Legacy is an exciting concept; it speaks about inheritance, money, heritage, donations, and much more! But every time I think about the word legacy my mind races back to when I was a young man, living onboard the Mission Ship Logos 2 where I was challenged to think about my purpose here on this earth and what I would like to leave behind. I can still remember the inspirational words from the preacher challenging, in proper OM manner (Operation Mobilisation), to leave everything behind and follow the Cross of Christ to reach as many with the Good News of the Gospel.

I can humbly say that the Lord has been faithful and good. When I decided to leave everything behind and follow Christ, he promised me that I would have mothers, fathers, and sisters who will be my family.

I have experienced the love of godly servants of God who have loved me as a son, and some of them still are my fathers and mothers in the Lord. That is the eternal legacy of God’s Word.

The Lord has blessed us with an amazing family, we have been adopted into this nation, and we have made our home here among you, our family. Our family heritage is as important as our natural families; what bonds us together is Christ.

Even though I have reached half of a century, I am still challenged by those words that I heard as a young Christian. I am still dreaming, and I am still envisioning, I am still motivated to know I can leave a good legacy. This week as a nation, we were saddened of Captain Sir Tom Moore’s passing, his legacy will leave on, and this nation will remember him for many generations to come. At the age of 99, he had a vision, a dream, to walk the length of his garden to raise £1000 by his 100 birthday and donate the funds to our National Health Service charities. That was his vision, to walk the length of his garden, which he did for 24 days. Captain Sir Tom Moore was a visionary, and his mission was to raise £1000 with every step he took and now that amount stands for over £30 million.

This week my dad turned 81, my sisters organised a small family gathering following the Chilean Covid regulations’ guidelines. I was able to join them by a video call, they were having lunch in the garden under the hot sun of the Chilean summer and I was here in Ballynahinch!!:). On the day of his birthday, I prayed for my dad and said to God how thankful we are for his family’s fantastic legacy. On that day, my Bible reading was this:

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree; they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green,

proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

(Psalm 92:12–15 NIV11-GKE)

Captain Sir Tom Moore left us with a fantastic legacy, and if you are my dad’s age, even older, or if you are middle age or younger, God’s words tell us that we can still dream, we can still bear fruit in old age, that we can still enjoy  and stay fresh and green. I know that my dad’s mission on this earth is not over, and he knows that too. Today, I want to encourage you to pray like you have not done before, to live our lives dreaming with God and what He can do with you. I pray that you will be refreshed, like a tree planted in the courts of our God.

Rev. Dario Leal

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