Thanksgiving is a day of family & friends, food & fun, parades & parties, but Thanksgiving is also a time to reflect. This is a busy day with all the that goes into making it a true celebration and in the midst of all the excitement of this day we would like you to take a minute to hear a word of gratitude from us.
From REACH Ministries, from Richard & Julie. If you are on this distribution or have come across this letter posted on our social media, it is because you are our friends, our family, our supporters in ministry and in life. You are the ones who pray for us and call our names before the throne of God, you are the ones who host us in your homes when we come to town, you are the people who give of your own finances to see the kingdom work progress. When we think about home, yours are the faces we see. When we look into the eyes of a thousand smiling orphans, you are the ones we are thankful for the heart God put in you to give. When we build a new home for a widow and watch her sobbing in joy and gratitude, we know without you she would never have this moment. When we stare across the courtyard filled with eight hundred bowed heads and watch a sea of hands reaching high into the air as six hundred teenagers give their hearts to Jesus for the first time, we rejoice with that heavenly choir of angles, and we marvel at the heart of God to coordinate all the people on this distribution to make that happen.
We have many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, we are so grateful to God for the life and the family He has given us. Three years ago, when God put us on this path, we had no idea the kind of adventure this mission would be and without hesitation we report the lost are saved, the sick are healed and darkness is fleeing before the kingdom of light.
We are thankful for the thousands of people reached this year; we are thankful for the new school dormitory the orphans are moving into this year in Kosele. We are thankful for the new school for orphans and underserved in Migori, we are thankful for the clean water for the kids from the water projects at Agape & Ekeonga schools. We are thankful for the feeding programs that are providing nutritious meals for widows and orphans. We are thankful for the hundreds of churches God as brought us to teach the gospel. We are grateful for the hope that touches thousands of folks in Kenya through the efforts of REACH Ministries and our partners. We celebrate the open door to preach the gospel when God led us into two Muslim schools. We rejoice over the new building projects, the new church plants, the new children’s programs, the outreach, our partners in YWAM, our ministry partners in the slums and refugee camps and for all the fruit God has brought into the world this year.
In all of that, we have the most gratitude for you! I hope and pray this thanksgiving that you feel the magnitude of our thanks. That you hear the heart of the most high God saying well done my good and faithful servant. That you understand your gifts and your prayers are the foundation we build upon. I hope that you know you are the realization of the dream God put in our hearts to see a worldwide community of believers who would come together to build the kingdom of God in the earth.
That you who labor with us are the ones we are most thankful for this Thanksgiving, so please gather the family around and read them this letter, let them know how thankful we are for you and your families on this day. Let them know the fruit of heaven that your hearts have sewn this year, hug them for us and thank you one and all for everything you have done!