In January I was reading the "Real Live Preacher" blog - which is owned and operated by Gordon Atkinson, pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in San Antonio. He traveled to the Dominican Republic to help set up a water filtration system with Edge Outreach, for a local hospital. While there he visited an orphanage where he met Stephanie, an 11 year old girl with a severe disability, who colored this picture and gave it to him. Gordon wrote an amazing piece that i'd invite you to read on his website about what he should/could or would do with this piece of art
http://reallivepreacher.com/rlparchive/ (scrolldown to entry 3). After all, he and his team had brought balloons and coloring books as gifts for these children who had so little (or so he thought) and this child's offering of the gift back to him truly undid him.
What does it mean to give like that child who had nothing to give and what does it mean to receive as someone who seemingly has everything? And how does that relate to the ultimate gift that Jesus gave to us? So this coloring of this Good Friday scene, created by Stephanie, which was a gift to Gordon, is now my gift and yours too - for we are all connected because of the Cross of Christ.
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2 comments:
Okay, i finally found my way to the story about the pictures, first it suggested i MUST subscribe for $60.00 so i bypassed all that, went to archived stories and typed Stephanie in Search....in case everyone has trouble.
Great story! I don't have anything to add. k
Children in poverty, in their sweet innocence give ALL from their heart. They don't measure value in dollars and cents. They love with open arms and open heart—willing to give whatever they have to one who has touched their heart.
To receive from such a child would make Gordon the richest man on earth. I am quite sure he was greatly humbled in overwhelming gratitude.
Jesus willingly walked away from the greatest riches, to become a servant to sinful man and give His life to set man free from the greatest poverty—sin. How can we live a single moment without the humbling reality of what Jesus did for us? He LOVES us beyond anything we could comprehend!
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