In my local congregation, attendance drops and people go out of town and on vacations. Even my daughter had opportunities to go on two trips with her youth group, one to a state that is not close to our own.
Last week, a substitute legal analyst, who was filling in for the well-known talk show host, said of her, "She is on a well-deserved vacation." And this talk show host had taken a week off her show only a week prior!
For weeks, people in my Facebook network had been posting vacation photos from their trips, some during their trips even out of their own countries.
Commercials from other states in the United States or from other countries, complete with exotic and enticing scenery, call out for tourists.
In my congregation, we receive many visitors who are traveling from other states.
No, there is nothing morally wrong with followers of Jesus going on vacations, even outside their countries. That is, it is allowable as long as you are living within your means and are using the time to get in closer touch with God and with family. Also, if you travel to nations where people are unreached or underreached, it could present a great chance for you to leave a positive witness, through your life and words, with the people. I know that people save and plan, well in advance, for many vacations. Meanwhile, I was asked by someone whom I write to, how my fund-raising campaign for Gospel for Asia is going. I had to admit that it has been stagnating. I looked at my homepage and I saw that contributions had stopped since June of this year, co-inciding with the time that people typically go on vacations or engage in other summer events. I know that summer is the time of the year that children are off school and that, often, money must be spent to keep them from becoming bored and frustrated (if one has the money). Myself, I remember many summers when I was lonely and bored because of lack of opportunities for the young. To refresh you as to what this campaign is all about, it is an effort to raise funds to get Bibles onto the continent of Asia, where most of the people are too poor to afford one Bible or have no access to Bibles even if they can afford them. If you are in the United States or other parts of the West, you have plenty of access to the Bible and to other Christian resources. In fact, we in the United States have so much access that we must be discerning and avoid materials by those whose teachings are less than sound and biblical. We have Bibles for women, Bibles for men, Bibles for children, Bibles for teens, multiple translations, and Bibles for many seasons of life. I have even seen a Bible in Wal Mart for breast cancer awareness. On the continent of Asia, Bibles are scarce.
I know that, in appeals for help, you have probably heard phrases like, "Need never takes a holiday." I have to add, "Need does not take a vacation." The need of people in developing and closed countries, worldwide, does not take a holiday or a vacation. I know that giving, to most local churches and to nonprofits, drops during the summer and that probably explains the stagnation of my campaign. Even if your funds are depleted and you have nothing left to give in money, you can donate time to share this post and this campaign.
Please kindly visit here, and donate some of you time to look at and share this campaign on the webpage and, if you have money, kindly consider sharing. Thank you!
