MAC E-Connections: January 2005
Reaching Out in Love - Responding to the Asian Earthquake and Tsunami
The recent tsunami in Southeast Asia has produced a disaster that is beyond our human comprehension. Every ministry leader that I have communicated with in recent days who has been ministering to the victims has reported the same basic observation, “This is the greatest disaster that I have ever witnessed.”
In the midst of great tragedy, loss and sorrow have been great opportunities to share the love and grace of Jesus Christ in both word and deed. Although the major ministry focus of the Mission America Coalition is upon the United States, we are committed to reach out to other nations of the world as God leads and provides. As you may know, that includes a special ministry to the Unreached Peoples of the world called “Shaping Eternity.”
We are grateful for various MA Coalition partners and others who have been reaching out in special ways to the tsunami victims. We want you to know what they are doing and what opportunities they offer us to be involved with them. (See list below.) And we pray that you will become involved with them. As we pray and mourn with the victims, we can all be proactive in reaching out with the love of Christ.
As we pray and respond to the great tsunami tragedy, we have the opportunity to be reminded that day by day we are surrounded with people who are experiencing mini and major tragedies in their lives. We have the privilege of loving them and reaching out to them with the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ through the simple prayer, care, share strategy. Just as there is an unprecedented openness to the Gospel by the people who have been tragically affected by the tsunami in Southeast Asia, so do most tragedies and crises in people’s lives here at home cause them to be more open spiritually.
It is the simple and powerful spiritual principle that what our enemy means for evil, God can use for good. As we grieve over this mammoth tragedy of the tsunami along with the other tragedies that surround us day by day, let us pray for the wisdom from above that God offers to us and for special portions of His grace and mercy. These are significant days filled with opportunities to share our Lord Jesus Christ with others – together!
Let us be much in prayer for those who are suffering so greatly. Within that context, I pray that this newsletter will be a source of help and encouragement for all of us to become involved with the tragedies surrounding us with the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Prayerfully and expectantly – in Christ,
Paul Cedar
Mission America Coalition
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