Reaping the Harvest & Sowing for the Future
Harvest may not be as big a deal in America as the night before All Saints Day is (Halloween), but I am a big fan of harvest time. It reminds me that there is a time for everything under heaven—for planting, watering, reaping and re-planting from the harvest, even in these modern, not so agrarian times.
As a child, I remember fondly the altar at church piled high with produce and food for distribution to the needy. It reminds me that we are called to be productive and to share the fruit of all that God has blessed us with. God will be faithful, and we must be also. We give because God has freely given to us. We don’t give for our benefit or reward, but because God is generous, and we are to be imitators of God as dearly beloved children. (Ephesians 5:1)
Two years ago, New Hope Church’s Thanksgiving offering raised more than $40,000 to help bring the gospel to the Mangala people of South India. God has significantly used the hard work of national workers, and the resources and expertise of ministry partners like New Hope Church and East West Ministries, to plant more than two hundred churches in four years. Each week, thousands of children are ministered to, and hundreds of audio Bible listening groups have grown out of the initial seed gift of 150 audio Bibles. We are seeing a wonderful harvest, but also a replanting of kingdom seed from the fruit of that harvest, as new Mangala believers share the gospel with neighboring unreached peoples. Thank God for His faithfulness to the Mangala people.
This year the elders asked us to help our partners serving in the Middle East. Half of our 2024 Thanksgiving offering will be divided into two parts. The first part will go to support those fleeing violence in Lebanon. This will be distributed by our ministry partners, the Free Evangelical Alliance of Lebanon (FEAL). They have been caring for those in distress from the war with Israel by providing food and help for refugees in Beirut.
The second part will be given to complete the Talysh Bible translation for the Talysh people of Southern Azerbaijan. The Talysh are one of NHC’s unreached people group focuses. The New Testament is finished, and the Old Testament is well under way, but our gift will help finish it sooner. Whenever the Bible is translated into any new language, a peoples’ receptivity to the gospel greatly increases. We pray this will be the case with the Talysh people.