Dear friend,

One of the things I love about Jesus is the way He connected with people. Some of His most meaningful connections were with those who were treated by others as insignificant or who lived on the periphery of society.

When He began His ministry He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come” (Luke 4:18-19).

Jesus went to the marginalized of all types—those despised as “sinners” by the religious people. He went about healing those marginalized by disability—the “lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others” (Matthew 15:30). He ministered to those marginalized because of their ethnicity and gender like the Samaritan woman (John 4) and the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28). He fellowshipped with those marginalized because of their work as tax collectors and prostitutes (Luke 15:1).

I could go on about how Jesus welcomed children (Luke 18). How He called Himself the Good Shepherd who sought out the weak and lost sheep (John 10). And how He was criticized for being a “friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matthew 11:19). Jesus viewed them all with compassion. He showed the outcasts grace and gave them hope.

Jesus is still reaching out and connecting with the marginalized in our day. He is still giving them grace and hope and He invites us to be a part of that. He ministers through us together—you, when you give and pray, and Insight for Living Canada as we provide resources. Your prayers and gifts are essential.

I often speak to marginalized people who call our office wanting to speak to a pastor. They’ve listened to a Bible-teaching program or read a devotional article, feel hope stirred in their desperate hearts, and then reach out.

Some I’ve spoken to are marginalized because they have a mental, physical, or emotional disability. There are those who’ve been cut-off and ostracized from their loved ones through family strife. Others are sidelined because of isolation due to immobility, illness, or frailty. Some reach out because of church problems. One woman we helped wrote in recently saying:

Thank you for the person who gave me counsel when I experienced a bad time in the church we were attending, and in my personal life, as well. They gave me good counsel and new hope. We are doing OK now as we abide in Christ. 

For many people in a similar situation, Insight for Living Canada is a lifeline. Quite literally lives have been saved and salvaged because of this ministry. And it happens because you, and people like you, pray and give. Together we are the voice of Jesus to the marginalized in our day and in our country providing biblical truth and hope.

Lives are impacted when the Lord touches hearts through your prayers and gifts undergirding the ministry of the Word through Insight for Living Canada.

Can we count on your continued prayerful and financial support this month?

Your support helps provide hope for those in our country who need it most.

In grateful partnership with you,

Steve Johnson

Executive Director

PS People on society’s margins need hope just as much as those in Jesus’ day. Send your gift today and help provide needy people with hope.