A Thankful Heart
In Canada, we celebrate Thanksgiving in October. It is a festive time as extended families gather for a turkey dinner and share all the things that they have been thankful for over the year. It is a joyous time of celebration, but this year, 2020 is like no other. Many health officials across our country recommended that we do not meet for large family dinners in person but to do so virtually as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to grow around the world. Social distancing protocols are still in effect, even though scores of people are paying less attention to these restrictions as people crave for community. People continue to die, and when we analyze the situation, is there anything to be thankful for in 2020?
This is exactly the dilemma that Christians find themselves in almost every day. We are urged in God’s word to be thankful all the time and we are reminded constantly that we have many reasons to be thankful to God, even for our very existence; and yet we find ourselves going through some tough times periodically in our lives, and it can get very difficult to remain in a state of thankfulness, to have a "thankful heart," even if we know we have many things for which be thankful.
A thankful heart — as opposed to sporadic or seasonal thankfulness — is something that we can have only when we set our minds to imitate the apostle Paul’s attitude that he had when he said,
A thankful heart, the way it is described in Scripture, is something that exists inside of a person regardless of outside circumstances. Our lives are just naturally going to have high and low points, but our disposition toward God should remain nearly constant.
I know that it is very difficult to be thankful sometimes, and even though we are supposed to be thankful especially during Thanksgiving (but should be the case year-round), there are some that just don’t feel that way. But if we truly worship our God in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs and if we allow the Word of God to dwell richly in us, a thankful heart will be a lot easier to obtain.
Ephesians 5:20 says,
If we look at our lives, there is so much we can give thanks for.
So instead of focusing on the negatives, let’s just start listing things that we are thankful for, and as you list them, more and more things will come to your mind, because our God is a God who loves us and provide for us no matter the circumstances even during COVID-19.
At CIM Canada, among many other things, we are thankful for the following:
That we have food to eat and a place to call home.
That we can get up each morning to serve the Lord another day.
That we have monetary resources so we can live.
That Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again so we can have eternal life.
That through every tough circumstance, He is still always by our side.
That we have been called to do cross-cultural missions.
That even though we can not travel right now, we have the technology to meet with almost anyone around the world. We are currently planning to have a virtual meeting with the Roma pastors that we support in Ukraine.
That we have donors and prayer warriors that support us through finances and prayer.
Thanks to the blessing of technology and resources, recently we were able to have a virtual meeting between the CIM Roma committee and Pastor Vasya and Pastor Vlad from House of Mercy.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. I can think of many more things to be thankful for, and I am sure that you can as well. Do despite all the seemingly “negative” things that are happening around the world, have a thankful heart. God is still in control.
If you would like more information about our organization, please do not hesitate to email us at contact@cimcanada.org
God bless and stay safe.
Rev. Isaac Quan
Executive Director for CIM Canada
September Financials
1. General Fund - for general and administrative purposes, such as staff salaries
2. Designated Fund - for specific ministries in different field locations as designated (cannot be transferred between funds)
*All financial figures are in Canadian dollars and rounded to the nearest dollar*
Pray with us:
Pray for the ministries of CIM, not only in Ghana, Togo, and to the Roma people group, but also for the ministries in South Africa, Brazil, and Cambodia through our CIM family in the USA, Australia, and Hong Kong.
Pray that there will be more prayer warriors and financial donors so that we can effectively do the ministries that God has called us to do. Pray for the planning of two fundraisers in the upcoming months.
Pray for our upcoming CIM Canada’s Board of Director meetings in November which will be held virtually for the first time. Pray for God’s guidance as we seek His direction in 2021.
Praise God that the borehole project in Bimbilla, Ghana is nearing completion. Pray that the rest of the project will go smoothly.
Pray for Pastor Vlad as he leads the Roma ministry in Ukraine. Recently he had to take his newborn daughter to see a urologist because of some minor complications. Pastor Ruslan’s daughter, Luiza, has also been hospitalized with Ewing’s sarcoma.
Pray for the healing of our BOD member Siu Lui Ho who has just completed radiation treatment for cancer.
There has been severe flooding in some villages in northern Ghana. Pray for the relief work that WEC missionaries Rev. Joshua Siu and his wife Caterina is heading up, before they travel back to Hong Kong on December 1.
Some of our friends and staff affiliated with House of Mercy in Ukraine have tested positive with COVID-19, please pray for healing.