Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Do you know, I've got to tell you, it's like coming home.
It really is like coming home. What a fantastic church. Rediscover, aren't you? Come on, give yourselves a proper round of applause because this is such a good place to be and I can't encourage you enough and everything that's going on. It's been great to meet Mike and Amy and I am an Elim minister in my own right, so ministered in Newquay for quite a long time. So I know a fair amount of the more mature people in the church, maybe that have been in the movement for a while. So it's great to renew fellowship with them.
So we're gonna. Look. Do you guys get excited about kind of change when God does stuff?
Now, I'm serious. Do you really? All right, so what I'm looking for is a little bit of a response and reaction. But before I show you your impact results, in fact, mark that word impact, it's such an important word in the kingdom today. We can do a lot of stuff in church that doesn't bring kingdom impact.
Jesus is about impact. It's about changing the world. I was. We were driving, Shane and I were driving to a conference that I was involved in, I don't know, a little while back. And on the way there, there was news about the war because I'm a news addict or was, but I'm stopping watching it now, I think. But there was news about the war and there was news about this. And even this week we've had even more complicated news come through, haven't we? And Sheila leant across to me and she said to me, this is crazy. How is Jesus going to change this world with all this crazy stuff that's going on? And without even a thought, really instantly into my mind came the only way we can do this is by changing the lives of the rising generation. If we can. If we can help children find Jesus and we can expose them to all the glories of the gospel, then we'll have hope for this world. I work for an organization privileged to be here with Justin, who's the CEO today.
We, you, us, we are changing this world one child at a time. So before I give you the instructions about what happens after the church, we're going to see your impact.
Come on. This is the bit where you're supposed to get excited, by the way, we're going to see your impact.
All righty. So if we can see the next slide, please, up on the screen so you can see that now these Statistics are your statistics. This is what Rediscover Exeter are doing you. This church has Provided More than 33,000 hours of Jesus for children in extreme poverty. Come on, bit more excitement. Church.
A minimum of 10,000 nutritious meals. This is what changes the light. This is because of you.
On top of that, at least 183 medical checkups from visiting doctors. Fantastic. And incidentally, I was, I think it was in Jersey maybe a year and a half ago, two years ago, with a leader there who supports a child through compassion. He said to me, he said, I can't believe it. He said, I got a letter from the girl that I sponsor and she just had open heart surgery in Germany.
And he said when I phone Compassion to. I don't even think I've told Justin this yet. But he said, when I found Compassion to ask about that, they said, yeah, that's what we do.
Whatever the need is. The need is done because of you.
183 medical checkups. And on top of that, 55 Bibles have been given to children by church partners. Give yourselves a round of applause.
Next slide, please, if you would.
On top of all your finances in this church, on top of all the amazing things that you do, you have given in the last 12 months more than £19,000 into frontline mission. Thank you. Thank you for being such an incredible, generous church. And of course, 55 additional gifts to children on top of that. That's for Christmas and birthdays and they won't get PlayStations and things when you give that money. They'll get stuff like goats and chickens and they will get bits and pieces as well. But it's all about sustaining life. Next slide, please. Over the last 12 months. Here we go. Actually, that's, that's not so bad, actually. So the children have written you 199 letters. Brilliant. You have sent back 116 letters. So that's, that's. Let me tell you, I've seen way lower than that. But just want to encourage you to continually write to your children. Use the app to write to your children. It's never been easier. But those letters are super, super, super important. I took a team out of ELIM Leaders to Kenya little while back, and one of the guys on that journey is an ELIM minister, but he, he was from India and he went through the program in India and we're there in Heathrow Airport and he opens his bag and spreads out all across all the seats all these letters that he received as a child. They're super important. Next slide, please. And there's a breakdown of your children. 29 girls, 16 boys. Brilliant. Next slide.
Okay, can we stand for a moment or two? Just for a moment or two? These are your children.
And here is the hope of the world. Really, children that are supported by you. If you don't see your child there, you need to give us your name and postcode and we'll link your sponsorship to the church. But could you reach out your hands towards these children? Now we just say, father, we want to thank you for each and every child that is up there on the screen. Every one of those, Lord, created by you, fashioned by you, with a destiny and a future. Every one of those children, Lord, has hope in them because they're connected with Jesus Christ through compassion, through the local church, working through the local church. Father, we want to prophetically speak over these children. Life, hope, a future. Lord, we pray, Lord, that the shackles and chains of poverty will be broken once for all and that these children will become world changers in their. Their own rights. Father, we pray that you'd equip them, empower them, fill them with your spirit, Jesus, fill them that they may go and fulfill their purpose and destiny in their generation. And all God's people said amen. Amen. Please do take your seats.
All right, I'm going to hand over to Justin in one moment, but before I do, I just want to let you know, give you a heads up of something that's going to happen. So it costs 32 pounds a month to sponsor a child. So little over a pound a day. Little tiny bit over a pound a day. And currently there are around about 350 million children in extreme poverty. Over a billion people altogether live in extreme poverty. That's a huge proportion of the planet. I think it's about 8 billion people or something like that in the world. And through compassion, through churches such as rediscover, we're seeing two point roundabout, 2.4 million children being released from extreme poverty. Well, you get the opportunity today, if you don't already support and thank you for those who do. I want to give you a massive. Could you slip your hand up if you do support a child today? Oh, look at that. Thank you. Thank you. On behalf of the children, we thank you.
So. Yeah. And what we do is you pay your 32 pounds to support your child, to sponsor that child, and you write to that child maybe three times a year. I think it is something like that. And they will write to you. So after, after Justin has spoken today, he's Going to give opportunity for you to sponsor a child in a large meeting like this. What's going to happen? It's going to happen this way. It's going to be some stewards going to have some children's profiles in their hands. If you want to sponsor a child, when Justin asks, you slip your hand up and one of those stewards will slip that, that, that profile. That's the word thank you into your hand. There's a QR code on there. We're doing it slightly differently this time. So what we want you to do is scan that QR code and follow through that support. It will take you through a little pathway. Do it please, please, please do it today. If you haven't got a smartphone, come to the stand afterwards and we've got some forms there. We can do it old school there. So that's fantastic as well. I've been asked to just mention as I finish that if you, if you can't afford 32 pounds a month, do not feel any guilt and do not feel any pressure. Please do not re. Divert money from other great missions work that you're involved in. I know, wow. We're here doing a fantastic job. There's various other organizations, elim missions. We're not asking you to divert money, but if God squeezes your heart, please, please, please do support and sponsor one of our children. Let's change the world today.
Agree.
Change the world today.
Alrighty. So it's a privilege for me to welcome to the platform my boss, Justin. Put your hands together, would you please, for Justin.
[00:10:09] Speaker B: Good morning everyone.
What a joy to be with you here. Thank you so much for extending a welcome to compassion and, and allowing me the opportunity and the privilege to share with you. For a few moments this morning, you know, I knew it was going to be a great morning. I walked in and within about 20 seconds of walking through the door.
Young Emmanuel, everyone's young to me these days. But he just comes up and just says, hi, welcome, my name's Emmanuel. And he just proceeded just to talk to me for the next 10 to 15 minutes. You have no idea how many churches I go to. And you can walk in and walk out and no one actually comes up and says. And it was just such a warm welcome. And then he just put his agenda aside. I don't know what he had for the next 10 or 15 minutes they had to do. But he just took such an incredible interest in me and we had this brilliant conversation and what a testimony to a church that is ready for somebody who walks through the front door. And before they've even got to the coffee stand, people are saying, hey, you're welcome. I want you to be part of what we're doing today. And so I just want to say thank you, first of all, for the welcome that's been extended. You know, we are. And I'm sure you know, know this. You're not just part of the church that's here in this room today. You're part of the global church, Right? And every single Sunday morning, because of the job I do, as I'm standing worshiping, I'm imagining the church that I visited in Chennai in the leper colony, with the speaker system so bad that it's painful, but actually, the place is packed. Maybe the size of this room, but four times as many people in it. People absolutely desperate for the word. Or the church in Uganda or the church in Rwanda, where I'll be next week. That song that we sang about, sing a little louder. You do not need to sing that in Uganda. Just putting that out there.
You're there thinking, I need to bring headphones next week. It's just absolutely incredible. I spoke to the pastor once, and he goes, we've got to scare the demons out of the community. That's why it's so loud. I was like, wow. Well, I'm scared.
It's incredible. But we're part of an incredible global church, and God is doing something really special through his church. And why I work for Compassion is because we only work in partnership with the local church. I'm local church through and through. I stand and say, I am who I am and I've got to where I've got to, because I've been part of a local church for many, many years of my life. And I'm so appreciative of. It was interesting, Pastor, you Talked about the 20 or 30 individuals who have invested into that young married couple. Forgive me, I don't remember your name, but into their lives already. That's the beauty of local church. And I've had older men and women wiser than me when I was growing up, choose to invest into my life and speak words into my life. Sometimes great encouragement, sometimes. Justin, you have two ears and one mouth.
Use them in that proportion and you'll go a bit further. So sometimes words of correction and discipleship, but actually being part of a local church community has allowed me to grow and thrive, to become who I have become today. And that's what we are dreaming for those children that we are aiming to reach through Compassion's ministry is that we support that local church to be that incredible center of encouragement and life transformation. So I want to say thank you again for those who are already sponsoring I want to read a passage this morning, and my desire is to be able to serve you as a church this morning through sharing God's word together.
And if you choose to sponsor at the end of it, that's great. But I really do hope that in our few moments together that the Holy Spirit will continue to minister to each person here, whether you sponsor or whether you don't, but actually together, that the Holy Spirit will come and will minister to each one of us who's present.
So this morning I want to read from Luke, and it's a passage I'm sure that almost everybody in this room will probably be familiar with. Whether this is the first time you've ever set foot in a church, or you've been coming for 50 years, I'm sure you'll be familiar with this passage. But I'm hopeful that today, perhaps the Holy Spirit will reveal something afresh as we read together.
Luke 10:25 37 on one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. Teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life? What is written in the law? He replied, how do you read it? He answered, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all of your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself. You have answered correctly. Jesus replied, do this and you shall live.
But he wanted to justify himself, and so he asked Jesus, and who is my neighbor?
In reply Jesus said, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and when he was attacked by robbers, they stripped him of his clothes, they beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
And a priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.
So too a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, he passed by on the other side.
But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was, and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him, and he bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and then he put the man on his own donkey and brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. Look after him, he said, and when I return, I'm going to reimburse you for any extra expense that you may have.
Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers.
The expert in the law replied the one who had mercy on him.
And Jesus told him, go and do likewise.
Lord, we welcome you here today, Father. We ask that you would speak clearly through your word to each one of us, Lord, challenge us and inspire each of us afresh that we would leave this place as even greater neighbours to those around us.
Amen.
I wonder this morning if each of you in your minds can think of a great storyteller that you know might be someone in your family, might be that sort of gummy, toothless Irish grandfather like in my family, might be that uncle that's kind of a little bit strange. But when he comes round, everybody's listening to the stories, might be someone who lives on another part of the country or another part of the world, and they're only back every sort of three months. And all of the stories captivate everybody's imagination. I'm sure each person here can think of a great storyteller. And when we think about Jesus, he was clearly an incredible storyteller, an incredible communicator. And as I read this passage.
[00:17:28] Speaker C: I.
[00:17:29] Speaker B: Just tried to imagine what it must have been like to have been in that crowd as Jesus was telling that story. There's obviously no microphone and there's no PA system and there's no fans, probably outside, probably talking to many people who couldn't potentially read and write. People who are coming and saying, I want to hear what's happening. People leaning in to this master storyteller telling this story.
Every single word, carefully chosen, not a word wasted.
I can just feel the atmosphere building, the tension building as it gets towards the real crucial part of the story.
I would love to have been there as he was talking.
You know, Jesus, he didn't waste a word and he absolutely knew his audience. So he was quite intentional in every single part of the story. He knew that everybody would know the role of a priest and he knew that everybody would know the role of the Levite and their expectations about how a priest and a Levite should behave and should respond and if there was going to be a hero in this story. Because all good stories need a hero, right? They need a conflict and they need a hero. And if there was going to be a hero in the story, surely it was going to be the priest or the Levite, surely.
And as the tension's building and as the story's going and the revelation comes that a Samaritan, I can imagine the people at the back going, are you sure you heard right? Are you sure? Like, did he say Samaritan? Like the enemy, the despised, the despicable, the people that we can't trust.
[00:19:21] Speaker A: The.
[00:19:21] Speaker B: People that are only here with bad intentions. There's no way they can be the. No, no, no, no, you've heard wrong. Maybe the Samaritan was the one that was lying down at the side of the road and there's someone else. No, no, no, no. The Samaritan has been positioned as the hero in the story. And I think what we're being invited into, in my perspective, in my view, is that Jesus knew just how controversial he was going to be in this story and how countercultural he was being as he told this story. This was not going to be a comfortable story for the audience to hear. In many ways, it sounds like this really nice, feel good story, but actually, when you think about the level of challenge that's there of everything I thought I knew about this people group that I had crafted in my mind, Jesus has suddenly centered them in the story as the hero.
And I just love that about Jesus. In Isaiah 55, it says, My thoughts are not your thoughts, and neither are your ways. My ways.
And as I would read that story over and over again, I wanted to make sure that I would actually be that Samaritan if it was me.
But I think too often in my life, as I reflect back, perhaps I behaved more like the priest and the Levite.
Perhaps there was things that I thought I was doing for God that actually prevented me stepping into that which he was calling me to do.
See, the lawyer was clearly seeking in his questions to somehow constrain or limit or place some sort of boundary around those that he would help.
He was trying to justify his behavior or his perspective or his viewpoint. And Jesus is introducing a completely different viewpoint, a different way of living, the Jesus way.
I think many, many people in today's society are asking that question, who is my neighbor?
And I think the next question that many people are asking is, well, who's not my neighbor?
And the media tries to bring confusion, and the narrative of the secular world tries to bring confusion and tries to bring separation and division. And Jesus very, very wisely chose not to answer that question.
I love that Jesus didn't answer that question.
I think if you have the opportunity to ask Jesus a question and he chooses not to answer it, suggest to me you asked the wrong question, because he certainly could have done.
And I think what he's telling us here is there's a more important question.
There's A much more important question about and who was the neighbor?
Not who is the neighbor, not who is my neighbor? But the posture of our heart.
What is the posture of our heart? How are we positioned? How are we responsive to the Spirit? How closely are our thoughts aligned with that of the Lord?
And it's a real challenge. All of a sudden, this really nice story becomes deeply challenging to me. Like, it's such a discipleship journey that I've been on for 20 years, and I think I'm still on it. And this morning I just wanted to share a little bit about that journey with you, because the instruction at the end is, go and do likewise. Go and do likewise. It's a command. It's like, go and do likewise.
And I've learned, having been a Christian for quite a long time now, that the Lord doesn't command us to do things that are bad for us.
And it can seem challenging at the start, but actually, what is he inviting us into?
So perhaps just a couple of points on when it says, go and do likewise, what is he? What was he actually asking us to go and do?
Number one, when I think about this story, the Good Samaritan, he chose to see the need.
He actually chose to see it.
He didn't just observe a situation with his eyes. He didn't just see something over there. He actually allowed it to deeply impact him. It said he had pity on the man.
His heart was postured towards compassion.
Now, remember, Jesus was intentional in saying he was a Samaritan.
So there was actually great risk to the Samaritan in going over and helping. Because Jesus also set the scene with this road. Everybody listening would know this road. This was a dangerous road. This was a road that was quite long. This was a road where you didn't want to be there after night. If you were walking there, you didn't want things to slow you up. You didn't want things to inconvenience you, especially if you're a Samaritan. You wanted to get from where you were to where you were going to go. So there was significant personal risk for the Samaritan in actually choosing to help.
They were so despised.
There's a real risk that as he goes over to help, he's going to be rejected. He's going to be told, get away. I don't want your help.
And there's also a real significant risk that actually, as he goes over to help, if the person is dead because he says he was half dead, what if the next group of people arrive and say, look what you've done to this person who's lying by the side of the road, because that's what Samaritans do. We can't trust you.
There's real personal sacrifice that he has. And Jesus was intentional in choosing this Samaritan, intentional in choosing this road in this story, as an indicator that he's asking us to step into places that might be uncomfortable, that might not feel easy, but he's still asking us to go.
And yet he had compassion on the man who was beaten. And you know, across our TV screens, Mike was giving you some figures like 14,000 children dying every day from easily preventable causes. 14,000. The number rolls off the tongue far too easily. We're talking about 800 million people, children going to bed hungry. We're talking like 2.4 billion people on the planet don't have access to water and a toilet. The need is absolutely all around us. Absolutely is. And that's why I think the Lord wants to do a work in our hearts rather than define who's the neighbor and who we call to serve. He's saying, how do I position and post your heart so it doesn't become hard, so I can still lead you and guide you into those places where I would have you serve, where I would have you grow in your Christlikeness.
The numbers that I said, they can feel completely overwhelming, especially if we focus on the size of the number.
But as we know, each of those numbers represents a life that are precious to our Father in heaven. A number of years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to the. To the nation of Haiti. It's a nation that is really, really close to my heart. And we traveled on the back of a four wheel drive vehicle along a dusty track for many, many hours. And we arrived in this tiny community called to Le Jenne. And we were hot and sweaty and dusty.
And we had the opportunity to walk through this community that was based on the saline. And the saline is really just a kinder word for people who have to live on the shoreline, the salt lands, because they're too poor to afford any land where you could possibly grow crops. So they have to live on this piece of land where it completely floods multiple times per year.
It was the first time I had to come face to face with those who were living in extreme poverty. And we walked through this community and eventually we came to the local church building and there was around 200 children who were being served by that local church in this community. And as you look around, there's just barrenness everywhere. I'm thinking, how would I live here? How would I survive in this context, in this community?
And during the day, as the children were singing and dancing, I just took the opportunities to step outside because I wanted to process it, and I wanted to ask the Lord.
And at that time, I was serving in Scotland as a. I was a youth leader. And I want to deeply encourage all those youth leaders who are standing up on this platform. What a job that is, what a roller coaster of faith development that is.
But I was serving as a youth leader at the time, but also as a community pharmacist, and particularly in drug addiction services, working in some really challenging communities across Scotland. As I traveled to Haiti, I thought my heart was in a good place. I thought I was someone who was really close. My thoughts were pretty aligned with my father in heaven. But I stepped outside of that room, and I just began to weep.
I just began to weep at Lord. A revelation that actually my heart was not where the Lord wanted it to. I remember standing on that ground saying, lord, would you break my heart with what breaks yours?
Would you show me what you see when you look at these children in this community?
And I really want to challenge you. If you've never prayed that prayer, think about it. Because I think the Lord answers it really quickly, and he begins to give you a glimpse into the incredible value that he places on each and every single individual child that he's carefully knitted together in their mother's womb.
And if we're really keen for him to reveal that to us, we get a different perspective.
And the Lord began to do a work in my heart. And I remember weeping and saying, lord, just show me. And then situation after situation after situation, I began to get a glimpse of what it was like to live in extreme poverty and a heart of compassion for those living. As I said, I was serving as a community pharmacist, and we had the opportunity to run medical clinics. And on one day. On one day of the medical clinics, a young mother brought in this child who was very close to death. He had malaria.
And we were serving there. And the mother said, please, can you please help my child?
Now, that type of malaria that they have in Haiti, it's actually very easy to treat. It costs pennies for the medication to treat a child for malaria, to save their lives.
But the mother had waited because she didn't know that the clinic services were free. She didn't know how she was actually going to pay for these services. But as the child got iller and iller, she eventually Came into the clinic, and she said, I'll pay whatever it is. Please can you save the life of my child? And one of the female doctors had the opportunity to speak to her, and she just reconciled in her mind that whatever the bill is, she was going to have to prostitute herself that evening to pay it.
And as I began to hear that, my view and my perspective began to change about the decisions that people have to make when they live in extreme poverty.
And the Lord has continued to take me on that journey. And it's why I love working with compassion, because I think the local church is essential in these desperate communities. I don't like saying in the middle of nowhere, because it's not in the middle of nowhere. It's an incredible place where the Holy Spirit is at work. But these very, very remote, extreme poverty contexts, when there's nothing that seems obvious is happening. There's a local church, and he says, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And before compassion shows up and after we leave, the local church will still be there. And no one loves that community more than those who are in that local church. And we get this opportunity to come alongside in the work that we do.
You know, loving God with everything means allowing him to touch our emotions and saturate our souls with compassion. So that when we see broken humanity, the love of Christ wells up and causes us to respond rather than to retreat or ignore. And for too long in my life, as I stood there, I had to admit, perhaps I was too indifferent to the suffering of others.
I'd perhaps compartmentalized my compassion.
I'm serving these people in this place. I'm a youth leader in church. I'm doing my bit. That's probably as much as I can do. And yet the Lord, he just had so much more to invite me into. I want to encourage you. I think he has so much more to invite each one of us into.
The second thing that I want to say that the Samaritan did was he actually chose to move towards the need.
I tend to find that living this part out is pretty inconvenient.
Loving the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind, and loving your neighbor as yourself, it's very rarely convenient, and it's very rarely easy.
And yet in the scripture, it says he went to him and he bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and then he put the man on his own donkey and brought him to an inn.
You know what I love about this is Jesus is inviting every single one of us to be a part of this because sometimes we can think of, I can't possibly help, I haven't got, I haven't got enough, I haven't got the resources to help.
Maybe if I had more education or if I had more finance or if I had more ability or have had more time. And yet what I love about this story is the Lord was just asking the Samaritan to use what he already had in his hands. The oil, the wine, the donkey. Trust me, step towards the need, Allow me to use what I've already entrusted into your care.
Everybody is invited, no one's excluded. It's not a roll for one or two people. Everybody's invited into this.
Loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving one's neighbour as oneself.
It's not enough just to see the need, we have to choose to do something about it.
You know, I can imagine. Again gasps as it says, not only did he help, but then he said the next morning gave two days wages to someone he didn't know, someone he hadn't met before at all. He just gave two days wages and said, make sure you take care of this person. I could imagine the crowd going, wait a minute, wait a minute. The Samaritan, he's the hero. He helped and then he gave two days wages.
And I think it just talks about incredible generosity, open handed generosity that the Lord is asking his disciples to live by.
When I reflect back to my time in Haiti again that evening when I came back from that project, I decided to go for a walk in the community of the town and I came across a clinic and as a pharmacist I thought, I'm going to go in and introduce myself and just find out what healthcare services look like on this island. Around 150,000 people. And this was the only clinic on the island for the 150,000 people.
And it was the Wesleyan Church clinic.
It was a truly terrible place.
It was hot, it was sticky, it was overcrowded, patients were sharing beds in one room. There was a man dying of AIDS and a woman who had just given birth in the same room.
There was intermittent water supply into that hospital facility. The light was coming and going, the walls were crumbling. I was walking around thinking, this is a terrible place and yet we have people trying to do the very best with that which they have, loving on this community. And without this facility there's nothing else. And I remember just being compelled to say, can I Help. What could I do?
And I laughed at the response. They said, well, you could help us fundraise to build a new hospital. And I'm thinking, oh yes, fundraise to build a new hospital. I have no idea. I've never done fundraising before. I don't have an extensive network.
I have no idea. I've never built a hospital before.
I can dispense drugs from a hospital, but I've no idea what I'm doing. And I don't have time this morning to go into the. The story of God's goodness. But over the next three or four years, we managed to raise about 2 to 3 million. And in 2013.
Thank you.
In 2013, this brand new solar powered hospital opened on the island of Laguna with a university to train nursing students next to it. And it's a truly incredible place.
It has a place where women can give birth in privacy. It has a place where accident and emergency can take place. It has a place where people with infectious diseases can be treated with dignity. It's bright, it's white, it's clean. And I remember walking around that hospital in 2013 and feeling pretty good of myself, thinking, we got this building open. God, you asked me to get this building open. It's great. These patients are on white linen. And I was kind of feeling a bit proud, actually, if I'm being really honest. And as I walked through the children's ward, I came across this little lad here.
Hopefully his photograph will come up. This is Edson, and on the day the hospital opened, he was left outside the hospital gates in a bag.
And Edson's blind and he's deaf and he's mostly paralyzed.
And he'd become a favorite with the nurses.
And I remember walking through that hospital and just being prompted just to stop.
And my friends who were with me and were walking around, they just continued walking. They just said, we felt we should leave you on your own. And I picked up that colored soft toy that's beside him and I just. I'm a father of four. I just started stroking his arm. I just started gently stroking his arm. And the tension and the spasms of the muscles just began to relax.
And I had this incredible moment with precious Edson.
And as I was seeking to get on the sort of the joy of the building and what we'd achieved was slowly diminishing. And I felt the Lord wanted to do something. And I felt the Lord speak to me so clearly. And for me, I don't often hear the Lord speak really clearly, but I just felt him say, justin, for all of the challenges over the last few years to raise all of that money, all of the issues to get this facility constructed, all of the complexity, the nights that you were on your knees praying because the money had run out, the days that maybe I shouted at God because I thought, it's your hospital, not mine, and the money's not there. I know theologically, maybe I'm not supposed to do that, but I was kind of desperate in those five years. It was a hard place to get to. And I just felt the Lord say all of that. What if I asked you if all of that was worth it just for Edson?
Would it have been worth it to you?
Because it would have been worth it to me.
And I felt so convicted that I'd got caught up in the building, and I got so caught up. And that's fantastic in making sure. It was a great facility and making sure. But the Lord continually wanted to realign. It's not just about the building, Justin. It's about the people that this building will allow us to minister to, those that I will be able to draw closer to me. It's always about the people. It's always about the people.
And just a glimpse of how much value the Lord places on every single person that he has carefully crafted and knitted together in the mother's womb.
And so for me, I have the privilege of leading the Compassion team, and I have this privilege of inviting people in, because I think one of the aspects of the Good Samaritan story that I take away is that actually, when you see the need and when you step into it, the Lord has something for us in return.
He's molding us and shaping us in our Christ likeness.
And all of a sudden, you get he has something that he reveals of his nature and his character to us as we are going and doing likewise. All of a sudden, it's not a problem to be solved. All of a sudden, you don't look at a people group and think, that's a problem to be solved.
You look at precious individual creations of the Father in heaven and you understand that it's a privilege that he would allow us to step into that story.
Just imagine that the creator of the universe, he would allow us to actually step into the lives of that which he created.
For me, that was such a mindset, shift of.
It's no longer me thinking, that's a problem that I've got to solve. It's like, lord, you would allow me to step into this situation. You would allow me to Step into this person's story, you would think there's something of value that I can add into this individual's life. But also, as we do so, you have something to reveal of your character and nature to me.
And so that's what I do now is I invite people to step in. And whether that's sponsoring a child with compassion or whether that's investing into another ministry, I just want to encourage you this morning that as we see the need as we choose to step into it, it will be inconvenient. But as part of our discipleship journey, the Lord reveals so much to you as you do that.
I know, I heard you have. This building's temporary, and there's some. Maybe some plans and discussions to see what happens. And I was just saying that the building is one aspect of it. But how many people in this community, how many people are going to be incredibly impacted through the work of this church?
Through stepping in to the need, to addressing the need, to seeing the incredible value that the Lord has placed in the lives of the community around this place? Place.
And I'm personally excited for what the Lord is going to do because the battle, the spiritual battle, is not just to get access to the building. The spiritual battle is for those that having a building would allow you to reach and touch.
I wanted to show you a little video, and it's a story of Jonathan. And I think it does a really great job just showing why we believe the local church is incredibly important in ministering to the poorest of the poor. And at the end of the video, I'm going to ask if anyone would like to step into that journey, Step into the life of a child living in extreme poverty this morning.
Thank you, team.
[00:44:04] Speaker C: I was born in the middle of an era in the Dominican Republic.
There was a lot of crime, people being killed.
That was our reality.
My mom used to work in a factory. She was making back in the night, like a dollar a day.
I didn't need four days.
In fact, there were days that I could only eat a cookie because that was all we could get.
I do remember going to the streets to sell juice and empanadas.
We couldn't eat it because that was the only money to pay the place where we worked.
To my shame, I wanted to be a gang member.
This guy selling drugs in my neighborhood had nice clothes and nice sneakers and nice shoes. And every day I was on the streets looking for cardboard to put it inside my shoes in order to walk.
But the one thing that I learned to be was to Be aggressive and to fight.
You learn to hide your emotions.
There was so much trauma and there was so much brokenness in my life. And my mom said, the reason we are in poverty is because there is not a man at home.
When I got into the Compassion Center, I was seven years old.
It was my house. The church was like a house where I felt safe, where I had food. But I don't want to portray the nice story that things started to change immediately. I was fighting in the center for five years.
I gave them all reason to keep me out.
The worst fight happened when I was 12.
I was buying something to eat outside of the center, and another boy came and pushed me.
I punched him into the sidewalk, and immediately his eyes got open and his mouth. And so he ended up in a coma.
I was taken to the Compassion center director, and I was sitting there crying.
I knew the end was coming.
She took my face off and she looked at me and she said, jonathan, why you fight?
You don't have to fight. We love you.
And that's the moment that I started reflecting on the path that I was taking.
By the grace of God, my friend woke up from the coma.
What I rightly deserved was to be kicked out of the Compassion Center. And they didn't do it the same way. Jesus died on the cross without us deserving any grace at all.
That was the gospel right there. And that's the turning point in my life.
After getting baptized, it's when I got many opportunities.
There were godly men who portrayed me, the humble heart of Christ.
They saw the material for leaders to be made.
I got the opportunity to join Compassion. It was a blessing to me.
Right now I serve with Compassion International as a minor year of supporter engagement. But I also work in the form of public relations for Compassion here in the Dr.
I believe God brought me to Compassion to educate people who could have a voice for those children without hope. To understand that this is beyond sponsorship itself, but it is about helping local churches in need to be what God wants them to be and the church to be the church spreading hope not only for the children that God has allowed us to serve, but the many, many more children that we're not serving right now.
I am a testimony on how hope spread to me. Now is the time to give to others.
[00:49:28] Speaker B: Thank you.
So I know we have some stewards who are going to be helping us at this moment. But, yeah, Jonathan is just one. One example of an incredible young man whose life was living in extreme poverty. And I think what you can see there is Releasing a child from poverty in Jesus name is complex. It takes time. They've had lies spoken over them for years.
Actually. It's the transformational power of Jesus Christ, actually, in a loving church community that often takes years for us to see that transformation come through. But that's what the church is, right? It's a place which sees in individuals what they can't see in themselves and stands with them and encourages them. And so we have 9,000 of those church partners across the world, 9,000 of them ministering to children in extreme poverty.
And if you would like to sponsor a child this morning, I'd like you just to put your hand up in the air so that one of our volunteers can come around and just put a child's profile into your. Into your hand. Each one is unique. Each one is a specific individual child. And we'd like to just put one of those profiles into your hand. So I just give a couple of moments to some people in the middle there that want to thank you.
As Mike said, I don't want anyone to feel pressured, but if the Holy Spirit is prompting you, then please just put your hand up and allow us to put one of those cards into your hand.
Thank you.
Thanks very much. That's great. Thank you.
If you've taken one of those cards, we'd love you to scan the QR code and fill out the form that will pop up so that we can connect you with that child. There's only one child per card. So if you've taken a card and you think, actually I'm not ready to sponsor at the moment, please do come back and chat to us at the Compassion stand. And similarly, if you didn't want to put your hand up and you want to find out more information, Mike and I are going to be standing by the Compassion stand.
But church, I just want to say thank you so much. Thank you so much for those who have invested into the lives of children already. Thank you for what you're doing. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your service here today. And let me just close in prayer. Heavenly Father, I just thank you so much that you are on the move through your church. And Lord, I just thank you for this church here. Rediscover church, Lord. Lord, I thank you that the greatest days of this church indeed are ahead of it. Lord. Lord, you have incredible plans and purposes, Lord, to expand the impact of this church across this city. Lord.
Father. Lord, that would be like a light on a hill, Lord. It would burn bright.
Father, we just pray for favor and all of the conversations that need to happen around this facility in this building. Lord, we just pray for provision.
Lord, we just pray for the leadership team of the church. Lord, we just thank you for them. And we pray, Lord, that you would strengthen them. Lord God, Father, we thank you for the generosity of those who are sponsoring children, Lord. Lord, we're deeply, deeply grateful.
And Father, as we go from here, Lord, would you give us eyes to see, Lord, would you give us hearts of compassion and the confidence to see step forward into those areas that you want us to, Lord? Lord, so that we can be an incredible neighbor to those around us this week. In Jesus name, amen. Thank you, everyone.
