It’s kind of a scary feeling to know that in just a couple of days there will be people reading the pages that I wrote for Advent this year. I’ve been praying fervently for the hearts of those of you who will be reading the devotionals, that the Lord will strengthen my feeble effort and translate it into the message that you need for this season of your life.
I wanted to share with you a little bit about Grasp International, the mission organization I chose to partner with for this project. Dr. David Grantham, a good friend and former co-worker, is currently serving as President of Grasp. I asked him to write the Foreword of the book, and tell a little bit about who Grasp is. Here’s an excerpt:
Grasp is an international non-profit organization which seeks to impact the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We do that in four distinct areas of ministry. 1) Grasp provides church pastors and staff who are burned-out with the stress of ministry with a spiritual haven. Grasp has developed a pastor retreat center in Arabi, Ga. (free of charge for pastors, staff, and families) to come and rest and be refreshed. 2) Grasp is providing spiritual training by teaching seminary, in partnership with New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, to pastors and church leaders in Peru and Kenya. 3) Grasp supports church planters in Peru in order to establish leaders with an opportunity to share the Gospel and disciple new converts. 4) Grasp has completed a water purification plant in Tacna, Peru. This plant will provide clean drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people in the surrounding areas. Profit from the plant will be used to support a local church plant, school, and orphanage.
There are so many great missions organizations to be involved with, so I spent a lot of time praying about which one to partner with. I chose Grasp for a few reasons. First and foremost is the integrity of the leadership of the organization. Second, I know first-hand the struggles of ministry and how important it is for pastors and their families to have a safe, healing place to go- so the pastor retreat center is dear to my heart. Third, Grasp is not about projects, it’s all about people. They build relationships with folks as they serve and minister, and these relationships are an investment in eternity. I want to be a part of that!
Please visit Grasp’s website, pray for their leaders and partners, and give and go as you are able.
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