Immanuel, God with us
Posted on December 17th, 2009.“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel - which means, ‘God with us.’” Matthew 1:23
The heat and humidity of Hanoi in November did not feel anything like a Christmas that I’m used to, but sitting and sweating through a meeting with an Orphanage director, I heard the message of Christmas and understood the beauty of the name Immanuel.
A little background: In the summer of 2007, GVI learned of needs at Sponsor Society No. 3 (SS3), an overlooked and underfunded state-run orphanage (that is also a seniors home). We made their needs known throughout our network and soon one of our partners, Manna Worldwide, told us about a church in Australia that was interested in helping. Since January 2008 this church has faithfully sent a monthly cheque that has provided the orphans (babies to teens) with a better nutrition and a better diet with more milk, formula, yogurt, meat and protein. The Centre was very appreciative of the impact of this monthly support, but never knew who was sending it. Every month, the GVI staff would deliver the supplies and would tell them that there was a church in Australia that loved them and wanted the children there to grow up healthy and strong, and that was all that they knew of the sponsors.
Last month, the group that had been sending the support - Gungahlin Community Baptist Church from Canberra - made their first trip to Vietnam to meet their friends at SS3 face to face. In addition to all that they had done from a distance, they now came to show love in person. The team painted the dining room, organized a Kids’ Carnival and spent a lot of time just getting to know the young and elderly residents of the centre. At the end of their trip, Mr. Duc, the director of SS3 said, “We appreciate what you’ve done to improve nutrition for the children, but even more meaningful to us is that you came here to spend time with us. You showed your concern for the children and the elderly in person.”
That is what Christmas is about: the beauty of the name Immanuel, God with us. The Creator of the Universe came down from heaven to show Himself to us and to live among us in person. In his book “Kingdom Communities,” Jeffrey Palmer writes: “Community Development with a focus on God’s kingdom is a tangible way of making Christ known in this fallen world.” So we love because He first loved us. We make Him known because He made himself known to us. We go to serve and to be with others - in Vietnam, in other countries and in communities right near our home - because at Christmas, He was born to be with us.
May you be blessed by knowing Immanuel this Christmas season!
- sc
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