Hello, Partners and Friends,
Rom 8:35
Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it
mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity,
or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or
threatened with death?
For many of us, these are the most extraordinary and difficult days that we have ever faced. Every aspect of life has been touched in some way, and the answers aren’t always clear. But this we know, before there was a problem there was an answer. God is not surprised by anything, and our trust in Him, rather than being shaken, has increased.
Within the ministries of Compassion under Philippine Frontline Ministries, all our operations have been impacted, our hospital ministry, which focuses on assisting those who lack the resources for their medical needs, has been difficult to carry on; to say the least. Access to hospitals is severely restricted, but the needs of the sick have increased exponentially. We at Frontline have recently had to face the death of dear friends. Personally, I regard death as a consequence of sin an enemy to be resisted. “…And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1Cor. 1 5:25-26). “Death Be Not Proud”, a poem by John Donne, often comes to my mind: “Death be not proud, through same have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those whom thou think’st thou dust overthrow Die not, poor Death, nor yet carest thou kill me. …One short sleep past, we wake eternally And death shall be no more; Death, thou shall die.”
Our community development programs, with a primary focus of feeding the hungry, have been forced to cease… but the need for food has not stopped. We have found ways, with your support, to continue to supply food to the hungry within our neighboring community and beyond, by the grace of God.
Face the Children (FTC), our child residential care facility, has also been impacted. Due to the negative economic effect of this pandemic, some of our partners have reluctantly had to discontinue financial support. Coupled with this is the impact of isolation and confinement of our children over half of whom are at or near teenage years. That’s a lot of pent up energy! Our resourceful staff have found ways to keep the children busy. In fact, a gardening project has been established and the children have begun to successfully grow fruits and vegetables.
This may seem like a difficult update to share, but these are difficult days. We face the difficulties squarely and do not lose hope. The Scripture quoted at the beginning of my letter continues;
Rom. 8:37-39 “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angesl nor demons, neither our fears for today nor your worries about tomorrow not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39, NO power in the sky above or in the earth below indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
He is our Confidence. He is our Hope. God bless you. I send my personal thanks to you for your continuing support and pray that the rich supply of God’s provision will be yours during these days.
Working while it’s day,
Michael Gordon
Director of Compassion Ministries
Philippine Frontline Ministries, Inc.
