Message in a Bottle

Dear Crosswalkers,

Here is a fascinating true story: During a 1979 cruise to Hawaii, Dorothy and John Peckham wrote some notes and threw them overboard inside empty champagne bottles. They asked anyone who found one of their bottles to write them back, and even went so far as to include a $1 bill to cover the postage!

 Remarkably, on March 4, 1983, the couple received a letter from Hoa Van Nguyen. Nguyen, a former soldier in the Vietnamese Army, said he and his younger brother had found one of the Peckhams’ bottles as the two men were floating 15 kilometers from the shore of Songkhla Province in Thailand. They were braving the waters of the Pacific in a small, shallow riverboat in order to escape the Communist regime in Vietnam. When they saw the bottle, they felt as though a prayer had been answered, giving them the strength to carry on. After reading the letter, the Peckhams looked for Songkhla on a map and were shocked to find that the bottle had traveled 9,000 miles from Hawaii!

The Peckhams corresponded with Hoa for years, sharing in his joy when they received a photo from his wedding, then again nine months later when they saw his newborn son. But most of all, they empathized with Hoa’s desire to give his family the best life he could. So when Hoa asked if the Peckhams could help his family move to the U.S., they didn’t hesitate. After months of working with U.S. Immigration, the two families finally did meet in 1985, when a plane from Thailand landed in Los Angeles — the Nguyens’ new home.

Many of us have been floating through life, perhaps trying to escape hurts and rejection and loneliness. And then, by the amazing grace of God, we found a message, not it a bottle, but in a Bible; the message of God’s love for us through Jesus Christ. As a result of receiving that message and accepting it, we have a new purpose for living and a new home in the family of God!

For the past six weeks, we’ve been on journey together called 40 DAYS OF LOVE. We’ve learned, and hopefully experienced, the love of God and the joys of living a life of love for God and for others.

This Sunday we will celebrate our journey together. After our worship services we will share in a catered lunch in our Gym. Please plan to join us as we celebrate together (and please bring a dessert to share)!

Brief reminder: We are serving at Las Palmas Park this Saturday from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.; and we are collecting food for City Team’s Thanksgiving Food Drive beginning this Sunday!

Love in Jesus,
Pastor John Christie