We’re half way through 2020 and this year can’t end too quickly. That’s a common sentiment in this bad news year. But it’s not all bad news. Good things are happening. Young couples are beginning wedded life together, about 6,300 every day in the U.S. and 2.3 million annually. During these stay at home days my wife found the love letters we wrote to each other in the months leading up to our marriage almost 40 years ago. I’ve been reading them in the evenings, reliving the dreams we had and the love we expressed so deeply. In this troubled year other young lovers are beginning life together with the same love and dreams we had.
And babies are being born, 10,388 each day in the U.S. (3.8 million annually) and 386,000 each day in the world (141 million annually). Babies bring joy today and hope for tomorrow. We do not know their future. Will 2020 yield children who live courageously and serve God faithfully? Will this batch of babies triumph in tribulation and wear the white robes of the martyrs? We don’t know, but we know that every day parents welcome children with the hope and joy parents have always had. That’s good news.
There’s good news from our Northwest Baptist Convention churches too. People in the Northwest have been led to Christ over Zoom calls. New believers are being baptized. A pastor just told me that on their first Sunday gathering for worship following the Covid-19 shutdown, a 67 year-old woman professed faith in Christ and will be baptized. There were 25 gathered on that Sunday, and God was at work! He’s always at work. Our God is always doing more than we know, never less. That’s good news! The Word is being preached and taught. New ways of loving our neighbors are being discovered. God is hearing and answering our prayers.
Incredibly, when we announced that 50 East Asia missionary units needed temporary housing because of Covid-19, about 70 churches and individuals responded with housing offers. This was huge. The only disappointment is that most will not host a missionary because many are going to stay with their family. But the offer to provide housing revealed the huge hearts of our people. All 50 missionary families are provided for. Please pray for them. They had to leave their East Asia home and most will not be allowed back into the country. They will be in temporary housing for several months before finding a new place to serve.
And here’s another good news story. With remarkable generosity during these Covid-19 months, when we could not gather for worship, our people brought God’s tithes and offerings to their churches. The best explanation we have for this is that many of our church members are biblical stewards, not religious consumers. They love God and their church. Pastors and churches have also responded during these difficult days by offering support to churches that are hurting. Several churches have contributed to the NWBC pastoral assistance fund to meet the needs of pastors whose churches are struggling, and several have been helped. That’s the fruit of cooperation with the NWBC.
As evidence that our churches collectively are doing well, missions giving through the Cooperative Program from January–June remains over budget, and even over what was given during the same period in 2019. It’s pretty amazing! This has enabled us to continue supporting missionaries, church plants, and other mission efforts. Although we’ve received significant funding reductions from NAMB and Lifeway, our churches remain strong.
Like you, I want to get past Covid and wearing masks, and I want to shake hands and hug people again. But until that day comes, I’m grateful God is working, doing more than we know. It remains a good day to serve the Lord in the Northwest.