One Day to Feed the World

Well, good morning, everybody. We love Faith Church. You guys are amazing. Johnny and I were in Bible college together, Pastor Johnny and I, and you don't get math there, so I had to add it up. And we've been friends now for 37 years. It is when the four of us became close friends. We were in their wedding, they were in our wedding, and Johnny and Jamie are some of the most amazing people that we know, and I know you know this, I think you know this, but you need to hear this, that you have the honor and privilege of having them as your pastors, I believe, some of the greatest in the entire nation. So would you show your love and appreciation for Pastor Johnny and Jamie? And my wife, Angie, is here with me. I'm on the road about 40 weekends a year, and she got to come with me this weekend, and she's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. We've been married 33 years, so Angie, would you stand and let everybody say hello to you this morning? When most people meet Angie and find out she's my wife, they look at me and they're like, is that really your wife? And I'm like, yeah, and then I'm like, it was a cologne. So, you know, you guys have been such amazing partners, and we want to say thank you. The most important thing I can do

is just to look you in the eyes and say thank you, because there is no us without you. And the way that you have stepped up and supported Convoy of Hope and our initiatives around the world is absolutely incredible. So our guys back in Springfield put together kind of an opening 30-foot overview of what's been happening at Convoy. Take a look at this. This concludes the housekeeping for the week. And with that, we come back next week to show the folks outside where our search has ended up. So hang tight, everybody, and take care. Once again, I'm Erika Howson, and Ken Watanabe, Stefen Gandie, Crousing of Grace, and Angel Barbosa. Thanks for watching. Until next week, you're with Chrissie支. Thank you for watching. Bye for now. Bye Shelton. And Maria. Thanks for being a part of our journey with Cresp your my, and we're going to be thankful for your support. We'll see you next week. Bye. Thank you, Faith Church. I know that that was highly caffeinated for an early morning service,

but it was pretty fast paced too, but we want you to know what God is doing in and through Convoy of Hope. So in case it was too fast or you missed it, you need to know that Convoy of Hope currently is feeding over 677,000 children every school day around the world because of friends like you. In the last 12 months, we've empowered 78,000 women with their own micro business enterprise so that can take care of their families. In the last 12 months, we trained over 49,000 farmers because we know that agriculture breaks the cycle of poverty and helps us create sustainability in every village, in every community. That only happens because of friends like you. And last year, we helped in over 92 disasters in 130 countries all around the world, helping people on the worst day of their life. Faith Church, you guys helped to make that happen. And in the United States, and in the United States, we mobilized 353,000 volunteers to take care of people right here in the United States. That only happens because of friends like you. We wanna say a huge thank you. Do we have any friends in the house from the country of Venezuela? If you're here, would you raise your hand or make a noise? Yes, we want you to know that we love you and we are standing with you. Convoy of Hope, over the last few weeks,

after that horrific earthquake in Venezuela, we now served over 400,000 meals to over 98,000 Venezuelans. That happened because of you. Do we have any friends here from Colombia? Yes, from Colombia, our team is here. We're here to help you. right now is on the ground ministering to the people of Columbia. And do we have any friends from Puerto Rico? No! Okay, a bunch of our team are there this week, right now, dealing with the water crisis. Convoy of Hope is providing water for all of our friends in Puerto Rico. Thank you, thank you so much. You know, I pastored for 21 years, and during that time, you get in different rhythms when you're teaching, sometimes you teach out of an entire chapter or a passage of scripture. There are other times when two or three verses jump out of a page and you kind of park the car and really dig in to those two or three verses. But when I was coming to be with you, I felt like there was a phrase from scripture that just jumped out that could be something that we could all take with us. It's only four words. They were uttered by the Apostle Paul. In the New Testament, there are 27 books

in the New Testament. 13 of those were written by the Apostle Paul, almost half. The phrase that he dropped in there is where I would like to just make it a theme for the day and what we study and learn together. It's found in Colossians chapter three and verse 12, and it simply says this. Clothe yourselves with compassion. These four simple words, clothe yourself with compassion. The Apostle Paul is saying, put on something that helps you see people the way that Jesus sees them. People who feel unseen, people who feel forgotten, people who may feel invisible. Clothe yourselves with compassion. Jesus always saw people. In fact, it reminds us in Mark chapter six and verse 34, it says that Jesus saw the crowds and had what? And had compassion on them. The question this morning for us to kind of think about if the Apostle Paul is teaching us to clothe ourselves with compassion, what is compassion? Because compassion is more than emotion. It is a love that moves and makes a difference. So what does clothe yourself with compassion actually mean? In the original Greek, Paul is using this word, indisapte, which literally means to put on intentionally like a garment. It's something that you choose to wear. How many of you know when you got up this morning,

you didn't accidentally fall into your socks? Some of you may have fallen attempting to put your socks on, but you didn't accidentally fall into them. This word that he's using is to put on like a garment, to choose to wear it. When we landed last night at the airport, I noticed as we were driving out that the state of Florida has changed their flower. Did you guys know this? It is now an orange barrel. It looks like a construction zone. How many of you have ever seen one of these? So this is a vest that when you are driving on the road, you'll find guys standing on the side wearing something like this. And why do they wear something like this? To be seen, because there's a sign next to them that says, construction zone, speeding tickets, double. Then there's another sign that says, if you hit one of these guys, it's a $10,000 fine, and you go to jail for 10 years. So this is worn on purpose. They intentionally put this on to be seen. And I'm using this this morning just to keep it in our minds that Paul is saying, when you get up every day, clothe yourself with compassion so that you see people the way God sees them. The word for compassion here is splachna oketirmos. It's a deep gut level mercy. It forces you to action.

It causes you to do something. This isn't, oh man, I really feel bad for them. This is, I can't sit still until I help them. It's the exact same word used for Jesus's compassion in Scripture. A compassion that fed the hungry, that fed the hungry, that fed the hungry. And that's what Jesus is saying. healed the sick, defended the vulnerable, He's saying, I'm gonna help you. restored the broken. I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna help you. So Paul is saying to us this morning, I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna help you. clothe yourself with compassion. I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna give you a few thoughts this morning before we go. Some of you like to take notes on your phone in the notes app. Some of you take handwritten notes. Maybe you have a piece of paper or a notepad. But just write a few of these down this morning. Number one, make compassion the first thing people see when they look at you. Wear compassion like a coat. Here's the big idea.

Jesus didn't see crowds. He saw people. How many of you are grateful that Jesus saw you? How many of you know that every person on this planet matters to Jesus? It is his will that none should perish. He doesn't want anybody left out. He saw people. People hungry for truth. People hungry for hope. People hungry for food. This is what Convoy of Hope does every day. Our feeding programs, they nourish not only the bodies of those kids, but most importantly, their futures, and even more importantly than that, their eternity. So Convoy of Hope, we don't just give kids rice and beans and water and bread and vitamin powder. We give them the bread of life, and we give them living water because Jesus changes everything. Number two, when we wear compassion, we see those that the world overlooks. Convoy of Hope's Children's Feeding Program do this every single day. They minister to children who don't know where their next meal will come from. How many of you know that a meal makes learning possible? A meal helps a child grow. A meal gives a child hope. Compassion, friends, sees the invisible.

Matthew chapter 25 tells us that when we feed a child, ladies and gentlemen, you are feeding Jesus. When you've done it unto the least of these, you've done it unto him. Pastor Johnny and I just a few months ago were in Honduras. We went two hours up into the mountains. Check out this video of what God is doing in Honduras. Hey, friends, I'm here in Honduras today, and what an honor to get to be here. Honduras is a country of 11 million people. Convoy of Hope currently has 916 program centers all across the country. About 22% of the children here are undernourished and their growth is stunted, but Convoy of Hope is stepping in to make a difference. We are now feeding right here in this country over 50,000 children every school day and reminding them that Jesus is the answer. A pastor right here at the city dump planted a church to be near the orphans, the marginalized, the left out. And what you're doing with your partnering at Convoy of Hope is you are taking care of those children. And so on behalf of all the kids represented here in Honduras today and the many people who are being served across this beautiful country, I wanna say a huge thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. How many of you know that the world is hurting? There are people who are in desperate need. There are women in Africa who are walking up to six miles one way just to find water to bring back to their families. Friends, number three, Convoy of Hope, compassion doesn't run from crisis, it runs toward crisis. We are around the corner and we are around the world. We've already taken a trip to Honduras this morning, but some of you might be thinking, well, what about right here? What are you doing in the United States? And I'm so glad you asked. Because compassion doesn't just meet needs, it unlocks God-given potential and God-given dreams. How many of you ever felt like, well, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do is actually gonna make a difference or move the needle? Has anybody ever felt that way? I'm here to tell you this morning that God wants to use you to make a difference. I don't know about you, but I love how God has the ability to pick a nobody, to be somebody in front of everybody without consulting anybody. How many of you are thankful that he picked you?

He's picked every person in this room this morning. As some of you might remember, 13 months ago, a year ago, July 4th, there was horrific flooding that took place in Kerrville, Texas. 137 people were killed, most of them children from the mystic camp. Some of you may be thinking, well that's kind of way out in the boonies, I don't know how many people actually live out there. There was a church there that had massive impact. Never forget, listen to this story, never forget that everybody can do something. Check this out. The things that are facing us today, water, floods, damage, you saw the tears, right? You saw the broken hearts, right? God does his best work in the midst of tragedy. He says, when you ain't got nothing left, I've got everything for you. San Saba's kind of a sleepy little town. We're surrounded by ranchers and farmers. We're cowboys, you know, these guys live tough lives. People were like, I'm not leaving my house. I'm not going anywhere. Until some of these houses got four and five foot deep of water, we were still chasing people out of the houses. Driving around and seeing the people standing on their porches, watching the water come over the horizon, it's humbling

because you just want to snatch everybody up and do whatever you can. Here, come here. How in the world are 17 people going to meet the needs of 3,000 plus? We don't got the fanciest church. We don't got the most people. We don't got the biggest building. We sure as heck don't have any money. But what we are is people that pray. We are people that love other people. Our congregation, we're not very big. We were running about 15. Our average age is 71. And they can do things that I have never seen before. They just seem to get energized any chance God brings them something to do. Y'all didn't stand and stare at the water and go, look at the flood. I saw the heart of you people. You looked at it and you said, there's an opportunity to minister. Pastor, find the stuff. We'll do the work. The first thing we did was we connected with Convoy of Hope and asked them what they could do for us. First of all, the level of response was incredible. Not just simple things, but things that we truly needed. Convoy of Hope provided the food,

but you provided the connection. And the Holy Spirit gave you the ability to do things that you didn't think you could do. You're feeding people, you're clothing people, you're finding shoes for people. God brought the things here and we managed to move and help the community in ways that you can't even begin to imagine. You don't feel like you're just some little community out in the middle of nowhere that nobody cares about. We feel extremely important in the midst of the storms. You guys are right there with us. I hope you were able to catch that. A church of 15 people with an average age of 71 ministered to 3,000 people in their community. How many of you know everybody can do something? Everybody can do something. Imagine the campuses that are watching online right now. The online crowd that's watching. Imagine what this faith community can do if we all link arms together and say we wanna go make a difference. We wanna clothe ourselves with compassion. So what now, what do we do? What can we do? I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, I had a dad who wanted to get up early on Saturday mornings and work on cars. He wasn't a good mechanic, but he felt like he was doing something.

And I'd just stand there beside him, worse than him, and just kind of look at whatever he was doing. And he'd fiddle around with a wrench and you'd hear it go, king, king, boom, boom, fall out the bottom. And then he'd get mad and then he'd look at me and he'd go, don't just stand there, do something. How many of you had a dad like that? I believe with all my heart this morning, these four words that the Apostle Paul says, clothe yourself with compassion. He's saying, faith church, don't just stand there. Do something today, make a difference. Short-term relief is good, long-term hope is better, but compassion gives both. Let me close this morning by telling you of what's happening in one of the restricted access countries that Convoy of Hope is currently serving in. For those of you who may not know, a restricted access country is a country that limits or tightly controls who can enter, leave, or travel around its borders. A few months ago, I was in this restricted access country. In this country, inflation right now is at 3,000%. One single egg costs an entire day's wage. I want you to think about this. I was in this country, I went to one of our feeding programs and I met this lady right here. She said to me, I can't thank you enough. She said, you feed all four of my children

in the Convoy of Hope feeding program. She said, my husband left me years ago and I've been living outside the city dump in this country with my four kids. She said, but when my kids come to Convoy of Hope for the feeding program, she said, you give them rice, you give them an egg, there's like a soup mix we put on it with vitamin powder, and you give them an avocado. And she said, just to buy that one meal for one of my kids, I would have to work five days to pay for that one meal. But she said, every day, all four of my kids are fed because of what you guys are doing in and through Convoy of Hope. I was absolutely wrecked, just broken. I wanted a picture with her so that I could pray for her and her kids every time I think of them. And then I met this pastor in this same country. We met up and he shared his heart for a vision he had to take care of the children in the eastern part of this country. And then he asked this request. He said, if you will give me 1,000 hens, I want to take care of the children in the eastern part of the country. I'm not a farmer, but I learned from one of our agriculture specialists at Convoy that 1,000 hens will produce 6,000 eggs a week. I mean, that's a good return.

So he started feeding the children there and then he said, we've got enough here. I think I can feed them at night as well. I don't want them just to get one meal a day. So he told the children, if you come back tonight, I'm gonna feed you. But then he said, if I'm gonna have them come back tonight, I'm gonna have a service. So he did the first VBS ever in this country. On the first night, 1,000 children showed up. On the second night, 1,500 children showed up. On the third night, 2,000 children showed up. And the parents were so blown away that he was taking care of their kids that they followed behind to figure out what is going on. When the parents walked across the countryside, he saw them coming, he prepared. That pastor right there preached a gospel message from the bottom of his heart. And he said, and at the end of the night, 50% of those parents crossed the line of faith and made Jesus the leader and forgiver of their lives. And he said, and at the end of the night, Compassion is the first to show up and the last to leave. Friends, we don't have to do this. We get to do this. How many of you know we are blessed to be a blessing? We are blessed to be a blessing. Psalm 112 verses four and five says, light shines in the darkness for the godly.

They are generous, compassionate, and righteous. Listen to this. Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly. Friends, we get to clothe ourselves with compassion. We get to wear compassion and help those in need. I know everybody in this room has a story. I know this morning when you got up, you put something on and it may have looked different. Some of you this morning when you came in, you were waiting for God to come in. frustration, just things aren't panning out the way you thought it would. Some of I know some of you this morning you came in this morning and you were wearing fear. Maybe you got a medical report or something happened and you're wearing fear this morning. Some of you came in and you're wearing indifference. You're just so overwhelmed. You're like nothing really matters. Some of you came in and you're wearing discouragement this morning. But friends, I believe with all of my heart that God is calling every one of us in this room to clothe ourselves with compassion, to see people the way Jesus sees them, to feel what he feels, to do what he would do, to put on compassion like a coat. So why is this whole one day to feed the world even that important? Well, Convoy keeps a running document. It's a massive Excel spreadsheet. How many of you like Excel spreadsheets? Yeah, a few of you, yeah. This is a real Excel spreadsheet at Convoy of Hope. That represents 535 communities and villages that we've targeted. We have program centers there, but outside of the fences of these program centers are a million kids that are waiting to get inside the fence. We have the program centers there, we just don't have the resources to take care of them yet. God willing, that miracle will happen. Pastor Johnny and I were in Honduras just a few months ago. I think you saw the video of he and I together last week, but we drove two hours outside of the

capital city up into the mountains. In our feeding programs, we don't just feed kids, we disciple them. They learn about Jesus when they're in our feeding programs. When we got up there, they were having their discipleship class. I had this lady next to me who was our interpreter, and I said, tell me what the spiritual life director is teaching the children today? And she said, oh, he's telling them right now, with God all things are possible. Now listen friends, it's different to preach with God all things are possible in Orlando than it is to preach with God all things are possible two hours up in the mountains of Honduras, where they don't have running water or bathrooms in their homes. But these kids knew that God had a purpose and a plan for their life, and they were believing for the impossible. And he gave them a painting canvas, and he gave them paintbrushes and paint, and he said, I want you to go paint the dream and the purpose that you believe God has for your life. When we were getting up there, they had all just finished their paintings. And I met this little guy right here. Check him out. Yeah. When I saw him, I'm like, that's my guy right there. You know why? Because he's short and chubby. I was like, that's my guy right there. His name's Jose. He so badly wanted to show me the picture that he had painted. So he brought this picture. I wanted to get a picture with him with his painting. The interpreter was standing beside me, and I said, can you have him tell us what his dream is, what his purpose that he believes God has for his life? She said, oh yeah. He said, he's believing God to become a convoy of hope truck driver in Honduras, where he can deliver food to all the children across the country. I mean, it wrecked me. Pastor Johnny saw this kid, saw the painting. I was like, I got to get that kid's painting. Like, I'll take that thing around the world and say this kid represents a million kids who have dreams and purposes. And our videographer said, you can't steal the kid's dream. It's like, I won't steal his dream. I'm trying to be an advocate, an ambassador for him. Our national director was there. I said, Cesia, can I buy his painting? She said, you can, but you have to buy every kid's painting in the program. I said, how many kids are in our program here? She said, 50,000. I said, that's not gonna fit in my

carry-on. So I gave him a hug goodbye. Just a special kid. You could feel that bond. We drove two hours back to the city capital. Two nights later, Pastor Johnny and I are having dinner with some other pastors in the capital city. I said, what are you doing here? She said, I've got something for you. I'm like, what? She said, our team members heard you talking about Jose and his painting. They drove two hours back up into the mountains to find Jose's home. They went and told him what you wanted to do with his painting because it represented a million kids that still have dreams. And he said to our worker on the ground, I want Pastor Brad to have my painting. So she gave me his painting. You can ask Angie, I take this with me everywhere I go. Not just for Jose, but for the million kids who are on that Excel spreadsheet just waiting to get inside the fence. Friends, everybody can do something. How many of you had a third grade teacher that said, you better memorize your times tables because you'll never be carrying a calculator in your pocket? Boy, was she wrong. Every person in this room has a calculator in their pocket. It's called a cell phone. We just simply say, take your annual salary, divide it by 365 and give one day to care

for the poor and suffering. Friends, when we care about what God cares about, we are positioning ourselves for his favor and blessing to fall upon us. And I'm here to tell you this morning, God cares about the poor. God cares about the orphan. God cares about the widow. God cares about the marginalized. God cares about the discarded. God cares about the forgotten. And if we clothe ourselves with compassion and care about what he cares about, be prepared for him to do something supernatural in your life.