No More Stuff!

This week our family got an email update from our friends Mike and Sara Hawthorne who are serving at The Mission at Natuvu Creek, a medical mission station in the islands of Fiji. (for more info go to: www.missionatnatuvucreek.com) The Hawthornes have been at Natavu Creek since September.

In January of this year, they came to Alamosa and shared how God was leading them to sell their 35 Acre Ranch in Masonville, CO, and move with their six children to Fiji to become Jesus' hands and feet for the Fijian people.

The following is from one of Sara's latest letters in which she tells about receiving a large storage container of their belongings 2 months after arriving in Fiji:

Great cheers and excitement greeted the colossal, red metal box, as the truck carrying it pulled in next to the bus stop on our property.

As the rain gently fell from the sky, the doors to that well traveled container, which left Colorado ahead of us in the middle of August, were opened and its ingredients unloaded. A large group of hard-working men arrived to help us with this daunting feat. Mike climbed up and started to pull out the first of our earthly possessions. Mattresses, couches, shovels, and all the works were handed down an assembly line until I would point each item to the direction of its new home. Many hands made for a quick process, and we were completely unloaded within a few hours.

However, the monumental task of the day was still ahead of us. We had to remove the container from the truck, without the help of any heavy equipment. A crane was supposed to arrive to pick up the container, but a communication break down left us with no choice but to pray and brainstorm. In the end, the men tied the container to several coconut trees, and the driver pulled forward with the container crashing to the ground, miraculously upright!

This experience brings me to one of my lessons learned. No more STUFF! It was a bit embarrassing to unload box after box, and have all of our new friends working hard to help us, when the truth is that they live very simply and contentedly with very little. One man asked us if we were moving the whole state of Colorado to the Mission. He was joking, of course, but if he only knew how much STUFF we had already gotten rid of.

As we were preparing to move to Fiji, downsizing, and getting rid of many things, I looked at shopping in a whole new light. Every purchase was carefully examined, and prayed over with the question of 'do I really need this?' I encourage many of you to ask this question when you are at the store. Especially with the holiday season approaching, does your Aunt Sue need you to waste money on something she doesn't really need?

Friend, Sara's point is well taken. Why not give a little more to charity this holiday season and a little less to the ones who really don't need anything? Why not stop by Milagros and choose a gift from La Puente's Alternative Giving Menu? Or how about emailing Sara (sonshineranch@gmail.com) to find out how you can support The Mission at Natuvu Creek? Or pick a favorite charity of your own, send them a donation, and then put a card on your Christmas tree addressed to your loved ones telling them that you gave in their honor. As Sara said well: "Invest yourselves in things that last. You will never regret it!"

Blessings,

Jim Moon, Pastor

Alamosa SDA Church