MINISTRY//Facemask mercy

The FedEx driver pulled up to my home this morning, sprinted to my front door, rang the bell, left a package, and sprinted back to her truck.

The package she left behind came from Beijing. Inside the tightly wrapped cardboard box was 75 medical facemasks. Gifts from Chinese friends of 316NOW.

I know many of the people responsible for this gift, but the facemasks were not intended only for me. Fifty of the masks were designated for two of our administrators – people my Chinese friends have never met in person.

But that’s not the end of the story. Chinese friends in two other cities have also promised to send masks.

The reason? St. Paul explained it. “The love of Christ compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14). Moved by God’s love for them, these Christians are showing love for American Christians – Christians who have stood by them through 316NOW, Christians who are currently dealing with a disease they have already faced.

Resurrection joy prompts that kind of reciprocal giving. The Apostle explained to the Corinthians about their giving, “Your abundance will provide what they lack, in order that their abundance will also provide what you lack—in this way there will be equality.  As it is written, ‘The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little’” (2 Corinthians 8:14,15).

How wonderful to see that biblical principle lived out among Christians in America and China.

What you can do: Thank our gracious God with us.