The Faithful Lord Of The Harvest
An update from Doug Hayes, Pastor in Covenant Fellowship, PA, and Executive Director of Covenant Mercies…
As we move toward the conclusion of a year that none of us saw coming, my guess is that most of us will be happier than usual at 11:59 p.m. on December 31st, as we watch fireworks burst into the skies around the world. We’ll make jokes at the expense of 2020 and hope for better things in 2021; but in reality, we come to the end of the year with much to be thankful for.
For us in Covenant Mercies, it is no small thing to approach the end of a year like 2020 with a net gain in sponsors. We began the year with 1,450+ children under sponsorship, and we enter the final month hovering right around 1,475. Considering the unprecedented conditions that descended upon us in March, this is truly remarkable. It represents the Lord’s provision of new sponsors even as our normal means of enrolling them were curtailed. It also represents sponsors prioritizing their support despite economic uncertainty.
My constant prayer is that the Lord would supply more seed to the ones who sow bountifully, increasing the harvest of their righteousness by enriching them in every way to be generous in every way (2 Cor. 9:10-11). It should be no surprise that the headwinds of 2020 have made the Lord of the Harvest no less capable and no less faithful to fulfill this promise.
Also not to be taken for granted in 2020 was our planned expansion of Lighthouse Christian School in Ndola, Zambia. After celebrating the official opening of Hope Community Primary School in Kiburara, Uganda, in February, we were eager to turn our attention to an ambitious new building on the campus of Lighthouse Christian School. But despite school closures and partial lockdowns in Zambia, construction was allowed to continue seamlessly. Meanwhile, by God’s grace, Covenant Mercies donors and partners persevered in generosity and enabled us to continue pressing forward. As a result, we expect our 300+ sponsored students at Lighthouse to finally have access to a library, computer lab, science lab, and a spacious multipurpose hall during the 2021 school year.
2020 has been a challenging year for all of us, but the Lord has reminded us that He doesn’t need perfect conditions to provide for the mission He has called us to.
None of the above could happen for us without a small army of friends like you, persevering in prayer and a determination to be generous. So, we conclude the year with a word of thanks and an invitation to continue joining hands with us in this great and glorious mission. I thank God for His faithfulness in the year past and trust Him to be faithful yet again in the year to come.
Wishing you a blessed holiday season with the ones you love,
Doug Hayes
I love the work that Doug & Covenant Mercies does in Africa. If you’d like to hear more, and maybe even get involved in some way, getting them over the line of 1,500 sponsored children which they’re tantalisingly close to, then please check out the following two-minute video on child sponsorship.