Living in a small one room apartment as a single guy, I was intrigued by the lettuce seeds that fell out of a bag of chips. It was some freebie promo the chip company was trying to do. But what got me was the truth that, planted in the ground, those seeds would actually produce lettuce.
Given a little water and sunshine I could watch these little seeds transform into a plant that I could actually eat. Maybe I was hungry or maybe I was broke, but the thought of those little seeds having the power to sprout, grow and produce something I could consume was a miracle to me.
And it still is. Although I have had a few gardening blunders along the way, most of the gardens have been very successful and I am still amazed at the power that God has placed inside of seeds.
Through 34 years my wife and I have become gardening partners. But we both recognize the most important seed we can plant is the seed sown through ministry to kids. PowerLink is a seed planting ministry. Our mission statement stands after 12 years, the same. We want to "link" people to God.
It is interesting to hear others talk about Powerlink's outreach to children. Some think children cannot receive or understand the Gospel. Or some may think that children have just a little "god" or mini Holy Spirit living in them. Not realizing that the same Spirit and same power is residing in them when they choose to follow Christ.
Others say that we evangelize but we need to move the children into a church for complete care. It would be great if churches were ready to receive children from a different culture. That is part of the reason we go to the children. We bring the church to them. Many fail to see that even inside the walls of the church, most families stay for a short season of growth. We have youth out of high school and in college now coming to us and recalling what they learned at PowerLink.
Some have seen us as a lesser ministry because we do not have a permanent building with a sign out front. I'll let the Lord deal with that one.
The miracle of seeds is that inside that little package there are all the codes to grow a full and mature plant. With a little water, sun, fertilizer, and weeding, you can have a harvest of good stuff. But to start, you have to plant it. The miracle of the Gospel seed is planted when we go and "link un-reached children and their families with the love of the heavenly Father, the hope of salvation through Jesus Christ, and the power to live by the Holy Spirit." But you have to go plant it.
We are so thankful for so many of you that understand our mission. Thanks for helping us plant good seed. Thanks for being "gardening partners" with us!