Exponential

"Grace and peace be multiplied to you..." 2 Peter 1.2

I have long been an enthusiast for the ministry of Mary's Meals, the Dalmally-based Christian charity which feeds increasing numbers of impoverished school children around the world, thereby enabling their education and transforming their lives. And all with what, for us, is a pittance. And now TearTimes, the monthly newsletter of another Christian charity, informs me that every £1 given can unlock £7 worth of time and resources through its church projects which eventually creates £211 of well-being improvements. This calculation is based on a number of measurable changes including quality of life, relationships and environmental enhancement.

It is all reminiscent of Jesus' feeding miracles, where the Lord takes the meagre offering of his people and multiplies it into more than enough to meet the needs of the situation. When Jesus promised that his faithful disciples would do even greater things, he was surely looking forward to such initiatives as those I have described - and so many more that I haven't. The needs of the world exceed all these interventions of course but are we going to say that they exceed the Lord's capacity to meet them? Of course not. Instead let us pray for the multiplication of these exponentially effective measures and give God the glory as they happen...