Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Hey, New Life Gillette Church, we are thrilled you decided to listen to our teaching on your favorite podcast app. If you made a decision to follow Christ today, would you let us know by visiting? Yes.newlife gillette.com Here is this week's teaching.
Hey, if you've been around New Life for a while, you know that we are pretty committed to two things. Being a come as you are church and believing that you can become who you were created to be. And we believe that there are skills that just like when you become anything, if you want to become a basketball player or a hunter or a ballet dancer or anything else, there are skills that you learn in that process. As we become who we're created to be, there are skills. We call them the skills of life on mission. And those skills are gather, connect, serve, give and influence. Well, today we have the privilege of hearing from one of our missions partners at Hope of Life International.
You are going to hear today from Katie Ariaza. Did I say it right? Two services in a row. I said that right? Yes. I'm proud.
I don't know why you're clapping for my pronunciation, but I'll take it. I mean, you know, but when we partner with Hope of Life, there are some of you that went down with us to Guatemala back at the end of May. We partner with Hope of Life. We are giving, we are serving, and we are influencing for the kingdom of God. There's a mission that we have. It's our responsibility as followers of Jesus who share his mission to do everything in our power to leverage our connections, our influence, our generosity, to make a difference. So I'm really, really excited for you to hear this morning of some of the ways that your mission, that your life on mission is, is making an impact not just locally, but globally. Would you help me give a warm Wyoming welcome to Katie, the CEO of Hope of Life.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: Good morning, everyone.
Thank you for saying my name correctly.
It used to be easier. My last name was Vargas before getting married, but now it's Ariasa. Good morning. Thank you for having me here. It's a blessing to be here.
A lot loud, you know, vocal more this service. Yeah, well, you know, life on missions and just the ability to be able to serve is incredible.
When we say yes, together, we change the world.
And honestly, like, it's just a pleasure. My name is Katie, President and CEO of Hope of Life, also daughter of the founders of Hope of Life.
It's incredible to be here.
I'm so grateful. Without partnership, there's nothing. And without Kingdom Partners, there's nothing, right? The Lord is just incredible. Where I'm from Rhode island, my family's from Guatemala, and I'm here in Wyoming today, right? Like, why would I ever come to Wyoming if I'm from the east and where I'm full of traffic and here I got to drive on highways at 80 miles an hour, Maybe a little higher, just to be honest, but it's amazing. Hope of Life has been around for 40 years. Guys, we are going in to celebrate our 40th anniversary in January. And it's been an incredible 40 years.
With that said, it all started by one person saying yes. But when we say yes together, it's incredible.
I know that you guys have been talking about serving, about, you know, being generous with your talents, with your funding and everything, and I love what you guys are saying with, while I breathe, I have hope.
And really, the church is built together so that we can have hope and give hope to so many people, just like Jesus gave us hope, right?
And so it's been incredible because I just love that you guys are walking through this series that you're able to have me here and to know that there's something so powerful. Because our hope comes from Jesus.
He died on the cross for us. He rose again. And now we have hope that someday, hopefully not too soon, we'll be in heaven, but if someone's there sooner, God bless you. We'll see you soon.
But it's incredible, the peace that we have knowing that is just incredible in the world we live.
There's just so much going on that we need that hope. We need that peace, right?
The message just, like, really, really touches me because every single day we talk about hope and the need for hope for our people in Guatemala. And I'll tell you, as a missionary kid, it's not just Guatemala. I have so many friends in other countries doing the same thing in a different way.
And it's just amazing that so many people have said yes to serving Christ.
So as we pray, as we fight for life and we continue to breathe, we have hope that our future will be different.
Well, like I said, Hope of Life is going to be celebrating 40 years, and I'm about to age myself right now. But when Hope of Life started, I was five.
I may look like the same person, just a little older, but I got the same smile if I had my braid going.
And for me, the number five just means a bunch of different things now, right?
At 5, I was in kindergarten. And how many people have children or have or were a child? Was Five at one point.
And life was easy, right? You went to school, you played.
At four and a half, I started singing, actually. I really think that the next service, I'm going to be part of the praise and worship team, like just having an incredible morning have done amazing.
But I started at four and a half singing and was part of a children's choir. And at five, hope of life was born.
When I think about that, I also think about there was. I didn't have to worry about anything. I didn't have to worry that my mom was going to be able to take me to the doctors, that I would have food, that if I was sick, there was someone to care for me.
I had the opportunity to grow, to learn, to dream. That's something that a lot of children don't get to do in other countries, in developing countries, kids are not children.
And in Guatemala, that's a very true statement because when I said that five means something different for me, it's because nearly half of every child in Guatemala at The age of five is malnourished, diagnosed with chronic malnutrition.
46% of our children at five have been diagnosed of at least chronic malnutrition, but many of acute.
And that means two different things. Because chronic malnutrition means that it's going through generations and that generational malnutrition creates many illnesses and different things that we have to battle in the future.
For those that have been moms already, we know that during pregnancy, vitamins and all that kind of stuff is extremely important. The first 18 months of a baby's life is so important. Why? Because that's when their brain is developing. That's when their opportunity to learn is developing. But when children, half of the children of a whole country are malnourished, that means that their capacities to learn, to dream, to be a child is very different.
Their brain hasn't grown. They don't have those capacities.
And so like I said, when I think about the number five, I think about it in a different way, because at 5 I was just happy.
And now I'm. Now I'm part of the team that brings hope to those children of the age 5 to be able to help them battle and the moms and the dads to help battle malnutrition.
We never know what God put in our lives and why he chose us until we get into the mission. And so you guys all know that being willing and saying yes is very different for many people.
But the number five brings me to a verse in the Bible where five loaves were available.
In John chapter six, Jesus was surrounded by thousands of hungry people.
The disciples see an impossible problem. Too many people, not enough food, not enough money, not enough resources.
But Jesus did not like worry.
He wasn't fearful that there wasn't enough.
He saw the boy with five loaves, two fish, and everybody knew he didn't have enough food.
But Jesus didn't ask him if he had enough.
He simply wanted to know if the boy was willing to give.
And think about what five now means. Like to be able to feed thousands of people with five loaves and two fish is just incredible.
And so when we see a godlike problem that's so big that one human can't do, he brings godlike miracles.
And this is one of the greatest lessons of generosity. God is not asking us to solve each problem or the whole problem.
He's asking us to solve a piece of it at a time. And what we're willing to do, the miracle was not the size of the gift. The miracle was that we were available and willing to serve. That boy created miracles and the Lord used him to do that.
And so every day in my life, I'm able to see different miracles, miracles of meeting new people, of seeing other people say, yes, I'm willing to serve not just at hope of life, but here in your community, in your church.
And these miracles where we're able to share the gospel, but able to give them hope and ability to be able to live a great life.
And so I ask you today because I know you guys have been talking about it in your services.
What is in your hands?
Have you guys thought about it? Have you guys thought about the resources you have, your profession, what the church can do? I just had a great time between services, going to Project. Project Purchase, is that or purchase Project Purchase Project.
That is amazing. You guys already have bags from Guatemala there. And I saw things from other countries, coffee from Honduras, like, just like what you guys are doing as a church to bring in global missions is just incredible. I have never seen something like that in my life. And I go to a lot of churches. And I just love that your church and your leadership has this mission about being able to get out there, even though you're here in Wyoming, you know, very far from everywhere.
I heard that the happening thing to do in Gillette is bowling and eating and gambling.
Well, good luck.
And I was just like, hey, what is there to do? And they're like, well, you can go bowling and bowling is great. I mean, we used to bowl every week So I get it. But you're in the middle of nowhere, but you have things from different countries where you guys are serving and supporting and giving hope to those that are willing to do something for themselves. That's just incredible. So thank you guys for doing that.
How many have sat and really thought, I can't do nothing?
And you may hear my Boston Eastern accent a little bit. I'm from Rhode island, but, you know, the Boston comes in. So I apologize. Gets a little thick.
But how many of us really think about what the Lord has given us and what resources and influence, compassion time?
How many people have friends that sometimes just need a listening ear or a hug? And I know that the church, we're great at that. But then what is our talent to take out and do different things? Being on mission, are we using our stuff every day?
One of my mentors told me that if you can touch three people a day, it can be a sentence saying, God bless you. It can say good morning, but you just change their lives. And so I challenge you guys to really look at who you have in your contact list, who you see every single day. And are you gonna be that person with a bad attitude? Are you gonna bring up their life? Because that is being on mission. When we share God's joy, it's incredible.
And as you guys live your life on mission, you guys are gathering. We're here today, this morning.
You guys connect. How many of you guys, this is your family. Like, I grew up in a Spanish church, and I saw more my church family than I did my family family. Those that didn't go to church, and they become our community. And so you guys gather. You guys connect. You guys serve together.
You give together.
You give separately, too, because, you know, we all love different things. But as a church, you guys create this impact that's just incredible. And you influence.
And so we know that we're in a world where influencers change the world, right?
Are we changing the world by our influence? Are we sharing our calling? Are we sharing our love?
Guys, if you knew me as a child, even though I sang, I usually cried right before singing because I am an introvert, and I hated talking in front of people or singing.
But I learned about influence. When you are in a hard place and no one's telling the story, God is calling you to tell the story. And so that's where my life changed. And that was only six years ago.
The Lord tested me in my transition and in my leadership, as I'm a great administer, and I love to do that. But I hated to be seen. And the Lord said, hey, you need to be seen, because if not, we can't do what we gotta do.
And so what I do wanna share today is the first yes, Carlos, my dad, he's pretty amazing.
One of our biggest values is we dream big so we can save lives.
And we have, like, the saying internally, like, with our leadership. Carlos, dreams are our nightmares because we gotta figure it out.
But 40 years ago, Carlos, at the age of 35, he was married. Four children were already born, and he got sick. He was 35 and crippled.
His legs did not work, his hands did not work, and his skin was falling off.
And not one doctor could tell my family or my parents what was going on. And it was pretty impactful because it was so dramatic that, you know, Carlos thought that he was going to die. My mom thought he was going to die. There was no reasoning for it.
And so Carlos talked to Cheryl and said, hey, I think I'm going to go back to my country, go back to Guatemala if I'm going to pass away.
And for many immigrants, this is the story, right? If, you know, they always want to go back to their country.
And so he left my mom with us kids in Rhode island, and he went back and he thought he was going to die in Guatemala.
And then there was one day after a few months of in hiding because his skin was falling off and he felt like a leopard in the Bible, like ashamed.
And so he would hide in homes and not let anybody know.
And, you know, there was this poor blind man that walked into his room to ask for some spare change with his granddaughter.
And Carlos, you know, probably asked some questions, knowing Carlos, and he said, yeah, pull some money out of my pocket.
And so the granddaughter went and pulled some money out of his pocket.
And once they left, he just meditated in what had just happened in that moment. He said, I'm so poor, the only thing I have is money.
He didn't have his body, he didn't have health. He left his family.
And he was so poor, all he had was money. He thought he was dying.
And so in that moment, he had a realization that he went from poverty to success in the United States when he migrated.
And then he lost it all.
And right after that, he, as he would say, had a made a business deal with the Lord.
He said, hey, God, if you can get me out of this bed, me and my family will serve you and the poor for the rest of our lives.
And four days later, Carlos stood out of that bed.
He walked a mile and this is no exaggeration. I'll be honest. We're Latinos, so it's very possible that this would be exaggeration. But I promise you, it's not half American, half Spanish. The Latino comes out, you see the hands.
But he walked a mile. And in that mile he went and bought an acre of land with family money, and we started our mission. He said yes. He said he was willing.
I don't think he called Cheryl then, because there weren't phones or he had to go far away to get a phone. But he got up and he said, this is what I'm doing and that's it.
And that yes brought in thousands of yes. He said yes, then my mom said yes, then our family said yes. Or we said okay, because as a kid, you know, we didn't get an opinion.
Then churches said yes and doctors said yes, and volunteers and donors, and it just kept going and multiplying.
We never would have thought that we would do what we're doing.
39 years ago, one yes became thousands of yes. And I watched God multiply generosity just like those five loaves.
It's incredible because 39 years ago, my family was in a traumatic struggle of illness. And I shared in the first service, first time where I'm sharing it or the family is sharing it, is that today, again, as we celebrate 40 years, our family is going through illness. The funny part is, is that 39 years ago, it was Carlos, and today it's Cheryl.
Today Cheryl is suffering with cancer. We're on her third diagnosis of this year.
And on the 26th of October, the Lord is. The doctors are going to operate.
And so, you know, we see it as such a.
A crazy thing that as we celebrate 40 years, we ask ourselves, is God asking if we're still willing?
And I can tell you, just like 35 years ago, this family is so willing.
Not just because we have our hope, our faith in Jesus, but because he called us. And there's people like you that are surrounding and giving us strength as we continue this. Because we're not alone anymore.
39 years ago, Carlos said yes alone, and the family started.
And today there's an army of people saying yes to help us with hope of life. And so I wanna thank you guys and just continue to ask you guys for prayer because it's just very symbolic for us that at 40 years, wow, the Lord's gonna try us one more time. But let me tell you something. Every time this happens, something big's about to happen. So if you have ever been in a traumatic moment in your life and you're like, why is this happening to me? Don't you guys just see incredible success in things that the Lord is preparing you for the future?
And so we're excited about what's after this because the Lord knows why.
And just like a diamond that needs to go under pressure and polish, he's pressuring and polishing because there's a bigger mission that has to be done.
And so 39 years has been incredible. We've watched people say yes, some gave, some went, some prayed, some served, some built. Not everybody's going to go. 24 people from this church went this past May.
And I know you guys are about 1500 strong in this congregation. Well, I don't think the 1500 people are going to go.
Let's just be realistic.
But 1500 people can say yes together and give together and create community and encourage and support all the organizations that you love.
I could stand here and tell you so many different things that the Hope of Life has done together with all our partners, but the best thing I can do is ask you to see this video, see each face, the hope that's in everybody's face when you see them, and just share a little video with you.
[00:21:39] Speaker C: 39 years ago, Hope of Life International began with one simple purpose. To close the gap between poverty and privilege by connecting the needs of Guatemala with the compassion of God's people.
From the beginning, we have believed in a practical gospel, one that meets physical needs first, opening hearts to spiritual transformation. And today, just as in 1987, our mission remains the same.
Saving lives.
What started with helping a single elderly man has into a global ministry.
Each year, thousands of volunteers come to serve children and families in the most vulnerable communities of Guatemala. Across all our programs, we plant hope and build lasting change.
We offer medical care, nutrition education, clean water and the love of Christ to those who need it most.
Through child sponsorship, Senior care.
And support for children with disabilities, we walk alongside families every day on our campus. Specialized care transforms lives. Cleft lip and palate surgeries, cancer prevention for women, dental and dermatologist, rheumatology services and homes that provide safety, healing and dignity.
Over these 39 years, nearly half a million families have received help and hope.
Hundreds of residents now call our campus home.
[00:23:57] Speaker B: Sam.
[00:24:43] Speaker C: And in more than 380 villages, we partner with communities to strengthen housing, build schools and churches and lay a foundation for long term transformation. Today, Hope of Life takes another step forward. Investing in sustainable programs that BL education with entrepreneurship, empowering families to raise themselves out of poverty and build a future filled with possibility. Because when God's people unite, transformation happens. Together, we can fight malnutrition and end poverty. Together, we are hope of life.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: So 39 years, almost 40, looks pretty incredible.
When we started going to Hope of Life, like I said, no phones, no cars, contaminated water everywhere.
But I see what God's been doing, and I said that Carlo's dream's big. Well, every dream comes from a mom crying out, a baby crying out, and just different things. We really started just with elderly care.
And every time we saw a new need, the Lord opened up a new dream.
And it's been incredible to see because, you know, many people, like, they start on one thing and completely pivot.
And what we've done is we've just continued to compound the impact. So from elderly to orphans to medical to special needs to community outreach to sustainability, and just continue to see what the Lord has for us to do. And that's when generosity takes human form.
When we're going around and we see what's happening in the world, we have to find that child.
I know it's been incredible, and it's been able to see a lot of the work we're doing.
A mother holding a child.
And sometimes we make generosity about numbers, but it's not about the numbers. It's about the willingness.
But I've spent most of my life seeing the other side of generosity and those faces and how you continue to do it when you have nothing and how it's really hard to say no. And so you guys, as a church, have already raised money to the have medical interventions for six children suffering of malnutrition. Guys, in the last few years, we haven't seen the severe cases like we've had in the last decade.
In February, we rescued a baby that was, I think, 21 days old and weighed like eight pounds.
The doctor asked me, our head doctor asked me to prepare myself because she wasn't going to make it.
And within seven days of being in the icu, she had the chubbiest cheeks.
It was just a miracle.
And some days we make it too late.
And that's one of the hardest parts of this story.
And so Guatemala and the whole world is going through a different climate time.
Your pastor was telling me that you guys didn't get to do fireworks this year. Right.
Because there's not enough rain.
And in Guatemala, we've had in the dry quarter. So if you know anything about Hope of Life, which if you don't, there's some pamphlets Outside at a table, please grab one. Read about us.
We're in the dry quarter of the country.
That means less water, heat, less access.
And just in our region, we've had 17% less rain in this year so far.
Right now, we are battling El Supernino, which the only time I heard about it in the US was because of something in Hawaii, but you guys are living it. Vancouver has no water. They can't use water for their grass. You guys can't have fireworks because you guys get fires. If something goes off, there's not enough rain. And what happens with that? Our land doesn't accept the rain when it comes. Right.
And so for Guatemala, right now we're in El Supernino, which has been 100% confirmed that we will suffer for it till June of 2027, potentially further.
What that means is that in this year, we have had two harvests and there wasn't enough rain. And so the families that live in our region didn't have their harvest, didn't have their crops, they didn't have their beans and corn, which is their staple for eating.
And so Hope of Life is preparing, because that just means that we need to expect more malnutrition, more need for medical interventions, and more need for preparation for the future.
As we build our expansion to our hospital, we've expanded into specialized care because chronic malnutrition brings chronic disease, mutated DNA that then brings cystic fibrosis in their lungs, skin problems for me and for Carlos and a lot of our family, we are legally blind through generational malnutrition that created that in our eyes. So there's a lot of people in our region, our region, that are blind, have no access to eye doctors.
And so Hope of Life has been preparing for food security, medical interventions, and future care because they need hope for all this stuff.
And so I share that, because right now the country is estimating 3 million people in a country that our population is only 18 million are in crisis, risk of food security.
And that means that there can be a lot of mortality, a lot of illness for the future, and a lot of people with no hope.
And so our job is to act and to take action.
The Bible doesn't say that we just are supposed to pray.
Prayer without action, it's just praying in vain. We gotta get moving.
And so this is where our different gifts, different resources, and different people come together as one kingdom.
This is why partnership matters.
We don't need one person to do everything.
We need many people to be willing.
We can't Change the world one person at a. Like, we can change the world one person at a time, but we can't change the world if only one person is doing it.
And we all have an opportunity.
This is a church that lives on mission, is serving selfishly, giving generously, and influencing daily. How many people do you know that would never go on a missions trip, but would help you go on a missions trip or would financially be willing to support you or the organization make a change?
Why do we do it?
Ultimately, it's bigger than who we are.
We're here to earn the right to share the gospel.
The Lord Jesus said, and he said, feed the hungry, house those that don't have housing, clothe those that don't have clothes. And Carlos always talks about it.
How do we preach the practical gospel? How do we preach the gospel and hope that everybody hears salvation and goes to heaven?
If they're starving, they don't even have the capacity to hear us.
And so every day our team is working hard to earn the right to make sure that we're able to share the gospel.
If they're hungry, we're gonna feed them. And right away we're gonna tell them that Jesus loves them because we showed them Jesus love.
And so I challenge you guys, outside of these doors, whether at Hope of Life or another organization or in your community, are you showing Jesus love or are we just saying the word of Christ?
Because if we're not the example and we don't show it, why would anybody listen to us?
Why do you come? Why do you care about my child?
Because Jesus loves you and your life matters to him.
That's the gospel lived out sometimes.
I grew up in a Pentecostal Latin church. Like I said, I was at church seven days a week. And we're like, wait, is the gospel only inside or are we supposed to be going outside?
And so that's why we do what we gotta do. Like, that's why we're here to serve. We're the kingdom, and we're supposed to be walking this earth, sharing it and also creating community.
The story isn't finished.
As we come into our 40th, we have a great opportunity.
We can celebrate what God has done. And we should. It's pretty amazing. If you haven't come, please sign up for the trip. It's going to change your life. Because I will tell you that even though I was, I was born into it and I went to Guatemala all the time, I could never explain to you how incredible Hope of Life is.
You can see our Social media, and the day you put your feet on that campus, it will mean something else for you.
And I think those that have been multiple times see the Lord changing everything on a constant. And you can't explain it.
Actually, one person explained it like Disney World for mission, where the Lord dreamt about it. You know, how Disney World made a map, like a futuristic map, and they said Hope of Life is like God's Disney World, creating everything that he needs to change a country.
And it's kind of incredible to think that because, you know, when Carlos built the hospital, I'm like, why?
That's a lot of money.
I don't know that we have it. And he always had faith way higher than mine. He saw it before we did, but the Lord just really created that in him.
There are still children who need someone to find them. We're not done.
When our country, When Guatemala has 46% of the children suffering of chronic malnutrition, that means that our mission has not finished.
That means that that 46% of the children under the age of five are now in their 50s, they're in their 40s, 30s or older, and they're all suffering from something due to the malnutrition they had as children.
But with partnership, guys, we can make things better for the next generation. And as you guys saw in that video, we're really working hard in sustainability and how we create not only the opportunity to give the five loaves, but to have them fish their fish so that they can help themselves.
And so, you know, with that five loaves, two fish, there's a reason why God created food like the bread and the fish, because we need to teach people to fish and not just have them expecting someone to be there to save their lives always.
And so Hope of Life has really started to create some incredible impact in that.
So I want to ask you today, what has God put in your hands?
Are you bringing your five loaves to the table?
And if you're not, are you bringing at least your yes to find out what your five loaves are?
God gave us all talent, influence, and capacities that not all of us have. Don't ask me to build something, it's going to fall on you, but ask me to create a plan and a program and get my hands dirty with children, and I'll do it.
And so I think not only God is asking you today, what do you have in your hands? And what are you willing to give, I think, to your churches as well, what are we willing to give as a congregation, as a Body of Christ to change our region and change our global missions.
My family had a calling.
I'll let you know that I don't always share that. Well, I do. Everybody knows I'm Carlos and Cheryl's daughter. But I had my own calling.
At 17, I didn't want to serve Christ. I didn't want to. I was very mad about being a missionary kid. And that's usually the history of missionary kids.
And I said I would never do it. And then on February 17, the year I was graduating college, 2007, the Lord called me and I'm like, don't ever tell the Lord you won't do it because he's gonna tell you I'm in control.
In that day, I walked into Carlos and Cheryl's office and said, I'm being called and I don't know that if you're going to be okay with it, but the Lord is asking me to be willing and I want to say yes and I want you guys to say yes with me.
And that day is the day that I went full time and. And I just love my part of my journey because the Lord has been able to do different things for Hope of Life in a different way because I was willing to say yes. And I can't wait to see the next generation. And so today the church is asking, what are you willing to do? What is in your hands?
Will you bring your five loaves? Will you bring your resources? Will you bring your influence?
Will you bring and share the mission? Will you share the gospel with us?
Will you be part of the practical Gospel?
I was 5 when the story began. And today my prayer is that children across Guatemala will have the same opportunity that they will get past five.
And that I'm able to see my country different because thinking about a 5 year old or a 21 day year old, not sure if they would make it another week is not okay. In a world that has enough resources to stop hunger, but not enough people saying yes and willing to make a change, the Body of Christ needs to be those that make the change.
And so I thank you guys because Hope of Life couldn't do it without the thousands of partners that we have. Each one of you is a partner.
A lot of organizations look for donors.
Hope of Life. We look for partnership.
What is that? The three three cord rope. Strong, stable, like a force of nature.
And so we just continue to ask for that and we continue to hope to see that you guys have a great slogan going on.
What does that say? Church. You guys have been talking about It. So what does that say all of you guys? While I breathe, I hope.
And so as we breathe and we hope today, I hope that you guys heard a part of our story and our desire for the future. Because the future is not just in Guatemala. We know that the programming and the influence that we have, we should be in other countries. And my goal as a leader of Hope of Life now is not to finish my journey just in Guatemala, but to see us in other areas or helping other organizations as well. But that means we need partnership.
And so together we can continue saving lives.
Together, we can continue building hope.
And together we can continue transforming tomorrow for the world.
So thank you guys for having me. It's been an honor. And if you guys don't mind, I want to pray for you guys before the service is over. So if you bow your head.
Lord, thank you for this morning. Thank you for this church, this incredible body of Christ that has come together to be a community of those that are showing your love, showing hope, giving salvation, and sharing the gospel every single day.
Lord, I pray for their families for their whole lives, that they know that their yes could change the life of thousands.
One yes has already changed the life of thousands.
In 39 years, hope of Life has reached over a half a million families from one yes.
And so I ask you, touch this congregation, touch each heart and soul and ask what their yes is today, what is their five loaves?
And that their hearts be still and know that you're God and that you're moving them in that and that they be able to see what you have for them.
Thank you for this opportunity and thank you for everything we're going to do together. In your name we pray. Amen.
