DECEMBER 2008

I remember when Peggy and I were celebrating our 30th anniversary with a trip to an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica. The drive from the airport at Montego Bay to the resort in Negril took about an hour. We drove through villages and the countryside. I saw people living in cardboard shacks. I saw cattle that were so thin that their bones were almost sticking through their hides. Everywhere I looked, I saw desperate poverty. I arrived at the resort with some new and very heavy “baggage”, namely a huge feeling of guilt. This feeling lasted a couple of days until it suddenly dawned on me that if I was really concerned about the poor, there were plenty of poverty-stricken people back home that I drove past everyday and never noticed or, if I did notice them, I did not care one wit.

We have just finished the Christmas season. Most of us have experienced excess in some form or fashion, whether it was in eating, drinking or the purchase of consumer goods. We will all pay for this in January in one way or the other! Should I feel guilty about this “conspicuous consumption”? That is an individual decision. The important consideration in all this is, however, is the question of how you and I are dealing with the truly poor in our midst. Do we donate our used underwear to charity and then claim a large deduction on our taxes as one former “first family” did? Or, do we honestly seek out “the lost and the least” to care about and give real, sacrificial assistance. They may be around the world or around the corner. As Mother Theresa said, “You must find your own Calcutta. You don't have to go to India. Calcutta is all around you.”

Scripture is filled with mandates to give assistance to the truly poor:
“
For the poor will never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shall surely open thy hand unto thy brother, to thy needy, and to thy poor, in thy land.”
(Deuteronomy 15:11)

“God blesses those who are kind to the poor. He helps them out of their troubles.”
(Psalm 41:1)

“When you help the poor you are lending to the Lord—and he pays wonderful interest on your loan!” (Proverbs 19:17)

“If you give to the poor, your needs will be supplied! But a curse upon those who close their eyes to poverty.” ( Proverbs28:27)

“This is a good time to have Mother Teresa's life in mind, and to remember, perhaps, that all can change, that a life—and a world—can be made better all of a sudden, out of the blue, and unexpectedly. But you have to be listening. You have to be able to hear. Happy 2009.” From Peggy Noonan’s column of December 26, 2008

MINISTRY NEWS:

It was a very good year, ministry-wise. God used Net Work Ministries in a significant way in the lives of many individuals and families. Thank you for making this possible!

We did finish the year with a fairly significant deficit, as I am sure many ministries did this year.

We look forward to trying some innovative new things in the near future. We’ll keep you posted as things develop.

MINISTRY NEEDS:

A good start, financially, to the New Year as some of our annual expenses come due in January, such as insurance premiums and retirement fund payments.

Some men to volunteer to stand with me as advisors and counselors who will keep me accountable in both my ministry and personal life.

May God bless you that you may be a blessing to others in 2009.