Around the world

This past Friday we held a CHRISTmas sing-a-long, inviting our neighbors, Ukrainians in the city and any others to pion us in singing Christmas songs in various languages. We sang in French, Dutch, English, German, Ukrainian and Russian (and even in Latin). We wanted people to be able to not only enjoy this time in their own language, but also share this time with others. 

The Netherlands was playing against Argentina in the World Cup, so many Dutch people had quite a conflict for this evening. But we had a great group of Ukrainians who came from Eindhoven (about an hour away) to sing with us and to meet the congregation here in Maastricht. The singing was done before 9pm. The talking went on until about 10pm. We are so thankful for how God creates family. 

Last week we also heard from a small village in Uganda who received 50 Bibles in their own language. The church family here wanted to help with this need and took care of sending the Bibles in a responsible way. As a congregation we have helped with various congregations in times of need: in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, St. Maarten and Curaçao as well as with our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. 

God’s family, the church that is the body of Christ, is not some small group of people in a city in a country. It is a body, truly linked around the world and serving as the hands of Jesus wherever they are. If you are a Christian, you are not alone. We are made to be in communion, in a body, working together. And even if you are isolat5ed, you are not alone. Write, pray, email, call, speak to those around you. God is mighty and is using us all mightily, wherever we are.