LONDON—How would you think to spend December 24th and December 31st in 2016 knowing that those days would be Sabbath days? With all the habits of this world to prepare for Christmas or to be ready for the New Year, the brethren in the United Kingdom decided to have two special afternoons.
On the first afternoon, December 24th, we were in London – Kingsbury and delivered some precious gifts. We distributed about 60 books including Happiness for Life, Desire of Ages, and He Taught Love, handmade bookmarks with special messages, flowers, and a basket of fruits. We distributed these gifts while singing joyful and inspiring songs. We enjoyed the smiles on people’s faces when receiving the gifts.
December 31st 2016 brought another opportunity to share our happiness with others. Again, as we sang hymns about happiness we spread our message: “Be happy in 2017 and read Happiness for Life!” About 150 books (Steps to Christ under the title Happiness for Life) were distributed.
We all felt precious blessings!
“The last two Sabbaths have seen blessings poor out of heaven on our church and on us; I mean me, my family. We can see now that working together brings happiness, good memories, and unity. May God bless each one of us and our children too. Amen” Irina
“I felt like the companionship of angels, their voices, true love, and the power of the Holy Spirit was around all of us... Blessed assurance! I was truly blessed by having the best New Year's Eve in years!!! I'm so grateful for God's provision” Alessandro
“For me, the two projects of the 24th and 31st of December 2016 were a haven sent to our church, a blessing like no other. I personally learned that it is a waste of time to say: "We should do this project and that project." I learned that we have today the opportunity and with prayer, we press forward to the mountain of difficulties that we need to face in each step towards grabbing the opportunity to introduce the Saviour. I also learned that our service is much more enjoyable when we do not expect or search for the results or fruits of our work; our duty is to introduce people to the choice of life, it is not any more our duty to expect them to choose what we have chosen. God created us with a free will and will accept only a service of love. God bless us with many more opportunities and love to accomplish them. Loredana
“For me, this was a new and a wonderful experience. Everyone was involved and put forth the best they could. May God bless the church in the UK to carry on the work through this new year of 2017; and may this be an inspiration for our church around the world.” Lino
“For me, it was such a blessed opportunity and a great experience to touch other people's lives through our little gestures of gift-giving, making people smile, and a touch of comfort for the ones with tears in their eyes. May this kind of spirit be in us and be a part of our life until Jesus comes.” Grace
Now, 2017 is a challenge for you and me. May God help us meet it!