Anu is the co-founder and chairperson of Vanitashray in Pune, India: a care facility for orphans, desitute women, and widows.

Manuel Bonga is a pastor and missionary from Mozambique with a passion to not only share the gospel, but also to reach out to those who are directly and indirectly suffering from HIV/AIDS. He sees the church as a very important instrument to helping people find hope and reaching out to one another with the love of Christ.

We need something more than just human patience to actually love those around us. Long suffering is the unique ingredient that makes Christian community attractive and powerful. It is the imitation of Christ.

In the Gospel we see a Jesus who deliberately hung out with undesirable people. He was found in the company of tax collectors and prostitutes. Love means that we too are called to be vessels of God’s truth and goodness in a not so god-friendly culture.

It’s easy to love when all goes well, but when we find ourselves being driven apart over opinions and lifestyles... how do the Great Commission and the Great Commandment come into play to accomplish God’s plan?

As we recap our series, we have to ask ourselves: Why is it that so many of us are still emotionally unhealthy or immature in such important areas? So much is at stake here. It’s time to grow up - together.

Ignoring rest can be the root of a host of other problems. If God himself thought that much about stopping from his work in Genesis, then how much more should we pay attention to this marvelous gift?

How will God love the broken and hurting, the single moms, our neighbors, the disadvantaged, or the public schools without us being involved?

The emotionally stunted person tries to rush past grief and find a quick end to pain. This short-circuits God’s work of expanding our capacity for empathy and compassion towards those around us.

Somehow we feel that we are not good enough, our job’s not good enough, or our lot in life is not good enough. But to live wise is to know how those boundaries apply to our lives, call, and season in his grand plan of redemption.