People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from border to border searching for the word of the Lord…beautiful girls and strong young men will grow faint in that day thirsting for the Lord’s Word, (Amos 8:12, NLT)
Many of you may be unfamiliar with the Messenger Cup.To bring you up to speed, it is an annual golf tournament held at The Broadmoor Hotel in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado. At this event, many generous souls gather to connect or compete in order to extend the reach of the gospel. Through our time together, leaders in far-flung lands are empowered, equipped, and encouraged.
These leaders hail from regions of the world struck by a famine of God’s word. Where simply being a Christian can cost them their lives. In addition to facing persecution, often these leaders feel isolated and forgotten by the community of faith. Through this tournament these same leaders are equipped with books, leadership packs, and often the ability to resource their entire congregations or underground networks through the organization, Cloud Library.
In addition to making all of these resources available free of charge in over thirty languages, the Messenger Cup also serves as a vehicle of rescue —extending hope to those trapped in the snare of child pornography and sex trafficking in Southeast Asia.
The Story of What Is:
Over the course of the last year, the 2nd Annual Messenger Cup (2012) funded 42 outreach projects, which provided over 118,000 leaders with life-transforming resources. The 2nd Annual Messenger Cup also helped to complete a multi-purpose building that is now a church, educational facility, (literacy classes, Bible instruction, and trafficking prevention) as well as a safe haven for the community to gather.
The Story of What Will Be:
The generosity of the 2013 Messenger Cup fully funded 78 outreach projects in 34 languages that will reach into 44 countries and empower 257,000+ leaders with the potential to impact the lives of over 5,080,000 people. The 2013 event also positioned a strategic command center in Southeast Asia where police, government officials, and rescue operatives meet in a secure environment to fight sex trafficking. Frontline freedom fighters were outfitted with three surveillance kits (GPS tracking, button and watch cameras, voice recording devices, etc.) to support their ongoing anti-trafficking efforts.
Even with all these numbers, there is no way to measure how many more will find what they desperately search for…just as there is no way to gauge how many thirsty souls will be quenched. Faith, hope, love, and courage will be written into the lives of countless people. Only eternity will tell the story of what your generosity created for others.
Yet, we have no doubt that together we are part of Habakkuk’s promise:
The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14, NIV)
