Praising God in the hurricanes
“… you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith ... may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” — 1 PETER 1:6-7
In November, Pastor Earl Bowie, leader of our partner ministry in Central America, stood on his porch in the middle of a hurricane to film a message to share with the world. As the wind bent trees and the rain pelted his face, he proclaimed that God is good, in control, and worthy of praise.
Watch Pastor Earl's message HERE.
Looking back, 2020 feels a bit like one long hurricane.
As if a storm of sickness, strife, isolation, riots, even wildfires and actual hurricanes hung over us for most of the year.
In a letter to early believers, Peter wrote that earthly suffering will bring kingdom results. The same is true today — question is, do we just hunker down and wait out the hurricanes, or can we actually participate in those kingdom results?
I believe we can — because our partners and our clients are showing us how. Pastor Earl’s video, praising God in the storm, has been viewed more than 142,000 times on social media. His faith, hope, and boldness in the middle of very real trials are resulting in “praise, glory, and honor” for Jesus Christ.
For TOLI, the stormy backdrop of 2020 causes its blessings to shine even brighter. We grieve what was lost, but we also celebrate the goodness God allowed us to find:
1. Our clients are strong. While lockdowns impact developing economies hardest, TOLI clients have shown resilience. Many TOLI clients and social workers battled COVID, but we give thanks to God that every one of them has fully recovered. Even better, most are back to work.
2. Our partners are committed. Volunteers and staff at our partner ministries in Egypt, Kenya, Nicaragua, and Ethiopia worked tirelessly, often in unthinkable conditions — police-enforced lockdowns, catastrophic hurricanes, blackouts, civil unrest — to show people Christ’s love with compassion and courage, overcoming obstacle after obstacle. In fact, TOLI ended up granting 37% more microloans in 2020 over the previous year — despite pausing our program for several months when the pandemic first hit.
3. Our donors are faithful. Throughout this tumultuous year, your support matched our ministry needs almost dollar for dollar, month by month. Whether through the COVID relief initiative or during the bump in demand for microloans that followed—God provided every resource needed to continue serving clients well, and then some. And He did it through YOU.
4. Spiritual food is real. At the start of 2020, the Lord prompted us to invest more deeply in spiritual development. Then COVID provided a way to put Bibles in the hands of every client, along with food packages, in their darkest time. The physical and spiritual food nourished these families the whole year through. In fact, one client in Kenya, armed with her own Bible for the first time, began holding church services and preaching in her yard while her local church was shut down.
5. Technology is a miracle. TOLI staff and partners now clearly see how isolated we were from each other before COVID. We’ve all embraced new technology that connects us “in person” now more than ever. That’s one change that will stick.
6. We’re all needy. In ministry and development work in the US, it’s easy to operate on the assumption that ‘we’ help ‘them.’ It’s a false premise embedded in the Western mindset, which under normal circumstances takes intention and practice to dislodge. This year, though, sickness and strife didn’t play favorites, and our own neediness, even as 'privileged Americans' was suddenly on prominent display. And so our empathy for each other, mutuality in our prayers, and unity in Christ grew between TOLI partners in profound ways. It is a gift.
That's just six, but I could go on and on.
So—were these blessings worth all the heartache of 2020? I'll leave that to God. What is left to us, though, is to point to goodness whenever, wherever it comes. To say it out loud. And to thank our God for it.
As we walk together into a new year, may the trials that lay behind and the inevitable challenges out ahead prove our faith genuine, and our Lord trustworthy.
Abigail McConnell,
Executive Director, TOLI
2020 GIVING STATEMENTS VIA EMAIL
This week you should have received your 2020 Year-End Giving Statements from us via email. If you didn't get it, be sure to check your spam or junk folder, or contact Erin Eilmes for assistance. (PS: This is a great time to make sure you've added us to your contacts!)
Hop on Zoom with us at 12pm MT on February 9 for our #TOLITUESDAY Prayer Gathering. This month, Lucy Njeri, TOLI Social Worker in Kenya shares what God is doing in clients' lives in her area and how we can pray. She'll also introduce us to NEW members of the Kenya TOLI team!
Email Liza to get this week's Zoom link or CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE PRAYER TEAM.
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