Great morning yesterday in Cobourg
Corey (guitarist) and I had a great morning in Cobourg yesterday playing at Fellowship Baptist Church. There was more spontaneity than normal (I decided to change the set list on the spot) and we felt God smiling on us.
34 children were sponsored through Compassion which was an incredible response for a congregation who have already been Compassion supporters for the last couple of years . I continue to be amazed at the perfect fit between my music ministry (God’s through me) and Compassion International. I am reminded of the words of James 1:27 (Message Bible) which has been a theme verse for me this year:
“Real religion [the true following of Jesus], the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world”.
I told the story yesterday of how God grabbed my life a couple of years back: He opened my eyes, ears and heart to desperate poverty for the first time as I played my violin for 300 families who made their homes in the Quito City Dump. As I played on that stage with the band every one of my senses were overwhelmed by the poverty around me …. I started to ask some tough questions:
Why God? Why did you cause me to be born into prosperity in Canada and not in this dump?
Why do Le-Anne and I have three healthy boys while 50% of children around the world die before their first birthday?
Now that I know this and have seen poverty up close … what am I going to do about it? What role does God want ME to play personally?
I truly believe God is testing us – this wealthy, self-centered, materialistic, hyper-busy generation in North America: testing us to see what we will do with our wealth. He has blessed us and now is testing us for such a time as this. If only everyone in Canada were to sponsor one child, what a difference that would make – for eternity!
What is keeping you from sponsoring a child through Compassion today? Let me know your thoughts …