March 20, 2015
Luke 9:16 says, “Then he took the 5 loaves and 2 fish and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the multitude. So they all ate and were filled…”
We are all familiar with this story about a boy who shared his lunch with Jesus and a few thousand other people one day on a hillside near Jerusalem. When I read that story I can picture it as if I was there experiencing it. I felt like the same story was retold on both FTW projests this year. Instead of loaves and fishes we had backpacks and school supplies in abundance for all.
Each team on both international projects were assigned particular items to bring on whichever week they were attending. The idea was to make it easier on everyone by bringing a specific item to go into the backpack without having to supply a fully stocked backpack. Well, as usual, the FTW family exceeded our expectations and there was more to go around than either project could possibly use. So, we quickly tried to identify others nearby that could use our over abundance.
In Honduras, we were able to bless 3 other communites with supplies and Bibles besides the one we were working in. In Costa Rica, we shared our “lunch” with not only the church we were working with, but also 6 Bible Institute students, 6 Costa Rican Pastors headed back to their respective congregations, and the staff at the place we stayed who serve hundreds of disadvantaged children per year! Now that is setting your blessings before the multitudes!
Many thanks to everyone who supplied our loaves and fish this year – it was a great success!
Author: Mary Padgett
