Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives. Titus 3:14
“For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.”
David Livingstone (1813-1873), Scottish physician and pioneer Christian missionary to Malawi, where I am serving this week. His name is honored across Malawi. May we all see sacrifice as a privilege, and in so doing, make an impact that has a ripple effect for generations!
Yesterday I had some very strategic meetings with John Msowoya, Levton Nyirenda, and Chris Maphosa by Lake Malawi. It went better than expected. We got a vision for next steps for how to spread generosity in Malawi and Southern Africa. I can’t share the details now, but I will in the coming weeks.
When this Daily Meditation posts I’ll be with a tent full of people talking about “Strengthening Churches and Ministries for Sustainability.” Tomorrow, Chris and I will travel by car to Mozambique. Please pray for safe passage from Lilongwe, Malawi by road to Tete, Mozambique, and then by air to Maputo.
In the meantime read this quote again. Think about what God may be asking you to sacrifice, which really when you think about it, is just a privilege when you think in terms of all God has done for you. Resolve what changes you will make, and what giving you can do as a result.