The church came through

On a dreary December evening people gathered at a large church to celebrate the Christmas season. I had gone down a long hallway to help a small boy pushing against massive doors trying to get outside. The boy was crying as if his heart would break.

I picked him up, thinking he belonged to someone at one of the Christmas parties, but couldn’t find any.

I rushed outside and spotted an old-model car speeding away in the darkness. Gradually, it began to dawn on me that the child had been abandoned.

I made a few calls, and soon the church was filled with people wanting to help in any way they could. Within moments, the local TV stations interrupted their usual programs to ask if anyone knew the identity of the little boy. The next morning, one of the city's newspapers had the child's picture on the front page. Under the picture there was an article describing the events of the evening before. The reporter began his story with this striking line: "Someone trusted the church last night, and the church came through!"

The world's future depends on the faithfulness of the "People of God" to the "Great Commission." There is a deep hunger across our land as countless people grope for answers to the deepest questions of the human spirit. The message of Christ speaks to these questions, bringing hope and light to people who now stumble in the dark and live in despair. Our world will be changed as the hearts of people are changed. Evangelism is not an option for the church. It is essential to the survival of our world. The church must come through.

–Bishop Ernest Fitzgerald