Wess Stafford
Wess Stafford, the President of Compassion International spent this past weekend with us at RiverTree. He had dinner in our home on Friday evening, spoke to our TreeHouse Kidz children's servants on Saturday morning, addressed our Leadership Community later that same day and then spoke in all of our weekend services. A very full schedule and he did an amazing job.
I've had the privilege of spending a good deal of time with Wess over the past year--he is my mentor who has become a dear friend and brother in Christ. I've watched him in a variety of settings . . . but this weekend was different. This weekend I watched him interract with a variety of people: Leaders, children, affluent, struggling, needy . . . and he valued every one. And I do mean every one. I watched him engage people and bless them. He got on his knees and talked with children. He laid hands on people and prayed for them. He gave big hugs. And the response? People wanted to be near him.
This weekend, through Wess, I watched Jesus in action. And now, I have a better understanding of why people wanted to be near Jesus.
I've had the privilege of spending a good deal of time with Wess over the past year--he is my mentor who has become a dear friend and brother in Christ. I've watched him in a variety of settings . . . but this weekend was different. This weekend I watched him interract with a variety of people: Leaders, children, affluent, struggling, needy . . . and he valued every one. And I do mean every one. I watched him engage people and bless them. He got on his knees and talked with children. He laid hands on people and prayed for them. He gave big hugs. And the response? People wanted to be near him.
This weekend, through Wess, I watched Jesus in action. And now, I have a better understanding of why people wanted to be near Jesus.
posted by Greg Nettle at 8:11 AM
7 Comments:
The service with Dr. Stafford was very powerful and struck me on many fronts, reminding of my own childhood and the abuses my mother, siblings and I suffered in our own home. I have moved past my complacency and my wife and I have now taken on the joy of sponsoring one of these young boys. Our hope and prayer is that somehow, someday, our tiny ripple becomes a tsunami of love and hope in the lives of these children.
I really appreciate your healing from your childhood and especially that you have now become a partner to help another child at risk! Let the tsunami roar!
Exactly. Jesus cared...and does care, for everyone, and it's amazing when you get a glimpse of the reality of that genuine love in your life.
I have to say I was deeply moved by Mr Staffords testimony.
I would like to thank you for inviting him to speak to all of us at RiverTree.
It truly breaks my heart to hear of the suffering that happens throughout the world everyday. I pray that the Lord will be able to use me in some capacity to ease the suffering and point the way to him.
Keep up the great blog site and know that we love and are praying for you daily.
Your prayers are much needed and deeply appreciated!
This weekend was amazing. I'm a numbers guy and couldn't resist asking Wess some statistical type questions. What I learned is that 800,000 kids are being loved, fed, and educated by Compassion sponsors worldwide. I conservatively estimated that an average of 2 people were involved in sponsorship of each child. In all that means that over 2.4 Million people in the world today are directly touched by this amazing ministry. Think about what that means in the next generation, as our kids, and those around us who see what we're doing, and all of the 800,000 Compassion kids tell their story to everyone they know. God's loving power can be released in a tremendous way! How Happy God must be! And Wess told us Saturday morning that he believes that it's all still building at that over the next 10 years things should ramp up considerably (through awaereness and movement in the Christian community to place more importance and to invest more in kids). I agree with Wess that THIS is how we change the world for God!
Now, a seperate question: Greg do you know if Compassion has a position or does anything with regard to teaching about contraception? My thought is this: if we are successful end ending poverty - if the horror of children starving to death and dying of easily curable disease stops - and if birth rates don't change - will we face a global population problem that will eventually lead to a situation where there's not enough resource on the planet to sustain the population?
Stop laughing - lol - I know it's a far out concept, but I see this movement against poverty moving quickly over the next decade or two and I'm confident that there will be great success, so I'm just wondering if we're planning ahead in that regard. I suspect that in some of these cultures they have so many babies because only 1 in 5 or 1 in 10 will survive. Perhaps if they can all survive they will no longer feel the need to have so many births.
I dunno - what are your thoughts?
PS - this blog is a wonderful forum for relevant discussion - I Love it!
Hey Dave,
I think you raise some interesting questions. I'm not aware of Compassion's teaching on the use of contraceptives. You could contact them at www.compassion.com and I'm sure you could get some quick answers.
Something tells me that God has provided all the resources we need for all the people in this world if we live according to His plan.
I probably eat enough to sustain five kids and myself every day!
Post a Comment
<< Home