Written by: Eli Wilson, Director of Sports Programming at myLIFEspeaks
You can listen to the podcast version of this story, here.
“The friendships that I've made here are ones that I’ll have till the day that I pass on from this earth.”
Friendships are one of the many things that God has given us. Friendships should be a relationship with someone that you can fully put all of your trust in and who you can tell anything. Friendships should be a relationship that is built on trust and most importantly the foundation of Christ.
Everyone has a best friend that they think about when they hear the word friendship. It’s someone who you don’t just look at as a friend but more of an extended family member. It’s someone that understands you at your best and at your worst. What some people forget is that it’s a good thing to have more than just a couple of friends. God created us humans so that we may live in commUNITY with each other and serve him. So when we surround ourselves with people and with friends that serve the Lord before anything else, that is what’s best, and that’s what God wants.
The reason I'm so passionate about this is because that is how the village of Neply lives every single day. While it may not be the best looking village to the people on the outside, when you get to the heart of Neply you truly experience what real friendships are. Everyone here watches out for everyone and everyone cares for everyone; not just their family. Because here everyone is family, everyone lives in commUNITY.
For me personally, before I came to live in Neply I never got to experience the true commUNITY aspect of friendship, Yes, I have a best friend (and you know who you are) but I never got to live out my LIFE with a GROUP of people together for the Lord and for His Kingdom. The longer I live here the more I see how God intended for friendships to be lived out. I don’t think God put me in Neply at the time that he did on accident. God put me here at the right time and the exact moment that was best for my LIFE. If it wasn’t for that I don’t know if I would have found out what true friendships mean. The friendships that I've made here are ones that I’ll have till the day that I pass on from this earth.
So I think we all need to find a group of friends and not just one or two, so that we may praise the Lord together and glorify Him through our relationships.