3 the greatest love story w ow, what a year it’s been! as i gather stories, photos and video clips for this publication it amazes me all over again what god will do when we say yes! whether your “yes” was to partner with us in prayer, making a financial contribution, volunteering your time and talents or helping us spread the word about this ministry, we thank you! a million times over – thank you! as you will read on the following pages, literally thousands of lives have been touched or transformed through our teamwork. more than 4,000 people now have access to clean water for the very first time, 300 families were trained in health and hygiene, 8 students received scholarships for college and technical training, 42 students received a healthy lunch every day at school, badly needed supplies were provided to teachers in the philippines, 30 sweet grass county families were helped with completing projects during homeward bound, 26 big timber students received backpacks and school supplies, life-saving medical care has been provided and thousands of people received love, in jesus’ name! and that is the key - love. paul instructs in 1 corinthinans 16:14 “do everything in love.” jesus reminds his disciples, “by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (john 13:35) whether we are serving our families, our community or our world, when we serve motivated by the love we first received from him we can truly make a difference, for the moment and for eternity. is it always easy to love? no! but it is what we have been commanded and it must be our response. “it is not love in the abstract that counts. we have loved the workers, the poor, the oppressed, but we have not loved “personally.” it is hard to love. it is the hardest thing in the world, naturally speaking. have you ever read tolstoy’s resurrection? he tells of political prisoners in a long prison train, enduring chains and persecution for the love of their brothers, ignoring those same brothers on the long trek to siberia. it is never the brothers right next to us, but the brothers in the abstract that are easy to love.” -dorothy day does that mean ‘love wins’? absolutely! love wins. love has already won. jesus is love. —mery donald, montana on a mission board chair