ThanksGiving

Kingdom Pursuits where you hear from ordinary people instilled with an extraordinary passion. Together we explore the stories of men and women who take what they love and let God turn their passion into Kingdom Pursuits. Now live from the Truth Booth, your host, Robbie Dilmore.

What fun we are gonna have on this Thanksgiving weekend on Kingdom Pursuits as we have a very neat show lined up for you today. We have Tom Cortado. Am I saying that right, Tom? Sure are, Robbie. Oh, for once in my life I got some.

Anyway, he's with Gospel for Asia's Christmas Critter campaign. I mean, how fun is that? And so this is one of the coolest things. We got to do this last spring, but now we get to do it for Christmas.

I mean, I'm so excited, I can't tell you. That's great to hear. It's amazing what we've seen so much tremendous fruit and God moves so powerfully over these last 12, 13 years now.

We've been doing it. It's exciting to see how God works and how people get excited about it. They put, you know, chickens and goats and it changes the lives of so many people. And it's just, it really is, it's mind blowing to me how simple it can be.

And the first time I became aware of it was last spring, but it's really simple. Like for $11, Carmen, you can get a chicken, right? You can get a chicken for somebody and it's a live chicken.

It's not like, right? Because a live chicken will get you more what? Yeah, actually you get two chickens for $11. Oh, a pair of chickens. A pair of chickens, yeah. So you can get eggs and people will purchase a pair of chickens and that pair of chickens is given to a local family in desperate need and it's identified through the local church regardless of who they are, what they are, who they worship.

And we just want to bless people and, you know, let them know that God loves them and that's a tangible way to do that. And that pair of chickens will allow a family or let's say a widow with children to now, you know, sell the eggs, sell the chicks and be able to provide for her family. I mean, we've seen story after story where one family who's maybe even just living in the slums, you know, of Asia and they have no income or very little income because they're mainly begging.

Children can't go to school. They have, you know, no good health or anything like that. And so we give them a pair of chickens and that allows that family to now pull themselves up out of poverty. Now they may make $20, $30 a month but it's enough to live on. And we've seen where they'll have, they'll start out with a pair of chickens and of course chickens will lay eggs so they'll keep the chicks.

Some they'll sell, some they'll keep. And we saw one family who was in dire need, dire straits. And, you know, about 18 months later, they were to the point where they had a chicken farm.

And then, you know, about six months later, they were actually able to sell that chicken farm and start a gold farm. So it not only impacts a family, but it impacts the whole community. And it's all done through the love of Jesus Christ to demonstrate his love for them. And it's exciting what God does. Oh, it's so cool. It's Gospel for Asia's Christmas Critter campaign.

And so if you actually if you just go to gospelforasia.org or gfa.org is actually the easiest way to do it, gfa.org. And then you'll see the Christmas Critter campaign right there. And it's so simple because we got all sorts of ways that we can do that.

But you know, it's kingdom pursuit. So you got to have a riddle. And so I don't know if you've experienced this, Tom, but here's your opportunity to hear some dad jokes. And of course, today, speaking of chickens.

So I think you're gonna like this one, Carmen. So if you used your stimulus this year to buy chickens for Gospel for Asia's, you know, Christmas Critter campaign, you got your money for nothing and your chicks for free. Yeah, there you go.

Yes. Dire Straits would tell you all that. But anyway, you may wonder, I'm sure you do, Carmen, why did Mozart kill all of his chickens? I don't know. See, when he asked them who was the best composer of all, they all replied, bawk, bawk, bawk, bawk, bawk.

And you know, went very badly for him. And so, you know, the other day I ordered a chicken and egg online, and I'll let you guys know, okay? It'll come to you in a minute.

Which came first. Yeah, there you go. So how about this one, Carmen? What kind of sneakers, you may have wondered, what kind of sneakers to chicken wear? Chickens, specific, you know, because it's plural. So we got to do what kind of sneakers to chickens wear? You got any idea, Ton?

No, but I'm sure there's that. Are you ready for this? Reebok, bawk, bawk, bawk. And maybe you know this one, but it's old, but I like it anyway. What day do chickens hate the most? Friday.

It's just tough for them. So I actually have a really neat Bible riddle for you today, and we got some great prizes we're going to give away. So what city in the Bible is the home of hateful birds? What city in the Bible is the home of hateful birds?

You know, apparently Alfred Hitchcock visited it. So there's the question. And if you can answer that, Carmen, tell them what they'll win. You'll win one of our great books from the Kingdom Prize Vault. There you go. The Kingdom Pursuits Prize Vault is loaded with all these authors that we've had over the days.

So all you got to do is call us at 866-348-7884. And not only will you win, but you're going to get a big high five from Robbie because this is a really hard one compared to most of my riddles. This one is a little bit more specific. What city in the Bible is the home of hateful birds?

I didn't even know there were hateful birds, but there are, and apparently in this book of the Bible it's described. So, getting back to Gospel for Asia's Critter campaign, Christmas Critter campaign. So, Tom, how long have you been with Gospel for Asia? This is my 22nd year that I've been with the ministry. Yeah, time flies.

Like, you can don't, I guess. It's amazing to see how quickly time flies. But I just want to mention one thing, Robbie. You know, we love working with Truth Network so much, we actually created a website just for your listeners to go to to participate in this campaign. So, instead of going to jray.org, you know, we have a website called crittercampaign.org. Crittercampaign.org, all one word. And that is solely for the Truth Network listeners to go and be a part of this campaign this year. So crittercampaign.org.

That's easy, even I can remember that. So that's where you go if you want to, and again, the neat thing when you go to crittercampaign.org is there's lots of critters besides just the chickens, by the way. Lots of neat, right? I love the way you guys really thought through some of these things, like a bicycle, right? The bicycles for missionaries are really important. A bicycle allows a missionary to triple the amount of area he or she can now cover. You know, obviously in those areas, roads are pretty rough, if any, and so they have to walk all over the place. With a bicycle, they can now increase the coverage of their ministry and share Christ and talk about God's love and minister to so many people in need.

At minimum, double and usually triple the area that they can cover. These bikes are solid. You know, I've seen them myself, personally, on the field. Missionaries take care of them. When I was a kid, I'd leave my bike in the front yard, you know, but I grew up in the 60s.

I'm with you, I did too, I'm afraid. Yeah, I mean, they really take care of these things, and sometimes you'll see, you know, not just two missionaries, but three missionaries on the bike, all going out to minister. Like one sitting on the handlebars, one pedaling and on the seat, and another guy hanging on in the back, you know, like we used to do as kids. You know, you put your feet on the little screws there, so it's amazing what a bicycle will do to impact the community for Jesus.

So the Gospel for Asia, right? Just the CritterCampaign.org is the place to go. We've got so much more.

Oh, believe me, the stories and the items and all the different things that are going to go into this this Christmas, how fun is that? Plus, we have callers that have tried to determine about the hateful birds. I know you're concerned about that.

Hi, I'm Barry McGuire. I'm a layman here to remind you that face sharing is a barometer for your spiritual health. Jesus commands to love your neighbor as yourself. I wonder if Jesus were using the vernacular today instead of saying as yourself, when you said, get over yourself, love your neighbor.

Well, whether or not that's what he meant or not, it's exactly what you need to do. And the truth is nothing's easier than loving on people. I go so far as to say even more fun when they're unlovable.

That's the best. They don't even know what to do with you. When you look at everyone through the eyes of a loving God who loves them, you see them differently. You see them lost in deception and you want to do everything you can loving them in Jesus' name so they will want what you have. Your love will always move them closer to Jesus.

Get help sharing your faith at igniteamerica.com. The whole country is on a quest for something in drugs, in sex and entertainment. We want something. We don't quite know what it is. And it's elusive.

We don't find it. And Billy Graham says some people look for it in religion. But religion without a person encountered with Christ will not save the soul. It won't bring peace to your soul that your soul longs for. You see, when you receive Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to live into your life and he produces in you joy. It's supernatural joy. Now he doesn't take your troubles and problems away, but he gives you a peace and a joy that will enable you to go through them and live through them if you put your trust and your faith in him. Come to Christ and he gives you the real things of life. We can tell you more. Visit us at findpeacewithgod.net.

That is findpeacewithgod.net. We're the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. It is fitting and appropriate that we honor those who have shaped our lives by their leadership.

Hi, I'm Chuck Swindoll. Listen to the words of Hebrews 13 7. Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you. And considering the outcome of their way of life, imitate their faith.

The original term rendered imitate is the word from which we get our English term mimic. Then verse 17, obey your leaders and submit to them for they keep watch over your souls. Remember, obey, submit. These are all words of great respect and personal action. Pastor and teacher Chuck Swindoll.

Visit Insight for Living's website at insight.org. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build a kingdom today. We are so blessed to have with us Thanh Cortado, Gospel for Asia's Christmas Critter Campaign, which we're partnering with them with the Truth Network at crittercampaign.org. But right now we got Yolanda in Greensboro, who thinks she knows what city in the Bible is the home of hateful birds.

Yolanda, you're on Kingdom Pursuits. Good morning. Good morning.

How are you? I am excited to hear about these hateful birds. Oh, no, I hope I got it right. You asked the city of the hateful birds, right? That's right. I think the answer is Babylon.

You are exactly right. Those Babylonians and their hateful birds. You know, my mother was not, my mother was not afraid of much, but she was scared to death of birds. I am too.

Really? I am terrified. Terrified.

That's the one thing I don't like. Yeah, that's, that's, that was, we could just, you know, and so when the movie The Birds came out, you know, it was, it was, there was no way in the world you're ever going to get my mother to see that. Have you seen it, Yolanda? I haven't seen it yet. Don't, don't go see it. It won't help you. It won't. And seriously, I would never go to Babylon, because from what I understand, you know, from Revelations 18, right? In the last days, man, these birds are going to be hateful, and that's not good.

It's not good at all. Thank you for calling and winning today, so we'll get your book out there, and I'm going to put you back on hold, let Carmen and you discuss that, and I'm so grateful you called in. Thank you so very much. Oh, thank you. God bless.

All right. Don, well, I'm pretty sure your chickens are not hateful, are they? They're not from Babylon. They're, they're, they're, they're loving and kind and loved on, I tell you that.

They become part of the family. Yeah, they, they're, they're not from Babylon, I'm sure. They're Jerusalem chickens. We actually buy them locally. Oh, really? So, you know, but really, what I love, I really do, is that if you go to CritterCampaign.org, you're going to see there's just a whole menu, like a mosquito net for only $10 or a blanket. And you guys really thought through, like, a winter clothing package, right, for people that are, they're winter clothing, and so it's really, really cool that we can get specific with our gift to say, you know, it's really a nice thing to think that this is exactly what I'm providing, right?

It really is. I mean, we've had time and again where, you know, sometimes, especially now as it starts to get colder in certain parts of the world, you know, people just don't have the simple things like a blanket. And it's kind of neat to see when I was, last time I was, I was over in India, that we had some, some young, young kids who were part of one of our homes, and they would go out in the, in the early mornings, you know, with, with obviously with the leadership and that, and they would find people sleeping on the street, and just, just give a blanket to them, and, and just tell them that Jesus loves them. And it's amazing to see, you know, how you can just, you can literally save a life with a blanket, you really can, or with, with just some, some, you know, some heavier clothing. You know, we work in areas like Nepal where obviously it gets really cold, and, you know, we're able to provide the necessary things like blankets and coats and sweaters and that, just to, just to keep people warm. Keep people, especially in pictures, walking in the snow in flip flops.

I don't know how they do it. We try to provide as much clothing as we can, of course. I'm pretty sure, Tawn, I'm pretty sure my wife could. I, we went to Boone yesterday, it was like 30 degrees, the wind's blowing 20 mil, and she doesn't need a coat, is she, it's unbelievable, but, you know, there's different folks, but obviously this is, it's really helpful to have those, and I mean really helpful, but one of the really, really neat things, like if you have $100 that you're thinking about giving for Christmas, I mean what an amazing thing you could really, really, really not just change a life, change a village, help a lot of people find out about Jesus by providing a sewing machine, right? Because what those can do is like phenomenal in another, you can start a whole industry.

You really can. It's amazing to see. Last time I was over there, and I've been there about seven or eight times, I can't remember now, and, you know, I walked into a slum, and there was, we visited this lady who had three children, she was, her husband had left her, and she was living in just a shack, and when it would rain, the water would come up to her knees, you know, she had to put her kids, her youngest, on her lap, and we were able to give her a sewing machine, and she started tailoring for the local community, and it was enough, you know, to feed her children, it was enough to give her children the medicine that they needed, so that they could actually go to the local school, and of course our local children's center as well, they were a part of that, and so it just lifted her out of poverty, and then again, it affects the whole community, because now she's selling what she's doing. What she's tailored, so, you know, we like to say a sewing machine doesn't just, you know, doesn't just bend flows, it bends lives, and it's amazing how that happens, and, you know, there's this neat story that, you know, I found out when I was over there, this one lady, she has some children, her husband was, you know, he didn't know Jesus, he was an alcoholic, and sometimes she had money from him, sometimes she didn't, and we were able to give her a sewing machine within 18 months, and this was through the local church, within 18 months, she had started a business, and had five other ladies working for her, all trained by her, all doing tailoring, and they had become part of the local church, they were loving on Jesus, her husband came to the Lord, and he started a barber shop next door, and so this was in 18 months that it revolutionized that, you know, their family, and that community, and that's the impact that some of them have for, you know, a hundred dollars for a sewing machine that's all manual, obviously, you know, you don't want electricity over there, because it's, you know, you don't want electricity. You never know what's going to be on or off, kind of like Southern California, I guess, these days, but so, you know, they're able to make that huge impact just for a hundred dollars, and I always say, you know, we don't know as followers of Christ in the West, and we sometimes really, I think for myself, I don't know what the impact, my prayers, my sacrifice, my giving, and so many others that do that, what impact they're going to have until they get to heaven, and, you know, we can toss our crowns before Jesus, along with all the people that we've impacted through our prayers, our giving, and our sacrifices, and it's going to be, it's going to be a party, I think.

Oh, there's no doubt in my mind, no doubt. Again, we're talking about the Gospel for Asia's Critter Campaign, and the neat thing is, they've got a partnership with the Truth Network, so you just go to crittercampaign.org, crittercampaign.org, and there you can see this whole menu smorgasbord of things that you can pray about, say, God, what would you have me give, and I don't think, you know, I was, another radio show I do is called Land and Rescue, and I had this man had been in northern India, and talking about, you know, that caste system, essentially, these single women that you're talking about that have been thrown away by their husband, if they're untouchable, they have no way of supporting themselves, right? Right, it's, well, yeah, you know, it can get pretty dire, you know, we have stories on some of our other parts of our website that talk about how desperate they can become, and many, many times, you know, they actually end up either committing suicide or selling themselves, and, you know, we want to just rescue them from that, you know, it's amazing to see what God can do through this, we had one opportunity to minister to, you know, a red light district area, and we were able to see over a hundred of these red light workers come to know our Lord, and we taught them how to tailor, you know, gave classes, gave sewing machines, and put their kids in one of our child centers, we actually created a child support center just for their children, and it's amazing to see, you know, what the love of Christ could do to change lives, that's really what it's all about, it's how much Christ loves them and how much we love them and want to see them with us in eternity, and yeah, it's an exciting time. Also, I just want to mention that we actually not only created a website, but we have a phone number, I don't know if you have that, but the phone number is on that website, we created a specific phone number just for Truth Network listeners, and it's right there at the top of printercampaign.org, 855-571-4628, 855-571-4628, and they call that number, and that's just for Truth Network listeners, as is our website, and you know, we want to do all we can to make an impact this Christmas, obviously, if you go up there, one of the first things on the list of compassion services is that right now is specifically geared towards providing food and medical supplies for people during the coronavirus, you know, it impacted Asia so badly, India and the surrounding nations, as you know, that people, you know, it may have been people were dying from coronavirus, but people were also starving to death because of the lockdown, because of no work, you know, you can multiply how it was based on what we went through and still going through, and you multiply that over there, obviously, and it's desperate, so what we do is we provide food and clean water and medical supplies through compassion services to people who are locked down, people who can't get out, people who are living still on the streets and have no work, obviously, because now there's nothing to do, and for $2, you can buy enough food for four people for two weeks. It's all dry goods, rice and beans and some other things, you know, it's all dry. We actually have permission from the local authorities to go with us into these areas to get people food who are locked down, who are behind closed doors, they can't get out, and it's amazing to see how many families we can affect for $2. A family of four can get enough food for two weeks for two bucks, and, you know, when you see that on the website there, you realize what an impact we can make during this really horrendous time of so many people not being able to eat. Have you been over there since COVID hit?

No, no I haven't. The travel restrictions are still in place, but we're good about next week. All right, well, we got to go to another break, but when we come back, we've got more on this Critter campaign again. The phone number, if you want to call them, is 855-571-4628. We'll be right back.

This is Anne Graham Lotz with Daily Light for Daily Living. Do you feel like a failure? Have you been discouraged in your Christian life or your Christian leadership to the point of quitting?

Do you feel you're just not cut out for this sort of thing? What a blessed relief to be reminded that God knows you and me. In fact, He knows us so well that John 15 5 says that apart from Him, we can do nothing. We don't have to prove ourselves to God or worry about disappointing Him. We don't have to earn His respect or deserve His blessings. He created us in the first place. The Bible says He knows how we are formed. He remembers that we're just dust, dust infused with a very breath of God. Listen to me. Praise God.

He has a place for you in His kingdom because Jesus makes heaven available to failures like Peter, like you, and like me. This is Anne Graham Lotz. Hi, I'm Joni, and I love the smell of a wood fire or the scent of my neighbor's pine trees. It's always evoked the best of memories. Well, guess what? You and I have a chance to remind God of His son, the Lord Jesus. How so?

Listen to this. Second Corinthians chapter two says we are the aroma of Christ to God. To me, that's astounding. Sure, as Christians, we waft the aroma of Christ to others, but there's much more to it because when you trust God, when you obey Him with a happy heart, when you endure hardship with not a hint of complaint, you remind God the Father of the consummate obedience, sacrifice, and devotion of His precious son, Jesus. Talk about a high honor, and talk about a really great reason to trust and obey God today, right? Friend, be fragrant, be a sweet-smelling saver, be trusting and obedient, and oh, thus be God's sweet memory of His Son.

It's time now for the Mefford Minute with Janet Mefford. Have you ever thought of yourself as a caterpillar? Likely not, but the old Scottish preacher Thomas Guthrie once used the creeping worm as an illustration of God's grace. As the caterpillar undergoes its metamorphosis, he noted, it becomes a winged and painted butterfly, and at this change, along with its old skin, it casts off its old habits and instincts and delights in the new duties which it is called to perform. This is much like the sinner in whom God's grace works a metamorphosis. His nature is now so accommodated to his redeemed state that he would be less content to return to his old polluted pleasures than the beautiful butterfly would desire to be stripped of its silken wings. What a wonderful transformation occurs when we sinners put our trust in Jesus.

The Bible says it best in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. I'm Janet Mefford. For more of Janet's perspective, listen to Janet Mefford today or online at JanetMefford.com. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the Kingdom today.

We're so blessed to have with us Tom Cortado with Gospel for Asia, the Gospel for Asia's Christmas Critter Campaign, which is very cool. If you go to crittercampaign.org, that's crittercampaign.org. It's kind of been custom-made for the Truth Network, and it's like going shopping. Here, you've got a cart, Carmen, so you can sit there and you go, Hey, I can get a Bible for $10, a chicken for $11, I can get the coat package for $40, and then it adds it all up and you can check out with $65, or whatever it is that you feel like you want to give to the Critter Campaign, and you can actually go shopping, right, Tom?

You sure can. I'm actually looking at it myself. It's amazing how people can make such an impact just by going shopping. We ask people, Hey, get around the computer with your kids during Christmas, and instead of giving Grandma another, I don't know, whatever, tablecloth or something, you can buy some pigs on her behalf. You can print out a Christmas card that you can send to her saying, Hey, these pigs were given to someone in Asia on your behalf. I love this Women's Literacy Fund.

That's $25. What is the Women's Literacy Fund? I tell you, that is an exciting part of the work that we're doing over there right now, because of just the way women are treated in so many different areas of the world. Obviously, it's pretty bad in those areas, sometimes from pre-birth to death.

In those cultures, sometimes if the husband dies, the woman is ostracized, whether she's 8 or 80, and it's really bad. Of course, so many times they grew up in a way that they weren't able to attend school at all, although that is changing some. So what we do is through the local church, we teach them literacy, using the Word of God, teach them how to read, teach them how to write, teach them how to read contracts, simple things like doing the math so they don't get ripped off by a local store dealer when they go and buy their groceries or whatever, they can count the money correctly. It's amazing to see how literacy lifts, again, it empowers them, lifts them out of poverty, empowers them to be able to read and write and better themselves and also their children and their families. It's exciting to see what God has done. There's tens of thousands of women's literacy groups throughout so many of our churches now are happening, and it starts to spread, obviously, as we keep teaching more women, and then they teach other women, and it just spreads like wildfire in a way because they're so excited that they're now able to read and write.

Exciting part, obviously, those within the churches are now able to read their Bible. So can you kind of take us into one of these churches in Asia? Yeah, you know, our fellowships are such that we want to impact the whole community, so our pastor there will, you know, go into an area that has maybe never known Christ, never heard his name sometimes, obviously. He'll come in and say, do you know Jesus Christ? He'll say, you know, your friend doesn't live in this village, try the next village.

You know, that happens, it's almost unbelievable, but it happens. And what he'll do is he'll talk about the love of God and maybe face some persecution, but as people get excited about what God's doing, and through the tangible way that we communicate God's love, like through the Critter Campaign, through, you know, the gifts that we give, through just ministering to people and seeing how God responds to that, eventually is able to gather some people together. Normally through a prayer group, and from that prayer group, it grows into a small community, a small church, and then we're able to, again, if you go down the list here, between $10,000 and $40,000, I think it is, you can actually build a church in Asia. And, you know, what we ask them to do is just pray. Hey, you need a church? Pray. Get your community to pray. Get your congregation to pray. And, you know, they start praying, and we put the walls in, the floor and all of that. I've been in churches over there that just, you know, grassroots.

I've been in others that are, you know, really nice, but most people sit on the floor. And it's just, you know, it's very culturally relevant, if I can say that. So none of the services are in English, so they're obviously in the local language. And, you know, we're able to minister and spread the love of God through that and impact so many people. And usually sometimes we'll even, one or two of these leaders will start a radio program where they can, you know, share the love of Christ through their local language.

You know, there's, my goodness, 200 languages, 1,200 plus dialects just in the subcontinent of India. So, you know, we want to see everybody hear about the love of God. And that's our calling, that's our passion, and we do it through so many different ways.

And, you know, through the Critter Campaign, through the Christmas Catalog Campaign that we do, it's one way to tangibly communicate God's love to so many precious people. I mean, we do clean water. When we establish a fellowship, what we try to do is have a, what we call a Jesus well, you know, drilled in that community, usually on church property. And this is clean water that, you know, is open to everyone. And because, you know, water, clean water is a source that's so scarce in so many areas of the world, Africa, Asia.

We're working now in Africa as well. And, you know, what we call a Jesus well is just a bore well, and it's dug down deep till we get clean water. And we call it, obviously, it's the water of life. The pastor will be there, not just allowing anybody who wants to get clean water who can, so they don't have to walk sometimes, you know, 20, 30 kilometers, whatever, to get clean water.

I mean, it's crazy how far some people have to walk in kilometers, but it's a long, long way. And then walk back and, of course, carry the water on their head. So this way, the water is clean.

It's, you know, it's disease-free, so it allows the children not to have dysentery. And, you know, so many other diseases that come from dirty water. I mean, so many people there get their water source. Their source of water is the pond or the small lake where they're, you know, the water buffalo is sitting.

And, you know, I heard one story. One of our medical teams went to an area where there was a source of water there, and there's water buffaloes standing in there, and the kids are playing in there, and the fishermen are in there, and they ask them, where do you go to the bathroom? And he points to the log in the water.

You see that log? We go to the bathroom on that side of the log. This side of the log, you know, we don't go because we don't want to take our water.

And, you know, it's just that they just don't understand. So we put in a Jesus well. We put in what we call a Biosam water filter. Those are $30 a month.

That's on our list as well. And it's $30 to build one, and through that, we're able to provide clean water. You know, every 23 seconds, some child in the world dies of a waterborne disease. It's preventable. And we want to bring clean water to so many people, do it in the love of Christ, see them get healthy, see them able to go to school, see them able to work, and lift themselves out of poverty.

And something like clean water can do that. It's really, really cool to see all the different ways that we can take part. And obviously one of the big ways that we can take part is in prayer.

And by going through, you know, by going to the, you know, crittercampaign.org, you can get it because each one of these items, you guys did a good job of really explaining why and what and all these things, which really give you sort of a prayer list of like, wow, I didn't realize, you know, that this could have such an impact. And, you know, there's right now somebody, you know, that is in desperate need of a blanket or in desperate need of a goat or, you know, or a water buffalo. I mean, so yeah, I saw a water buffalo on the list. It's kind of expensive, $460.

Yeah, expensive. What does a water buffalo do for us? Yeah, you know, a water buffalo is like giving someone here a new track, you know, they're able to plow, so they're able to grow food. The water buffalo provides milk. It provides transportation. It provides fuel, obviously, because they use dung to cook with. So there's so many ways that a water buffalo changes people's lives.

And, you know, you may not, people may not be able to afford $460. I can't, but they can buy the tail. Well, we got to go to another break, but I had thought about the fact that they plow.

Yeah, man, a water buffalo gets you going. That's amazing. So we got one more little segment with coming up with Gospel for Asia. Again, we want to give out that number one more time.

It is, and I've got to find it, 855-571-4628, 855-571-4628. And when Scrooge comes unto himself, when he wakes up on that Christmas morning and he is reborn, he's a different man. Allison Pittman on Focus on the Family Minute. You know, he goes to church, but then he goes to his nephew's house, his nephew who has invited him to Christmas every single year. And he goes and he takes care of the Cratchits. We see the Cratchits as this beautiful family. They have nothing.

They have absolutely nothing. So this idea that Christmas needs to be things and stuff and decorations and all of that, you know, if you don't have somebody to share it with, and I know that there are people who don't have somebody to share it with, right? They need to reconcile maybe some relationships. Reach out, you know, reach out to each other.

Hear more from Allison at familyminute.org. Here's Dr. Charles Stanley, keeping believers in touch with God. The peace the Lord Jesus Christ gives is a peace that will protect you, guard your mind from thinking those things that you should not think in order to preserve your peace. When we begin to think things we should not think, something happens to our peace. Is this peace supposed to be here and there, off and on, up and down, in and out? No, it is to be a sustaining, continuous peace.

Does that mean that there'll never come a time when you won't have it? No, because there will be those difficulties, there will be those trials, there will be those heartaches, but what he's simply saying is this, that standing at the door of our mind and our heart is a peace that passes all human understanding, that will keep and guard us. For help and hope from God's Word, visit In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley at In Touch.org. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the Kingdom, and we're so blessed to have Tom Cortando with us today, with Cortado with Gospel for Asia, and their Critter Campaign, CritterCampaign.org, with the Truth Network, you know, we're partnering with them this Christmas. I mean, what are so many cool opportunities, like Tom had mentioned, that someday when heaven will be celebrating what God did through your prayers, through your gifts, through so many different ways. And, you know, one of the things that's on there too, Tom, is that you can literally sponsor a child for a year, and kind of what goes into that?

Yeah, that's an exciting part of our program. You know, we've had that child sponsorship program now for many, many years, and, you know, there are so many communities where children are, you know, forgotten or left to just go by themselves, or, you know, because of the family being in a situation that they're in, they have to beg for food, beg for the, you know, not just for the family, but maybe for someone else. And then unfortunately, you know, sometimes children get caught up in our traffic and are used in that way.

It's a sad, sad situation. And, you know, if you saw the movie Slumdog Millionaire, you kind of get an idea of that. What we do is we establish a Bridge of Hope Center, a child center where people can sponsor a child for a year, and what that does is that child will spend five or six days a week, you know, after school. We equip them to go to the local school, and then they'll spend time with us. And we provide tutoring, we provide food, which obviously wards off starvation, because now they have nutrition, now they have vitamins. We give them free health care, you know, give them child checkups and diagnosis and treat them. Obviously, we want to defeat illiteracy, and so, you know, we equip the families, but we also equip these children to read and write. We help them read and write, and this is the cool thing.

We teach them English, which is obviously the language of commerce throughout the world, and it equips them to, you know, to go into higher learning. And of course, obviously, you've got clean water, and, you know, we also minister to the parents. We provide, you know, hygiene training and that to the parents. It's my time to say, what are you doing with my kids? You know, they don't misbehave anymore. Well, we're just loving on them. We're just loving on them in the name of Jesus Christ.

And I've been to these child centers, and it's so fun to see, you know, these kids who are now obviously learning English, and they're loving Jesus, and they're praying for their food. And, you know, they're affecting their families, they're affecting their parents, or if they live with parents. We have some places where the kids, you know, may not have parents at home. They may be living with some distant relatives or something. We take care of them as well.

Sometimes they'll come during the day. I was at one center where this one child, you know, actually a brother and sister, their father was an alcoholic. So what we did is we take them in during the day and, you know, feed them lunch and give them a fruit, you know, give them a place to express themselves and teach them what it means to how much God loves them.

And through this, you're actually sponsoring a kid to be able to be a part of one of these centers. And they're just loved on. And, you know, now, since we've been doing it now for some 15 years at least, these kids have gone on to become missionaries. They've gone on to go to seminary.

They've gone on to go to engineering school, medical schools. And it's just amazing to see the impact that God's making. And again, you know, we may not meet these kids until heaven, but we actually have some people that have gone over and visited the children and just are so impacted by the love of these kids.

And I tell you what, it makes a huge difference. You know, real quick story. When my daughter was 16, she went over, and she says, you know, Dad, it was great to see the kids in the center, but what really impacted me was the kids standing outside that couldn't come in because either their parents were against it or we didn't have the room.

And it broke her heart. And so we want to see as many kids as possible in these programs and just love on these kids and love on their parents, all in the name of Jesus Christ, and they just fall in love with Jesus. Yeah, you know, it's such an impactful thing. When I went on a trip with Teen Challenge to Jamaica, I sort of did a boot camp over there, and there they had apparently, because of the voodoo and other things, that when a special needs child is born, they just essentially throw them to the curb. And there's orphanages that go pick up these children, but because the orphanages are so overwhelmed, you know, the kids are never gotten out of a crib, and since there's nobody to take care of them, they're never taught how to walk that takes a little longer with a special needs child, or they never talked how to use a bathroom and all those things. And so there's so much potential there for life that just isn't met because, you know, there's so many opportunities around the world, and here's folks that are actually picking up the ball and running with it. And so, you know, you can get a chance to get in on this and see it, pray for it, and I'm sure you see that kind of thing, too, over there, right, Tom? Yeah, you know, if it's a girl child, so many times, because of the culture, they're set aside, and it's heartbreaking, and you know, in Gospel of Mark, Jesus says, don't push the kids away, let the kids come to me, because much is the kingdom of God. Jesus has a heart for kids. He does, and so we're going to give out that number again.

It's 855-571-4628, 855-571-4628, or crittercampaign.org. Thank you so much, Tom. Thank you all for listening. My pleasure. Have so much fun, and you guys have a great holiday weekend. God bless.