In my job, where I write stories for Tearfund, I spend a lot of time looking at deeply sad situations.
Firsthand accounts of lives shattered by conflict, disaster and lack. Homes fled. Crops destroyed. The lives of precious loved ones lost. Families facing an overwhelming burden of poverty. Women trapped in situations of violence. Children unsafe and unprotected. Futures uncertain.
It can become extremely difficult to see the world as a place with any hope. To remember the beauty and the goodness within it. To recall the light.
And then, a story saturated with love will come across my desk that restores my faith in humanity. A story of generosity that reflects the heart of a saviour and reminds me that the Spirit that lives within us is not the same as the world we see around us: indeed, it overcomes the world.
Like the story of three very young girls who raised money to pay for other children in other parts of the world, who they will probably never meet, to go to school. It opens up possibilities for those children that they would otherwise be denied, potentially changing their whole lives and even the lives of generations to come!
Or take the story of 16-year-old twin footballers who are using publicity about their signing to a South West Women's League Premier Division team as an opportunity to highlight the needs of people living in extreme poverty and conflict around the world. The fact that some people have so much and others have so little has made the teenagers angry (and rightly so, I think).
And the story of a group of pensioners from an area of England not known for its affluence who saved small amounts they could barely afford to give and used it to twin their church’s toilets. In so doing, they are helping make sure people in places they may never go to and might not even be able to locate on a map can access clean water. They are keeping whole families safe from diseases like cholera and allowing them the safety and dignity of privacy offered by having a latrine.
To see, over and over again, in stories of generosity like these the evidence of people loving their neighbours as themselves – even when those neighbours are global rather than local – inspires me to a renewed joy.
Tarryn Pegna
Story Producer, Tearfund
Reflect
‘A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.’
Proverbs 25:11
Pray
- Pray that the person who finds your stone will feel noticed and encouraged by God.
- Ask God to give you the right word to write – something simple that carries His hope and love.
- Thank Him that even small, quiet acts can reach people in powerful ways.
Act
A generosity challenge for you to complete today:
| Write a message of hope on a note or painted stone and leave it somewhere to be found. Add #40acts if you like. A small act with the power to reach someone at just the right moment. |
About Tearfund
Tearfund is a Christian charity working to end extreme poverty and injustice by empowering local churches to transform their communities through sustainable, Bible-based initiatives.
Their ‘Transforming Communities’ approach equips churches to break the cycle of poverty, restore relationships and enable people to build hopeful, self-sufficient futures.
