Missionary team celebrates Christmas with conviction
“Impossible is nothing” (Impossible is nothing) – the Adidas advertising slogan was the theme of Christmas Vespers. The English missionary doctor Dr. Ollie O’neill related this slogan to the Christmas story of the birth of Christ. A sermon so much out of life that yesterday the missionary community sometimes laughed heartily.
Christmas carols, Nativity scene and a homey atmosphere were elements as in many other services around the globe. But at Diospi Suyana, an important aspect was added. Because they take the message of Jesus Christ at face value, more than 200 doctors, nurses, craftsmen, teachers and social workers have already invested several years of their lives in Curahuasi. They made and continue to make great personal sacrifices because of the boy in the manger, whom they believe to be the Savior of the world.
“Do you remember the man from that time?” my sister asked me recently. “He passed away suddenly at the age of 52 from pancreatic cancer!” Death inevitably comes to each of us. When Jesus entered the stage of this world, he claimed to have solved this fundamental problem of human impermanence. The joy of Christians since the Ascension of Christ is the hope of resurrection.
But the claim of the Gospel goes much further. Our past burdens can be forgiven if we want to. For the present, God offers us His friendship and direction. And in the future, God will have the last word over the injustice of the world.
Are we Christians perhaps just fooling ourselves? What evidence could we put forward for the credibility of the Christian faith?
Most people know this special intuition from an invisible world. Or let’s call it the famous seventh sense. Our own experiences and stories from our family confirm our gut feeling that there is a reality beyond our lives that awaits us after death. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. His teachings and deeds stand lonely above all that has accumulated in world literature. Even non-Christian historians mention his crucifixion. Hundreds of eyewitnesses confirmed his resurrection two millennia ago. And millions of people have since claimed to have personally experienced the power of the Risen Lord.
The inherent power of faith is not explained by autosuggestive methods, but by a power that is
stands far above us. So it was God’s action and not our wishful thinking that moved mountains at Diospi Suyana. In this spirit we wish all friends of our work a merry and blessed Christmas. /KDJ
