Fundraising

This last weekend we traveled a few hours from home to a far away place called Wolford, ND. The North Central Conference of Mennonite churches was holding a joint youth rally and missions meeting. So we packed our little Anika and headed west to the windy plains of North Dakota. We arrived around 7:00 on Friday evening and joined the service already in progress. The church was well attended and full of people. The youth fired up the singing and my brother-in-law, Jesse Swiers, led with the guitar. It was a good way to start the weekend. Saturday morning around 9:00 I was asked to take a few minutes and present our story and situation to the meeting. So I began by going to Ephesians 2 and pointing out what Paul wrote to the Greeks there. He tols the Ephesians that at one time they were excluded from the promises and blessings of God, but now that Jesus has broken that barrier, all can recieve fullness of life. I asked how many at the meeting came from German background. A majority raised their hands. Then I asked how many were Jewish. 2 raised their hands, I was surprised. My point was that those who had German ancestors were at one point in time cut off from the blessings that Jesus brings to our lives. So here's the kicker. Someone at some time brought the good news of Jesus to the German people, the Deutsche Volk, and they thought it was also good news and accepted it. Now because of the work of Christ we can enter the blessings and say thank you first to God for what he has done and secondly to the missionary way back when who shared Jesus with our spiritual ancestors. Wow! Then I shared about the spiritual condition of Germany, our work in K-town, and how we need funds to get there. Please comment if you think this is interesting.