To the Third and Fourth Generations............................................

In Deuteronomy we read that God punished people for sin to the third and fourth generations.  But in the next verse, He again says, He "showed love to a thousand generations of those who love (Him)."  This is a beautiful promise from God which we have lived in our extended family.  On both sides of our family - Pierce and Kennedy - we have known God's blessing and call in so many ways.

Dad's Mom - Grandma Pierce - had a father who was an outspoken Nazarene preacher. She in turn followed the Lord and became involved in Missions in her Baptist convention.  Her three sons (Dad among them) and her one daughter all became ordained ministers in the church:  Uncle Richard was ordained as a Baptist preacher, Uncle Luther as a Church of Christ minister, Aunt Esther as an Episcopalian rector and Dad an Alliance pastor. 

On the Kennedy side, both of my parents were first generation Christians.  But my parents were saved in their young twenties and trained to  become missionaries. In my generation, my brother, sister and I all became Alliance missionaries.  In your generation, three of you (our children) became missionaires and the two sons of Aunt Donna and Uncle Jim are also missionaries.  This all is a much richer heritage than what we all realize.  Especially in these days of such terrible tragedy in many homes.  God has been good to us and is working into the next generation even now.  Our children are now the third generation, and we look forward to those who will follow God's call in this next generation.

At the same time, everyone should not be a missionary or a pastor.  Being a child of God, through salvation in Christ, is the highest calling.  What we trust God to do with our lives from then on is according to His will.  Being God's child is what is important, and in our case we are just as proud of the strong Christian laymen in our immediate family as we are of all of you who have felt led of God to go to other countries with the Gospel.  We may not live to see what God will do with our grandchildren and great grandchildren, but our prayer for them all is that they will know Christ and follow where God leads them.