Dr. Paul Farmer died this week, and many people made note of this in the media. He was a physician who did extraordinary work amongst the poor and suffering of the world in Haiti and Rwanda amongst other places. Once when he was asked by one of his admirers what had kept him in global health when so many people had become disillusioned or burned out, his answer was "Doing hard things with friends". I found that moving and inspiring. This month we are going to reflect on the concept of 'ministry' at Two Rivers. A definition of ministry is 'to serve, or attend to the needs of others'. Those are hard things to do, and the practice has fallen on hard times as we are more obsessed with our own needs, wants, desires, rights, and opinions than ever before. It seems to me that a defining mark of a healthy church is its willingness to do ministry together, or perhaps as Paul Farmer described it - do hard things with friends. Come and join in our conversations about these matters. GS