THE LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS, AND THE DARKNESS HAS NOT OVERCOME IT.
Have you ever been in an entirely dark place when light shines through?
Any flicker (no matter how microscopically small) in a place without light will entirely transform it.
Right now across the world, there are dark, dry, pain-filled places where people live, where people wander, where people have no hope.
There are chasms between people and the lives they are truly made for.
Though we are made for community, the fear of losing control keeps us from one another. Though we are made to love our neighbors, we avoid them in the driveway. Though we are made for a life of sacrificial love, too often we sacrifice the chance to love anyone else for a life that makes us feel safe.
Though we know the Lord and His promises, even we retreat into the darkness. We, too, experience the dry, the dark, the pain-filled places. Not because His light is growing dim. But because we retreat into unholy spaces.
God never retreats. He is always advancing His Kingdom.
We go out to love our cities in part for our own lives. Out there, the Lord is on the move, weaving lives together, redeeming broken people, interrupting darkness with light.
When we go, we get to join Him. Out there, we encounter His life, because we serve a God who goes Himself and a God who calls us to go.
Right now, we don't have the choice to go or not. It has never been a choice. The mandate on our lives is to go and make disciples.
We do not need more answers or thoughts or ideas. When we go, we encounter Him.
We continuously discover that pushing out into hurting places leads to breakthrough, even when we are unsure, even when it costs us. We continuously see that the Lord is faithful, and He continues to graciously weave us into His purposes.
And with each encounter, His light grows brighter and the darkness loses control.
We have to go. We have to love our cities. We know Him; we know that He wins. He redeems. He breathes life into death.
Darkness only exists in the absence of light. But any speck of light disrupts the darkness and entirely overcomes it.
As we look back across the last twenty years, our story is defined by those whose lives were overcome with light, who turned out and changed the lives of others. We have impacted over 44,000 young people. We have touched the lives of 7,000 volunteers. We have seen entire communities transformed. And we hope you will join us in the belief that this is only part of what the Lord will do with us. This is only the beginning of a story of the power of the Lord's light brought to bear on the darkest of places.
We ask you to prayerfully consider your part in this mission. We as you to give and give generously to this year’s appeal. Take part in the movement. Bring light into darkness.
This year, we are working to raise $150,000 so that we can go deeper in the places we are and further than we ever have before.
Give at give.boywithaball.com.
