Great is His faithfulness

As I was mowing the lawn last night, that song rolled through my mind, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness." How could I not praise Him as I thought about the previous events of the weekend?!

Our Brazil 2006 team worked and prayed Friday night and Saturday night to prepare desserts, the silent auction and the live auction. I was astonished to see all the things people donated -- great stuff. Elisabeth Pringle led the group in making some scrumptious desserts. Mittie Blackburn did a great job in organizing the auction. And Grant Boone, our emcee and auctioneer, was in fine form. I call him the Billy Crystal of Abilene. It's entertaining to just hear that voice! And his quick wit made the live auction hilarious -- and successful. Thank God for all those wonderful friends and family members who showed up Saturday night to buy things, eat our desserts, and hear Rod, Elisabeth and their son Logan play their amazing music. And what a joy it was for all the high school and college students who helped prepare and serve the desserts. It was a wonderful evening.

Sunday morning Mittie told us that the Lord blessed us with $10,000, which was our goal. In fact, I heard that even more money is coming in. "Great is Thy Faithfulness!"

Then on Sunday at noon we had our final big meeting for the Brazil 2006 campaign. Mitzi Adams, our administrative whiz, organized this event and invited all the parents come whose children we're taking to Brazil for their first time. The highlight to me was hearing the testimonies of the young people who had been on these Brazil campaigns before. Josh Love told about how powerfully the Holy Spirit worked through us as we emptied ourselves and let Him work. Leslie Adams described what a huge impact the Lord had on her life in the four times she's been to Brazil. And then Paul Goncalves, who is the son of Antenor and Phyllis (the missionaries in Itu, Brazil that we work with each time we go) bore witness to how these campaigns have deeply impacted the church and the entire community.

Great is His faithfulness. Perhaps your weekend wasn't as busy or dramatic as mine was, but surely you, too, witnessed the faithfulness of Jesus these past two days. Tell us about it.

With a grateful heart, full of praise to the Lord,

Jim