A Worthy Prayer
2015? Undoubtedly, the beginning of another year comes as a shock to some of you. “Where did the last year go?” you may be still wondering. For some of you, though, 2014 is happily behind you and the anticipation of a new year and a fresh start sounds quite appealing and refreshing. Perhaps you are beginning this year with aspirations and goals that you want to reach. Goal setting is a good thing. After all, in the words of the famous statement by Zig Ziglar, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” By contrast, we know that the Apostle Paul pressed on towards a goal that he had set for himself: the goal of knowing Christ Jesus.
As we launch into 2015, I want to briefly exhort you through the healthy perspective captured in a quote by Mother Teresa: “I do not pray for success; I ask for faithfulness.” Whether your goals are financial, health and fitness oriented, spiritual, or otherwise, your key to reaching them is found in simple faithfulness. All agree that Mother Teresa accomplished great things in her lifetime. Yet, her philosophy was simple: be faithful. She once said, “There are many people who can do big things, but there are very few people who will do the small things.” She did the small things…one moment at a time, to one person at a time, faithfully. Jesus said that he who is faithful in little things would be faithful in big things. Is faithfulness a conscious goal of yours this year? Deep within the heart of mankind is a desire to do great things…to BE great, and to feel like our lives are significantly impacting our world in some way. Aim to be faithful. In whatever place God has set you at this time, be faithful. In whatever relationships you have, love people faithfully. In whatever jobs you are given, work faithfully.
As for the children, they are doing well and are all excited about the end of the school year. In Peru, summer starts December 21st and the children are out of school from December 19th until the first week in March. They have Christmas and “summer vacation” all at the same time. Because it is summer there, they are learning to garden right now. They are planting and gaining agricultural skills. We want to thank those of you that sent financial support in order for us to purchase gifts for their Christmas; it means a lot to us and we are grateful to you. We also thank you all for your faithful support throughout 2014. The directors and the children are very blessed by your giving, which helps them to continue rescuing children in Lima, Peru. We praise God that even in our latter years He is still using us, by your help, to support and rescue needy children. We want to be faithful to His will.
In closing, we hope that your Christmas was joy-filled, and that your New Year celebrations brought to mind all of God’s faithfulness to you throughout 2014. May He guide you to mirror His faithfulness this next year, that you might discover in faithfully doing small things, you are actually accomplishing greater things than you ever imagined.
By His Grace,
Tony and Rosa Rivera
Home of Refuge International
