Janet’s Jottings

Dear Friends,

On the same day, I received an email newsletter featuring an article about how a congregation can respond to a person who is experiencing an opioid overdose —and reread a reflection on the work of Disciples missionary to China, Dr. Edward Macklin.

What ’s the connection between the two? Dr. Macklin wrote to ask the church for $5,000 to start an opium addiction clinic in Nanjing in 1892. That clinic is now a 3,000 -bed hospital where western medicine is taught and practiced!

Who could have imagined it? I ’m quite sure Dr. Macklin never envisioned it. Those who gave to the United Christian Missionary Society in the last decade of the 1800’s, making a grant of $5,000 possible, never considered such a result.

Gifts we give to God have a way of growing beyond our capacity to imagine —and making a difference beyond our lifetimes. In the spirit of the United Christian Missionary Society, our Disciples Mission Fund continues to support such efforts.

One of the traits of Washington Avenue Christian Church is its heart for outreach. Whether raising funds for the children and youth served by Cleveland Christian Home or supporting ministries on the other side of the globe, WACC responds.

And not grudgingly, but generously. Not half-heartedly, but wholeheartedly. Not by thinking about what else we could have done with those dollars, but by thinking of what else we could do to give more dollars.

Lives are changed and lives are saved: the lives of those with whom we share and the lives of those who share. In a partnership of grace, God calls us to reach out —from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth…

Love,

Pastor Janet