Do Justly

On Sunday at Connections, we talked about how God calls us to help our neighbors.  We started by watching a video of three teenage friends who learned about how the lack of access to clean water for children in Africa has resulted in some children being unable to cry from being so dehydrated.  It seemed like an overwhelmingly impossible issue for them to deal with, but they wanted to do something!  So they created bracelets that said "No More Dry Tears" and sold them at their school and church to raise money to build wells in Africa that would provide access to clean water for some of the villages.  What started as raising a few dollars, ended up leading to their own non-profit organization that has now built many wells and an irrigation system in parts of Africa!

Are there injustices that you see in the world that seem too big for you to do anything about?  God calls us to respond!  We may not be able to solve the world's problems on our own, but we can make a difference...no matter how small!!  What are injustices you see in your own community?  What's a small first step you can take to help?  Grab a friend and talk about something you might be able to do to make a difference.

One of the mission projects our church is involved in is Operation Christmas Child.  OCC provides a shoebox full of Christmas gifts to children all around the world.  These shoeboxes not only contain small toys, but essential hygiene items like soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.  They also contain a Bible study written in the language of the children they will go to introducing God's love and the Gospel story to children who in many cases haven't heard it before.  You can learn more about OCC's work here: Operation Christmas Child.  So, in response to our topic for the evening, we spent the rest of our time stuffing teddy bears that some of the women of our church stitched.  These teddy bears will be packed in OCC shoeboxes and become a source of comfort and love for many children across the world!  Check it out: