Silent Heroes

Recently I was listening to a radio program, catching the very end of a teaching segment by Chuck Swindoll. The teaching was about Nehemiah and the seemingly impossible task of rebuilding Jerusalem. In the last couple of minutes, Chuck diverged from the topic to talk about what he referred to as the layman. In place of layman, I would say ministry partners.

What he said was so close to my heart because it reflects the 25 Project’s heart for all of
our ministry partners. If you recall, Nehemiah was an Israelite who was King Artaxerxes
cup-bearer. After being called to rebuild Jerusalem, and after much prayer and planning, Nehemiah asks permission from King Artaxerxes to go and complete this task but also asks for all the supplies he would need to complete the task. The king grants Nehemiah’s requests and gives him much more than he had asked for.

You see, King Artaxerxes was a layman, or ministry partner. He was not the one with the title in this ministry task but he was the silent hero. The book in the Bible is named Nehemiah, not King Artaxerxes. Chuck goes on to quote Richard Halverson who dedicated his book Perspective “to faithful Christian laymen [ministry partners] who with silent heroism under relentless secular pressure fight the economic battle as stewards of the living God.”

You, as a partner with 25 through prayer and giving, are so many times the silent heroes. We are the ones who do the planning here, travel thousands of miles to work with orphaned and vulnerable children, and get to see up close and personal the lives of the children God is changing. However, YOU, are the silent heroes that “under relentless secular pressure fight the economic battle” and devote your time when everything else is bidding for your attention to help make this ministry possible.

We are so thankful for your support, for being our King Artaxerxes who give above and beyond. Our prayer for you is the same as Nehemiah’s, “Remember [them] for this, my God, and do not blot out what [they] have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.”