Written by David Inlow
David is a long-time Children to Love volunteer and supporter, and he has traveled overseas countless times to serve with our partner ministries.
On March 7, we celebrated Children to Love’s 30th anniversary and what a wonderful time it was. After it was over and everything was cleaned up, I began to realize how much it felt to me like a high school reunion I recently attended. Our CTL celebration was similar but even better because of the tie that binds us all together – Jesus. I saw many people, many of whom I rarely see, from past CTL mission trips I’ve participated in with various churches. There were also people I’d served with in Romania who I hadn’t seen in a long time. And then there were so many friends from other churches who I seldom see. This was a very, very small taste of what it will be like in heaven at the marriage feast of the Lamb!
One of the things that really made an impression on me was the feedback I received from friends about the event. I have one friend who traveled up from Long Beach to attend and she was just overwhelmed by what she heard our partners share on stage and on screen. Sometimes when you are so close to something and watch it unfold and play out, you are a little detached from how others are receiving it. Her reaction gave me a good indication of how it was received by others. She then asked me an interesting question and prefaced it with a “Please don't take this the wrong way, but” statement. She asked, “How did such a wonderful ministry come out of Bakersfield?” We had a good laugh over that, and I thought of what Nathanael asked in John 1:46, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
My last impression from the celebration was really played out over the two weeks we had the pleasure of hosting our partners from Romania, India and Ukraine. It is always great to see how our good friends interact with people outside of their nation and culture. The Lord used the CTL partners to present the CTL story in a really unique way and people were deeply touched by what they heard.
From having the pleasure of picking up Kiran and Lakshmi (India partners) from LAX to being able to share my hometown of Long Beach with Irina and Anna (Ukraine partners) before they left, I can truly say that our celebration was worth the time and work put in by our local staff and the banquet committee. I look forward to future CTL celebrations and if God is willing, our 50th!
