LifeNets

Posted February 17, 2007

I have a story to tell you today about something wonderful.  This story contains desire, commitment, and Godly love.  It contains action and energy.  It is the story of serving a purpose greater than one’s self.  It is the story of our LifeNets Chapter, right here in Bismarck/Mandan. 

• Tell the story of how our project began.  After dinner, in our kitchen
• There are many Scriptures that tell of giving to our fellow man, “Greater love has no man…”, “God loves a cheerful giver…”, “It is more blessed to give than to receive”, etc. 
• James 1:22 tells us, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only…” 

Christ served in the following ways when He was here on Earth. 

Serving Humanitarian Need:

Christ always knew who was in need.  For example, healing the sick.  He made them whole again.  He always knew exactly how to help.

Building Self-Sufficiency:

Christ gave what was necessary for people to become independent and build their own lives with their new freedom from disease and disability.  He never enabled them, causing them to further depend on people for their needs.  But neither did He give them too little, keeping them tethered to others because they remained in need.

Christ always gave just the right amount of help.

Passing on the Gift:

By healing, by helping, Christ enabled people to move on in their lives from depending on others to doing for themselves.  Not much is said as to the outcome of the lives of those whom Christ helped.   However, it is easy to see that they were no longer begging outside the city gates anymore because Christ helped them.  It does not say they became members of the Church or that they were faithful believers to the end of their lives.  They are only mentioned as someone whom Christ healed during His time on Earth.

As we all know, Christ did the will of God, the Father in everything He accomplished.

So what, you may ask, does this have to do with LifeNets?

LifeNets serves as Christ did while He was here on Earth and still does in heaven.  LifeNets three part mission statement includes:  serving humanitarian need, providing self-sufficiency, and passing on the benefits and gifts.

Through LifeNets, the same legacy is able to be passed on.  LifeNets was born of one man’s desire to serve his fellow man.  Vic and Bev Kubik did not, however, want to give only money to a problem.  As you know, this usually only adds more problems.  The vision they had was providing a useful means to help people provide for themselves.  That way, the villages of Africa, the clinics in Ukraine, the dentist’s offices in South America, were provided with opportunity to use their skills to better themselves and help their fellow man by being given tools to build better lives and communities.   

LifeNets, by giving education, tools, and equipment, allows for people to become self-sufficient.  This, as you know, builds independence and self confidence.  All of the projects of LifeNets provide jobs for many people, thereby passing on the gift to others. 

The triathlon is one tool to raise funds for LN.  A great deal of work goes into it each year to make it a success.  Each year we learn better and more efficient ways to provide a great athletic event to participants from all over.  However, our main purpose is not to serve the athletes only.  The purpose of our Chapter is to give to our fellow man the opportunities that we, in America, take for granted, each day of our lives.  We are not in great physical need.  We have the “choicest bounties of heaven” poured out on this great land.

We are self-sufficient.  Our health care, though not perfect, is among the greatest in the world.  We have provision for our needy built into Social Security and Welfare programs.  We have care that billions of people only dream of.

Our tables are laden with great variety of food and drink.  We have running water, clean clothes – and a variety of them.  We have warm homes and we all have a vehicle of some sort.  We have access to anything our heart desires in the way of conveniences b/c we live in the USA.  We have even have time for leisure activities such as hunting and trapping in our country.  These freedoms are gone, or, never existed, in many other countries.  We have access to schools and, though our children complain, it is a gift in this country that billions of children will never know.

We have been given much, so very much.

When the North Dakota Chapter of LifeNets held the second annual LifeNets Triathlon in September, many of you played a vital part in making it a success.  From manning the barbecue grill to serving food.  From directing traffic to making phone calls, you pitched in to help for this great cause.  We are a very small group of faithful people but we accomplished a great work because we used the synergy Mr. Pinelli speaks of, to help our fellow man.

For any job to be done, laborers are necessary.  You labored that others might gain from our efforts.

Our triathlon raised $4,400.00.  Of course, there were expenses taken out of that total.  However, we were able to provide a great event in Mandan.  Many of the 70 participants said they would be back and they enjoyed it a great deal.  That, alone, was worth the efforts you all put in.

The $4,400 was not raised just from our participants.  Much of the money was donated to LifeNets because people believe in our cause.  Of the many interviews we had on TV and radio, Tracey and I were told how much the interviewers were impressed with the mission statement of LifeNets.

Our goal is to have one triathlon, on the same day, in a major city, in every state in the USA.  As Christians we’ve always dreamed big and this is no exception.  For the time being, we continue to manage the project at hand and make the 2007 Triathlon a greater success. 

The purpose of my talk today is to thank you, individually, and collectively, for all the assistance you gave in making this a success.  Many hands made the work a lot lighter and you all did, indeed, make it a much lighter job.

Through your efforts, LifeNets has now begun a chapter in North Dakota.  Please know that all of you are invited and definitely welcome to be part of this chapter.  The more people that help out the greater the success of the chapter and the events we support.  Your ideas, your expertise, and your talents are needed.

If you have any time you can give us, we appreciate that.

If you have ideas, we want you to share them with us.

I know you all have talents that benefit us.

If you feel you are unable to physically help, we ask for your prayers of blessing upon all that we undertake for we all know our successes all begin and end with our Creator.

Thank you.