A friend of mine works on a hospital ship called Africa Mercy which takes free healthcare to developing countries The staff daily serve hundreds of patients whose ailments would otherwise go untreated TV crews who periodically board the ship point their cameras on its amazing medical staff who fix cleft palates and reset club feet hellip [... more]

In June six Tongan teenagers sailed from their island home in search of adventure But when a storm broke their mast and rudder the first night they drifted for days without food or water before reaching the uninhabited island of lsquo Ata It would be fifteen months before they were found The boys worked together on lsquo Ata to survive setting up a small food garden hollowing out tree trunks to store rainwater even building a makeshift gym When one boy broke his leg from a cliff fall the others set it using sticks and leaves Arguments were managed with [... more]

A woman once told me about a disagreement that was tearing her church apart ldquo What rsquo s the disagreement about rdquo I asked ldquo Whether the earth is flat rdquo she said A few months later news broke of a Christian man who rsquo d burst into a restaurant armed to rescue children supposedly being abused in its back room There was no back room and the man was arrested In both cases the people involved were acting on conspiracy theories they rsquo d read on the internet Followers of Jesus are called to be good citizens Romans ndash [... more]

A little girl waded in a shallow creek while her father watched Her rubber boots reached her knees As she sloshed downstream the water deepened until it flowed over the top of her waders When she couldn rsquo t take another step she yelled ldquo Daddy I rsquo m stuck rdquo In three strides her father was at her side pulling her to the grassy bank She yanked her boots off and laughed as water poured onto the ground After God rescued the psalmist David from his enemies he took a moment to sit down ldquo pull off his boots [... more]

When small businesses in Tennessee were abruptly shuttered by government officials shop owners worried about how to care for their employees how to pay their rent and how to simply survive the crisis In response to their concerns the pastor of a church near Nashville started an initiative to supply cash to struggling business owners ldquo We don rsquo t feel like we can sit on a rainy-day fund when somebody else is going through a rainy day rdquo the pastor explained as he encouraged other churches in the area to join the effort A rainy-day fund is money that [... more]

nbsp Xochitl E Dixon nbsp Suggested Reading Romans ndash nbsp Be joyful in hope patient in affliction faithful in prayer Romans nbsp Rogelio served as our waiter during our weeklong vacation During one conversation he credited Jesus for blessing him with Kaly a compassionate wife with strong faith After they had their first baby God gave them the opportunity to help care for their niece who had Downs Syndrome Soon after Rogelio rsquo s mother-in-law needed live-in care Rogelio works with joy often taking on double shifts to ensure his wife can stay home to care for the people God [... more]

For Christopher a physically disabled veteran everyday activities had become more challenging took longer to finish and increased his pain Still he did his best to serve his wife and child Passersby would see him using a push-mower to cut his lawn every week One day Christopher received a letter mdash and an expensive riding lawnmower mdash from an anonymous donor The secret giver rsquo s satisfaction came through the privilege of helping someone in need Jesus doesn rsquo t say that all of our giving should be in secret but He does remind us to check our motives when [... more]