So this is the ends of the earth
By Paul Walker
The seven children who attended the island’s one school enthusiastically
responded to our team’s presentation.
It had been a hectic day for the OneHope team in the jungles and mountains ofEl Salvador.
They had presented the Book of Hope to eager students in three schools, and it seemed that their host, Pastor Elias, wanted them to have a relaxing lunch, so he led them to the beautiful valley of Lake Olomega.
Team members were enjoying their sandwiches in the serenity of the waterfront when Pastor Elias became deeply involved in negotiations with a boatman — and the real intention for this detour to the valley became clear. There was an island in the middle of the lake, and on the island was a tiny school! Pastor Elias didn’t want those children to miss out.
“Our local partners are very dedicated,” says OneHope Founder Bob Hoskins. “When we originally took the Scripture book to all the schoolchildren in El Salvador in 1987, believers were carrying the books in boxes on their heads into the jungles — they don’t stop.”
Pastor Elias wasn’t stopping, either. He got the team into a boat and set out for the island.
Seven students and two teachers stared in amazement as the team approached. They hardly ever had visitors, and no one could remember visitors from the United States.
Then it was the team’s turn to be amazed.
The children already had the Book of Hope. In fact, their teachers had been so impressed with it, they had laminated each child’s copy and kept them at the school like a textbook!
The books had been sent by the Minister of Education, the teachers explained, but no one had ever come in person to present them.
The teachers invited the team to perform their dramas and teach from the Book of Hope.
So, in perhaps the smallest book distribution ever, OneHope partners shared Jesus’ love with the seven children from the tiny school in the middle of Lake Olomega.
It’s true that each year OneHope teams touch millions of lives. This year in Brazil, they’ll reach nine million, and more than 12 million in India. Overall in 2009, the goal is to reach over 70 million children and youth with a meaningful presentation of the Scriptures.
But to Jesus, every single child, whether among 70 million, or seven children on an island in Lake Olomega, is loved and cherished.
OneHope teams will continue enthusiastically going to the ends of the earth to reach them.
Learn more about OneHope at http://onehope.net.