Love Thy Neighbor

This week we helped connect our church friend, Vini Ana, with one of our neighbors, Karen, as they had a falling out a few months ago. We were all able to talk, share stories and laugh with each other. Vini Ana and Karen were able to look past circumstances and work out their differences. What a beautiful way to spend a Friday afternoon. Two friends reconnecting and two new friends joining together to create new memories.

Sabbath was really fun this week because we got to meet 4 new people! They had walked all the way from the other side of the island to watch the big rugby match on Friday. It is the only rugby match on the island of Koro where all 13 villages play each other for a chance to become the champions of the island. One of the men from our church actually played in the game on Friday. He was a powerful witness as he did not play in the match on Saturday because he observes the Sabbath. Ryan taught the Sabbath school lesson for this week and was able to share with everyone something that they had never heard before. Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemene, went into paraphyletic shock. He was experiencing every sin that any of us would ever commit, and he started to sweat large clots of blood. Our sins were literally crushing the life out of our Savior. The Bible tells us that Christ was in agony and that an angel came to strengthen Him lest He should perish.

What a wonderful Savior we have in Jesus! He offered Himself as a sacrifice for all mankind so that each of us could have the chance to choose the gift of Eternal Salvation. We should all learn to love one another as Christ loves us. In John 13:34, 35 Jesus tell us, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." Let us always remember that if we are real Christians, we'll love everyone unconditionally. How awesome is our God that he continually loves us, even in our sinful nature. Love one another as you would want to be loved. Treat one another as you would want to be treated. Help one another as you would want to be helped.