A container full of blessing

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

- Acts 20:35 (ESV)

I want to take an opportunity to thank everyone who donated clothing, shoes, coats, accessories, linens, medical supplies, and toiletries, as well as those who gave financially, to make this year's Swaziland container a success.  On Monday, May 16th we loaded the container with over 700 boxes in less than 2 hours.  The truck left around 11:30 a.m. bound for the port of Baltimore.  There, the container was placed on a cargo ship that set sail on Friday May 20th.  The voyage to Africa is expected to take a month.  It will then take another 10 days for the container to ship by rail to Swaziland, where our summer team will receive it on (hopefully) July 3rd.  

After we finished loading up the container, we took a moment to lay our hands on its sides and pray a prayer of blessing on those who donated and those who would receive.  We know that the container has always been such a great blessing to the people that have received from it.  We hear it year after year.  And we know that it is also a blessing on those who contribute to it.  

But as we prayed for Bill, the truck driver who drove the container from Glenside to Baltimore, I was struck with an idea that is my prayer request of you:

Let's pray that everyone involved with the container will be blessed!

We've prayed for God's blessing on the givers.  We have prayed (and will continue to pray) for His blessing on those who will receive the donations.  We prayed for Bill, who drove the container to the port.

I prayed for the crane operator and the dock workers in Baltimore.

Let's pray for the crew of the cargo ship.  Let's pray for the dockworkers in Durban, South Africa.  Let's pray for the railroad workers.  Let's pray for the truck driver in Swaziland. Let's pray for those who will unload the boxes and those who will drive them to the remote places where their contents will be distributed.

We probably won't see directly how God answers those prayers.  But we know that there is no limit to God's ability to bless.  A blessing on a merchant marine will not take away from anyone else's blessing, so will you please join me in praying for everyone who will play a role in getting this container to its destination?