Photo courtesy of Food for the Hungry
Se yon sèl eksplikasyon ki genyen pou sakrifis Bondye fè pou nou an. Pa gen anyen nan nou ki te ka fè nou merite anyen nan men Bondye. “Se yon bagay gratis li ye” (Efezyen 1:7). Sakrifis Jezi a se pa yon repons ak valè nou. Se pa paske nou gen valè ki fè Bondye fè yon sakrifis ki gen valè pou nou. Se pito valè enfini pa Bondye ki anvayi nou annabondans. An rezime men sa lanmou diven an ye : se yon pasyon ki pouse Bondye fè tout sa li konnen, li peye gwo pri pou li chame yon seri pechè ki pa merite sa, konsa pou li ka plen kè nou ak lajwa padan tout letènite ; kè kontan ekstrèm sa a ap gen kòm baz li, laglwa enfini Bondye.
It has been more than a month since the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti and, as often happens, the news coverage is gradually declining in the face of other critical world events. But, the human tragedy continues to be staggering. In January we directed you to a number of trusted ministries doing relief and development work in-country. Our own Lukas Naugle made a brief trip down with Churches Helping Churches to investigate the situation.
As the weeks go on, many of these organizations will be shifting from emergency relief to long-term development work. They will be laboring alongside Haitian nationals to re-build their infra-structure and society. The most effective development organizations will employ a holistic approach that involves strengthening physical, economic, social, and spiritual dimensions. They will also, whenever possible, work in and through the local churches and their leaders.
Our vision for International Outreach is built on partnering with trusted ministries like these. We aim to provide God-centered resources as tools for spreading gospel truth and strengthening the church in regions of the world where the needs are most acute.
In the weeks since the earthquake, we have been receiving requests for a Creole-language resource from a number of our partners. In response, we are creating a translation of the For Your Joy booklet that can be used for evangelism and discipleship. The interest has been strong, so we are planning a print run of 100,000. We plan to provide cases of this booklet free of charge to partnering ministries working in Haiti.
In order to do this, we’d like to invite you to consider a gift towards this project. Visit our donation page and designate “Creole Resource.” Our target is $20,000.
If you or your organization are working in Haiti and would like to obtain copies of this booklet, please visit this online form and give us your information. We will be in touch with you once they are ready.
And if you don’t read Creole, here’s the translation of the quote above. Pray with us that God might use this truth to bring lasting hope to many Haitians.
There is only one explanation for God’s sacrifice for us. It is not us. It is “the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7). It is all free. It is not a response to our worth. It is the overflow of his infinite worth. In fact, that is what divine love is in the end: a passion to enthrall undeserving sinners, at great cost, with what will make us supremely happy forever, namely, his infinite beauty.