Our 2021 Challenge

WRITE ONE NOTE, CARD OR LETTER TO ANYBODY EVERY MONTH

Our 2020 church challenge, if you’re able to recall, was a hospitality challenge. We chuckle to think that there has never been a worse year to do such a challenge. It is true that man plans his way but the Lord directs his steps (Prov. 16:9).

This year’s challenge, however, is pandemic-proof. Our encouragement to you (including kids) is to make it a point to write one handwritten card, note or letter to a different person every month this year.

Why this challenge? On the surface, nearly every single book of the New Testament is a letter. But beyond this, writing letters is a way we can love one another (John 13:34) even when we can’t see one another. It’s a way that we can consider the needs and interests of others above our own (Phil. 2:4). Writing is a means of letting someone know how you’re praying for them (James 5:16), why you’re grateful for them (2 Thess. 1:3) and how you see God at work in their lives (2 Tim. 1:5). It can even be an effective way to share the joy of Jesus with your neighbor.

A NEIGHBOR, A CHURCH MEMBER, A FAMILY MEMBER …

Who should you write to? Anybody. There are no restrictions here. If you write to others in the church during some months, we’ll likely see a church built up in faith and encouragement this year. If you write to unbelievers, we hope we hear testimonies of Santa Anans coming to saving faith by the end of 2021. You could write to someone as close to you as your spouse and as relationally distant from you as an estranged family member.

A SPECIAL DINNER FOR ALL WHO WRITE 12 LETTERS

Everyone who fulfills this challenge (including kids!) in every month of 2021 will be invited to a special dinner in early 2022 to celebrate, eat good food (contingent on the state of the pandemic) and tell stories of what God did through the simple discipline of letter-writing.

Ready, set, go …