“RUNNING TOWARD THE CHRIST CHILD”
(Luke 2:15-20) “When the angels left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”
Our Christmas message from Belize is to remind us to be running toward Jesus Christ the King. Notice that once the angels had left the shepherds, they immediately were obedient to what they had just heard about Jesus. When the shepherds reached Jesus, they were blessed for their obedience and others who heard their story were amazed. When we seek Jesus with all our heart, we will be truly blessed and others will be amazed at God’s work in our lives! We see that running toward Christ means listening to Him then moving accordingly.
One night in our apartment in Belize City, Amanda shared that she felt moved by God to make a pillow for our homeless neighbor Poppy who sleeps in a truck bed in our parking lot. I encouraged her to follow her heart. Amanda obeyed God’s call and stayed up late one night sewing the pillow together while I tried to rest. The next day Amanda asked if I would deliver the pillow to Poppy. Little did I know what that would mean. As I delivered the pillow and told Poppy that Amanda felt led by God to make it for him, God began to move. Poppy got choked up and fought back the tears as he said that he had no doubt that Amanda had heard from God. He went on to explain that his pillow had gotten ruined in the rain and that it had been hard to sleep. He was almost speechless that God would have someone do this for him and that someone would care that much. I had a very busy day ahead and I started to head down the road as Poppy ran over to me and asked if I was a Christian. From there he told me of his desperation and that he was miserable and ashamed that at age 59 he was in this situation. He told me that he was hooked on drugs and that it was destroying his body and he was in torment. My heart broke for Poppy as I heard his story. I shared my testimony with him. We then had a discussion and prayed together. He even shared with me two gospel songs he had written that were beautiful and then we parted ways. Many have received Christ as Lord at one time in their lives and yet have been running from Him rather than running toward Him. I would encourage all of us to run toward Jesus all the days of our life and that we stop to rest in the arms of His love!
We recently held our second youth rally in BTL Park in Belize City. It was a great success and we thank you for all of your prayers! The rain held off and we had around 150 in attendance. We handed out 250 fried tacos and many young people had an opportunity to use their talents for God. We ministered to drug addicts and gang members and shared the hope we have in Christ. Praise be to God! Tell someone this Christmas that Jesus Christ is Lord! Merry Christmas to all of you and thank you for your continued support!
We Love You,
Heath & Amanda
