I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving! Even in such challenging circumstances, I’m grateful for God’s love, grace, mercy, abundant care and for His presence and provision. While 2020 has presented plenty of challenges and unforeseen moments, these times are pregnant with amazing opportunities to advance the work of the kingdom of God. I’m grateful for a God who is never taken by surprise or caught off guard and I’m thankful for how our Father is working through these days to draw men and women to Himself while repositioning His people to do good work that will result in Him receiving glory and praise. As followers of Jesus, we have many reasons to give thanks during this season.
Today is Black Friday, the unofficial start to the Christmas shopping season. As with everything else in 2020, we can expect that today might look different from past Black Fridays due to the many changes that the pandemic has brought upon our world. Personally, I’ve never been a big participant in the traditional Black Friday activities as I’m more of a Christmas Eve crisis shopper. While Black Friday has been a long-held institution of North America, in recent years we’ve witnessed other days rise in importance: Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Green Monday and Free Shipping Day (December 15th). In addition to these days that focus on commerce, in recent years we’ve seen the rise of Giving Tuesday which offers an alternative to the focus on consumption by leveraging the power of giving and generosity.
This coming Tuesday, December 1st is Giving Tuesday! You have a special opportunity to participate in and partner with the great work being done in Jesus’ name through the ministry of Global Reach. This year’s gifts from Giving Tuesday will go to support our national field leaders in Brazil, Venezuela, Kenya, Latin America and other locations in Asia. One of the strengths of our Global Reach efforts over the years has been the intentional focus to raise up indigenous leadership to lessen the reliance on missionary staff from the U.S. This has been key in areas in Asia where outside missionaries are no longer allowed – the ministry efforts are led by national field leaders with support and partnership from our Global Reach team in the United States.
Your generous gifts on Giving Tuesday will go to help ungird the work being done by these faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. These individuals can’t travel to the U.S. very often and yet their good work is critical to the work being done to spread the name and fame of Jesus Christ. Men and women are becoming disciples of Jesus Christ, new congregations are being established, new ministry efforts are helping demonstrate and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in places where we cannot go as North Americans. Your generous gifts help ensure that these brothers and sisters can continue the good work of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I know that you probably have no lack of opportunities to give to various charitable organizations during this season. I’d like to invite you to prayerfully consider giving next Tuesday, December 1st to partner with our brothers and sisters who are faithfully serving Christ and reaching their fellow citizens with the Good News of Jesus Christ. What an opportunity for kingdom impact! Through your generosity, you can invest in what the Lord is doing to advance His kingdom around the world.
You’ll want to watch next Tuesday for our social media updates and reminders. Below you’ll find links for how to give as well as an informative introduction by Global Reach director, Ben Tobias.
May God bless you as you give and share in this work. Have a blessed holiday weekend.
Christ’s Peace,
Lance
Click here for Facebook updates on Giving Tuesday.
CGGC eNews—Vol. 14, No. 48