetings and well-wishes from my family; unexpected were cards from friends, some of which I haven’t seen in years. Reaching out and touching the life of someone in a positive and encouraging way is a wonderful thing and God blesses us for this obedience to His word. Paul says in Ephesians 4:32, we are to be kind and compassionate to one another.
As believers, Christ commands that we reach out and touch others in His name, making disciples of all nations; being witnesses of Him throughout the world (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8). One of the ways in which we can do this is by participating in Operation Christmas Child (http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC).
As it happens, last night, I attended an Operation Christmas Child area team meeting. I want to share a few “numbers” with you from that meeting last night that equate to reaching out and touching others in the name of Christ.
In 2010, Operation Christmas Child distributed 8,171,955 shoeboxes throughout the world. What does this mean? It means 8.17 million children received a box filled with various small gifts; it means 8.17 million children received a book in their own language, containing the Gospel message, entitled, “The Greatest Gift of All”. This also means that 8.17 million children were invited to attend a 12-lesson-discipleship-training-course named, “The Greatest Journey”, which is taught by teachers trained by the Samaritan’s Purse organization. Upon graduating from this discipleship-training-course, each child is able to receive a New Testament printed in their language. As a result of the awesome God we serve, last year 70,900 statements of faith were made and 8,171,955 seeds were planted for Jesus Christ!
There are many areas of service and I pray you are participating faithfully in reaching out and sharing Christ with others. Operation Christmas Child is just one area of participation and I wanted to share with you who may not know that OCC is not just about a shoebox containing gifts—it is much more—it is about sharing the love and good news of Jesus Christ with others throughout the world. Praise God!
God Bless!
