I AM A PERSON WHO LOVES TO TALK. LOTS OF THINGS ARE ACCOMPLISHED BY TALKING – AND I DON’T MEAN JUST BLABBING, I MEAN TALKING, THE KIND OF TALK THAT INSPIRES PEOPLE, THE KIND OF TALK THAT CHANGES LIVES. THAT’S THE KIND OF TALK THAT MOST OF OUR WORLD LEADERS DID. THAT’S WHAT BROUGHT THEM INTO THEIR POSITIONS OF POWER. I FIND COURAGE AND EXCITEMENT IN SPEAKING TO YOU TODAY, BUT I AM HERE TO SPEAK OF ONLY ONE THING – HOPE.
HOPE IT WAS THAT CHANGED THE DESTINY OF THE HOPELESS. HOPE IT WAS THAT CONVINCED PEOPLE OF A BETTER AND BRIGTHER FUTURE. HOPE IT WAS THAT CREATED STRONG PEOPLE OUT OF THE WEAK. AND I BELIEVE THAT TODAY, HOPE WILL AGAIN BE OUR SOURCE OF CHANGE.
LET ME REVEAL SOMETHING OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE – YOU, THIS CROWD RIGHT HERE, IS DIFFERENT. SIGNIFICANT. POWERFUL. YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE YOU ACTUALLY HOLD HOPE IN YOUR HANDS. YOU ARE CAPABLE OF GIVING HOPE. AND THAT MAKES YOU VERY SPECIAL.
I’M SURE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, YOU HAVE HEARD THE PHRASE “IT’S BETTER TO GIVE THAT TO RECEIVE” A THOUSAND TIMES. BUT I HOPE YOU HAVE HEARD THE RING OF TRUTH IN IT. IT IS INDEED BETTER TO GIVE. IN GIVING, YOU ARE MUCH MORE BLESSED.
GIVING TO CHILDREN IS SUCH A BLESSED ENDEAVOR BECAUSE YOU ARE GIVING THEM HOPE. YOU ARE GIVING THEM EDUCATION. YOU ARE HELPING THEM OVERCOME THE STAGGARING NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF POVERTY. JUST THINK OF HOW BLESSED YOU ARE THAT YOU HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF LIFTING UP EVEN ONE CHILD’S LIFE! THAT CHILD WILL BE GRATEFUL TO YOU IN HIS OR HER WHOLE LIFETIME. THIS WAY, YOU PASS ON THE HOPE THAT WAS GIVEN TO YOU.
YOU MAY NOT REALIZE IT, BUT ACTUALLY YOU HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED THREE IMPORTANT GIFTS. FIRST IS THEGIFT OF LOVE. WHEN GOD REALIZED HE HAD TO DAMN THE WORLD BECAUSE IT IS ALREADY SOAKED IN SIN, HIS OVERWHELMING LOVE STILL PREVAILED. HE CANNOT BREAK HIS OWN LAWS, BUT OUT OF HIS LOVE, HE ACHIEVED JUSTICE AND SAVED MANKIND. GOD GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON SO THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE. THIS GOD-KING WAS BORN IN THE SIMPLEST AND HUMBLEST OF WAYS – IN A MANGER WRAPPED IN SWADDLING CLOTHES. THIS BABY GREW UP TO BE A BOY, AND HE GAVE THE SECOND GIFT, THE GIFT OF LIFE, TO AN ALREADY LIFELESS WORLD. WHEN HE SPOKE OF HIS FATHER IN HEAVEN AND THE KINGDOM TO COME, PEOPLE WERE AWED AND INSPIRED. THE BOY WAS DIFFERENT, AND HE TALKED DIFFERENT, TOO. WHEN HE GREW UP TO BE A MAN, HE DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO SPREAD A UNIQUE MESSAGE OF HOPE FOR A LOST PEOPLE. HE STIRRED THEIR HEARTS ONCE MORE TO BELIEVE IN A MARVELOUS LIFE TO COME. THIS RADICAL MAN, CRITICIZED FOR HIS MESSAGE OF HOPE, WAS WRONGLY ACCUSED AND WAS SEVERLY PUNISHED. IN HIS DEATH, HE GAVE THE GIFT OF SALVATION. HE CARRIED THE ULTIMATE BURDEN UPON HIMSELF FOR THE SAKE OF MANKIND, FOR THE SAKE OF YOU AND ME. HE DIED TO GIVE US LIFE. HE IS INDEED A BEACON OF HOPE.
WHAT WONDERFUL GIFTS WE HAVE, AND WHAT SWEEPING CHANGES IT COULD MAKE IF WE USE THEM! I DID THIS DOCUMENTARY OF A LITTLE SCAVENGER GIRL IN PAYATAS FOR MY OWN HEALING AND ENLIGHTENMENT. SOMETIMES, I BECOME TOO ENGROSSED IN THE PETTY CONCERNS OF MY LIFE. I NEEDED THAT REALITY CHECK TO KEEP THINGS IN PROPER PERSPECTIVE. I SPENT A DAY UP IN PAYATAS AS A SCAVENGER. THAT WAS JUST ONE DAY OUT OF THE MANY DAYS OF MY RELATIVELY COMFORTABLE LIFE. I HAVE NEVER FELT SO OVERWHELMINGLY SAD AND JOYOUS AT THE SAME TIME. MARY ROSE IS JUST A KID, BUT THERE SHE WAS, SCAVENGING BECAUSE HER LIFE AND HER FAMILY’S LIFE DEPENDED ON IT. I SAW IN HER THE STRENGTH THAT COULD ONLY COME FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS ALREADY BEEN THROUGH LIFE’S TOUGHEST CARDS. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT THIS LITTLE GIRL, MARY ROSE, WOULD ALSO HAVE HOPE IN HER HANDS? THAT SHE WOULD ALSO HAVE HOPE TO GIVE? HER LIFE RECENLTY TURNED UPSIDE DOWN WHEN SHE WAS CHOSEN AS AN AMBASSADOR OF GOODWILL FORCHRISTMAS IN PAYATAS. THIS GIRL, WHO HAS KNOWN NOTHING BUT THE FILTHINESS AND STENCH OF A WOLRD OF GARBAGE, IS SUDDENLY TRAVELING AND DINING WITH EXECUTIVES!
ISN’T IT AMAZING HOW HOPE WORKS? ISN’T GIVING SUCH A MIRACULOUS THING? THAT IS WHY I CHALLENGE YOU TONIGHT TO AIM FOR THAT ULTIMATE BLESSING IN YOU LIFE, TO GRAB THAT OPPORUTINITY TO BE TRULY AND WHOLLY BLESSED MORE THAN YOU HAVE EVER IMAGINED.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PASS ON THE HOPE THAT IS IN YOU. OPEN YOUR EARS AND HEAR A THOUSAND MORE MARY ROSES WHOSE LIVES HAVE SUCH BEAUTIFUL POTENTIAL. OPEN YOUR HEARTS AND FEEL THE NEED OF THESE CHILDREN – OUR FUTURE. YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE SOMEONE’S LIFE TODAY. DON’T WASTE THATHOPE THAT IS IN YOU.
