Lighting a candle in a dark place
What does it mean to let your light shine bright? John Keith-Falconer once said, "I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light." As followers of Christ we recognize that the gospel has revealed God's plan to rescue the nations from darkness. These dark places exist in the places we work and in the schools we attend. They are in nations that have turned from God and in nations that are closed to the light of the gospel. As followers of Christ we must look at ourselves as candles seeking to illumine these dark places. This means that we engage the darkest places because these are the places where our light shines the brightest and the circumference of our light is magnified. We magnify our light when we use the talents and abilities God has given us to impact the lives of others. By shining light in our unique spheres of influence, we engage in authentic evangelism.
These ideas are at the heart of how God has been working in our family over the past six months. For those of you who are not aware, our family has embarked on a path to one day bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the people of Berlin, Germany. Our hope is to shine the light of the gospel to one of Europe's most strategic cities for gospel opportunity due to a rapidly changing world. Jesus reminds us of how we are to be salt and light to the world around us when he says in Matthew "let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." We live this out in our professions by using the avenues God has given us to glorify Him and encourage others to do the same. Our family hopes to use our unique vision for ministry to point people to the gospel.
Wars and terror have mobilized the greatest migration of forcibly displaced people since World War 2. Hotbeds of Islamic fundamentalism are propelling men, women, and children into Europe at an alarming rate. Please click the link below to see statistics on the growing crisis in Europe.
The crisis is transforming Europe, fears are rising of security issues and countries are buckling under the ability to provide humanitarian aid. It is easy to look at this crisis and the threats they bring to Europe and fear for what is becoming of our world. It seems like dark days are ahead and dark places are only getting darker. Is there hope? Is God in control?
God speaks to the hopeless, He speaks to the brokenhearted. He rescues those wandering in the dark by moving them into places where they can glimpse the light. Not only does this give us hope, but it should encourage us to recognize the potential for the gospel with the global challenges our world is facing. Darkness flees in the presence of light and our hope is to light a candle that pushes back the darkness to reveal who Christ is to those who have not heard.
This is where we see the potential for future ministry in Berlin. By meeting the lost and hopeless where they are, we will use programs in sports to shine the light of the gospel in their lives and build the local church. Berlin has been a frontline of conflict in our world for over 100 years. The new frontline in this city is a battle against spiritual darkness. We hope to one day be a candle that takes God's marvelous light to this difficult place. Because as Ephesians 5:13-14 says, "But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, 'Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
Click the link below to find out more about our vision for ministry in Berlin.
This past month has been filled with many blessings as we have been preparing to start presenting our ministry. Quinn completed her first year of school and I was able to graduate with my MBA from North Greenville University on May 5th (Cherry was more excited than I was!). Our family was able to spend some time together at Myrtle Beach, which the girls greatly enjoyed! We look forward to participating in Art Camp and VBS at our church this month as well as running a weekly soccer clinic in west Greenville that started on June 7th.
Thank you for your prayers and we would appreciate you praying for us in this way!
- Opportunities to present our ministry
- Growing together as a family and putting Christ first in our relationships
- Summer Outreach with our local church (Trinity Bible Church)
- Weekly Soccer Outreach in Greenville, SC (June, July, August)
- Ministry Trip to NYC in July