This Sunday Church of the Messiah will observe All Saints’ Day.  Historically, this is when the Church takes time to commemorate that countless numbers of saints who have gone before us whose names are known only to the Lord; saints about whom no one writes books or icons, carves statues or dedicates churches, but whose lives were lived dedicated to the Lord nonetheless.  It is a day we reaffirm our own Baptismal Vows and often welcome new believers into the Kingdom of God.

In recent years, the ICCEC has taken up an annual offering on All Saints’ Day to support our developing churches in Africa.  Each year 20% of the money collected goes to mercy missions and to establishing sources of clean water in the local environments to prevent the spread of the disease.  The other 80% goes to establishing self-sustaining micro-businesses in order to ensure that our local parishes in these countries can become self-sufficient and self-supporting and no longer relying on outside support and aid.  For more information about this project, visit the web-site of the ICCEC.

This Sunday, November 2, as we give thanks for the great cloud of witnesses who has gone before us, let us remember those saints, our brothers and sisters who will have already risen early on the first day of the week to praise the Risen Lord, and let us do what we can to uphold and support our those saints who are worshiping with us in Africa.