“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him “ (Col 3:17)
This summer at the Ridgeway Market in Ridgeway, Ontario, my family and I sold Homemade Cocoa-Hazelnut spread (similar to “Nutella”) to raise funds for Haiti. The family members all took turns on Saturday mornings manning the booth.
Due to COVID 19 restrictions, no samples were permitted to be offered for most of the summer, and with a market largely dependent upon American tourists, sales were by no means ideal. In fact, if we calculated labour, we would definitely be in the hole. Yet on the bright side, the booth allowed for some wonderful exposure to HLMS and prompted many questions about our Christian ministry in Haiti. Today’s generation is less inclined to volunteer time for service organizations, as sadly people are less inclined to commit to clubs, charities, or churches. So when they hear that Christians are raising money for a cause from which they by no means personally benefit, it raises some eyebrows—and hopefully some eyes towards heaven. Our prayer remains that these kinds of situations become opportunities for unbelievers or “nominal Christians” to think about or rethink their relationship with God. For when God gave His life for the world, there was nothing “in it” for himself. His gracious works were all about love for us.
The world judges the success of an event by its results. Christians don’t. We go to church even when the pews are fairly empty. We pray and praise even when we don’t get what we had hoped for. We do things because they are good to do, even they don’t seem to make much sense. We lead and support events and causes because they are right, even if we are the only ones or it is inconvenient to do so. So even though we didn’t make much money for Haiti selling goods at the market, we would do it all over again. Jesus does things that don’t make sense either. He dies for us. That’s what love is. And even though Haiti has got to be one of the hardest and most frustrating and most expensive countries in the world to do both humanitarian work and Christian missions, we don’t give up, nor succumb to the world’s reasoning or the devil’s temptations. We keep serving, in spite of the results when they aren’t visibly glorious. When our good works are a fruit of true Christian faith, God always sees it as very good. And his opinion counts the most.
Thank you all for doing the same: supporting Haiti even when it’s costly and inconvenient.
Rev. Dr. Harold Ristau
Pastoral Advisor for HLMS
