Most Thursdays, Anne Marie and I have dinner with a friend from church, Molly. Over the last few years, she has slowly become visually impaired. While the experience has been challenging and often frustrating for her, she continues to trust God. On Tuesday afternoons, Anne Marie visits Molly and often helps her with tasks she can’t do alone due to fading sight. Sometimes they sort mail, run errands or manage paperwork.

In helping Molly, we learned about Lighthouse Central Florida, an agency that provides aid, instructions and equipment that help people who are facing vision loss.

Recently, I was surprised to see that Lighthouse Central Florida played a significant part in our team’s last planned Cru Storylines article. That article focuses on two Cru staff members, John and Lorna, who have each been helped by the organization.

Over several years, we’ve seen John making his way around the Cru office using a white cane. The section of the article about John shows what he’s learned over the years. But the other part of the article is about Lorna who is just learning how to manage life with fading sight.

Back in 2018, we produced an article called “Pursuing Success On and Off the Field” that featured Lorna, a former Olympic-level hurdler. She was serving as a volunteer track coach at a local high school and sharing the gospel with students. No longer able to coach, she’s finding ministry opportunities that she can still take part in.

Soon, our new article, “Losing Sight: God’s Presence Despite Descending Darkness,” will share their stories. And we trust it will offer hope to people like Molly.

As you think of my work, please pray this article will be completed soon and that it will offer hope of God’s faithfulness to those who are facing any type of disability. Please also continue to pray for Anne Marie’s battle with an autoimmune disease. Her symptoms are returning.

Sincerely in Christ, — Mark

P.S. During our Cru25 staff conference, I learned about some alternative methods of generosity that Anne Marie and I are investigating for ourselves. You might find them useful to make the most of your giving — not just to Cru, but also to your local church and other ministries. They include:

    •    Stock Gifts – allowing you to avoid capital gains taxes.
    •    Donor Advised Fund – that streamline your giving with tax efficiency.
    •    IRA Giving (age 70½+) – which can reduce taxable income while advancing the gospel.
    •    Income-Generating Gifts — a source of revenue, with tax benefits that also supports generosity.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at mark.winz@cru.org or check out the links above.