Come Forth.

“Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Then they took away the stone [d]from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” John 11:40-43

Our theme this year comes from John 11. The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is incredibly missional. First, people far from Jesus geographically (Mary and Martha) alert Jesus to a need: Lazarus is deathly sick. Second, Jesus tells His disciples they must physically go to where the need is — even though He could speak the word and Lazarus would be healed. Third, the immediate reaction of Jesus’ closest followers was to tell him not to go because it is “too dangerous.” Fourth, Jesus goes anyway, and requires His followers to roll the stone away as an act of faith in Him. Fifth, Jesus performs the most amazing miracle they have ever seen, and God gets all the glory. The end result of this miracle? Some believe, some seek to kill Jesus. Some even seek to kill Lazarus. Regardless, Jesus goes to where the need is, and the Kingdom of God grows.

We are regularly alerted to needs around the world from our contacts, Pastors and missionaries. People are dead in spirit, never having heard the Gospel. People are sick in their bodies, their minds and their relationships are broken. Jesus not only asks us to go to where the need is, but demonstrate it regularly. It requires human intervention to answer the call, and the power of God to show up. God always does His part, will we do ours? Pray for multiple GI teams heading into the 10/40 window very soon.

Jonathan Haward, President & Founder
Global Infusion