Dear Friends,
“We’re so grateful to the Lord, and we thank Him every single day.” These are some of the words you will read in this newsletter from one of our New Life Program graduates, Charlie, and his wife. These words and Charlie’s story impacted me, and they caused me to think. I am grateful to the Lord, of course, but do I thank Him every day?
If I am honest, too many times I look at the world around us and thankfulness is not what comes to mind. What does is discontent, anger, hopelessness, and sometime even fear. Yet, God calls us to be grateful. Scripture in 1 Thessalonians 5 tells us we must, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances…” Always. All.
I like that the verse does not ask us to be thankful FOR all things but rather in all things. I have found that when I focus on being grateful, something changes. The world is not as dark. In another scripture passage, Philippians 4, we are told not to become anxious about anything, but rather through prayer, with thanksgiving, present our requests to God, and then God will give us a peace that passes all understanding.
Maybe the thing we can learn from Charlie is to be grateful and to thank God every single day, not only during the Thanksgiving holiday season.
One of the things I am grateful for is our donors. We could not do this without you. Life transformation like Charlie’s would not be possible without you! You are an important part of our ministry. If I am honest, I feel anxious about the rising costs of our work and the ability of donors to help us meet those rising needs. But I am committing those things to God and asking for that peace and provision He offers.
There is one more verse I would like to share with you. This verse illustrates how we feel about you:
Philippians 1:3-6, “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Grace and peace,
Dennis Van Kampen
President/CEO
This post is part of November’s Changing Lives Newsletter. This month, we’re sharing how Charlie’s journey from brokenness to hope began at the Mission in: Home For Good.
