Inasmuch Turns 15!!

           Happy Birthday, Operation Inasmuch!!!  It’s hard to believe you’re 15 already!  Those of us who were there when you made your entrance into this world are shocked to realize 15 years have passed.
            No one saw what a big ministry you would become.  No one thought you would have the impact you’ve had over these 15 years—about 1,600 churches using your ideas and structure to mobilize as many as 100,000 believers in hands-on ministry in their community, serving perhaps half a million and producing several million dollars worth of service in 18 states and 2 other countries. 
            It goes to show what God’s Spirit can do with a little obedience.  When the people of Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville, NC, conducted the first Inasmuch, they were simply doing what they believed God was leading them to do.  But God had bigger plans.  He planned to use you to energize hundreds of churches in transformative ministry.  It’s like David Crocker, Ex. Dir. of the national ministry of Operation Inasmuch said in Fayetteville at your birthday party:  “When Inasmuch was first conceived, there was another person than we could see in the room.  When Snyder’s Missions Committee (pictured in this newsletter) met over several weeks to plan the first Inasmuch, there was another person in the room.  We didn’t know it then, but we do now.  God’s Spirit was there.  He was inspiring us as to what was possible.  He was calling us to push beyond our comfort zone.  He was instructing us as to how to get His people outside the walls of the church buildings and into the community where people in need were waiting for someone to show them His love.”
            Now that you have turned 15, we can see that God intended from the beginning that you would become an instrument of His work—like the shepherd’s staff Moses used in leading the people of Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land, like the horns the soldiers blew in their capture of Jericho, and like the towel Jesus used to wash the disciples’ feet. 
            We are proud of what you’ve become, . . . but you’re still only a teenager.  You’ve still got some growing to do.  And before you know it, you’ll be an adult with more responsibility, more influence and more ways to help believers become what God intends for them to be.  You’re still in a learning stage, so learn well.  Still in a growing stage, so grow strong.  And, God willing, we will grow with you. 
            Inasmuch, remember Eph. 3:20:  “[God] is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.”  That truth applies not only to your past but also to your future.  Believe it.  Live it.  We can’t wait to see what God does through you the rest of your life!
           

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