“Thank you.” No more valuable words were ever spoken. So simple, yet so profound.
Marti recently met for lunch with a well-known author and researcher who began their conversation by thanking her. Marti recalls being completely unsettled by this. The surprising thing is that she doesn’t even remember what he thanked her for now — it really didn’t matter — it was the mere fact that he was thanking her, and what that did for her, that mattered.
Marti and I spent some time yesterday getting to know about Eva Mozes Kor, a Holocaust survivor who died Thursday on the 4th of July at 85. We want to thank our good friend of the Catch, Robert from Seattle, for introducing us to the story of this remarkable woman who survived torture and unspeakable atrocities in Auschwitz. As a twin, she and her sister were subjected to a host of dehumanizing experiments by doctors who treated them worse than laboratory rats.
I think we often forget that America was and is an experiment. At no other time in history has the setting and the resources been so right to begin a democracy. And the fact that the country is still strong and a leader in the free world is a tribute to those who envisioned it and built it with the tools to make it sustainable. We have every reason to celebrate its beginnings tomorrow: Happy Birthday America!
How does this happen? How does a 27-year-old healthy athlete just die overnight? Tyler Skaggs, starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim was found unresponsive in his hotel room in Texas yesterday morning. Nothing but questions remain. The police say no foul play or suicide is suspected. It’s a shocker.
On this week of national holidays — Canada: today; U.S.: Thursday; Hong Kong: today, not so happy (see below) — it’s important to refocus our direction and calling. Sometimes we forget how significant this message of Grace Turned Outward really is right now. You need to grasp how important you are because of this message of Grace. One of our volunteers has captured this significance in a stirring prophetic message I pass on to you today. This is one for the refrigerator door.
One of the things we have learned through this campaign is who some of our influencers are here at the Catch. Peter Herschend saw a community; Marti built it; Shar’i filled a need within it with tangible acts of love; Herb Hellums made a place to belong; Neil McCauley, Bob Jennings and Noel Stookey opened it up to the marketplace; Dave Kelley, Mike High, Pat Klever and Mike Boland are making a way to advance the ministry by expanding the ministry; and Terri Main is taking that plan to millions through social media.
As we pointed out in a recent Catch, our cornerstone philanthropic investor, Peter Herschend, envisioned a community cyber church and in 2012 went to work making that vision real. Between then and now, the Lord has brought many leaders to the ministry who connected with Peter’s vision and vowed to cause the ministry to become vital and its community to grow. Among those pioneers we would like to recognize the following:
Marti and I have shared a story since we first met. It’s a little drama we play out. One of us asks the other, “How much do you love me?” And the other holds out a hand showing a little teeny gap between thumb and first finger, “This much…” When the questioner feigns disappointment, the other finishes the remark — “This much (and drawing a line out from the thumb) … around the whole world!”
by Marti Fischer
Along with her husband, JJ, we continue to grieve over the loss of The Catch Ministry’s Elder and Prayer Warrior, Shar’i.
The Catch Ministry would not exist without the power of prayer. And I am not sure why I am existing without the power of Shar’i. That was just the kind of woman she was. No one could walk away from being with her without being significantly changed and challenged. Shar’i was fearless in her faith and always a vibrant, action-oriented believer in the power of prayer.
You are an influencer if:
you want to make a difference in somebody’s life;
you have a gift and you want to use it;
you want to be found doing the will of God when the Lord comes back;
you want to make right what’s gone wrong;
you want people to feel like they’ve been with the Lord when they’ve been with you;
you want everyone to know that the grace that has been bestowed upon you is available to them, too;
and, finally, you are an influencer if you are reading this right now!
John Fischer The Catch 