Matthew 35: 37-40 Then the righteous will answer him, Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? The king will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did for me.
All of us have probably asked ourselves why we do what we do each day. What is our purpose? Recently Ken and I were blessed with the opportunity to spend some time with a young Haitian man, Deismy, the field director for Homes for Haiti. He asked us to join him on a Sunday afternoon while he visited the homes of people who were candidates for a new home. His purpose was to have prayer with each of them so that they knew this wasn't just about getting a home, but it was about showing each person that he loved and cared for them because of the love of Christ Jesus. As we entered the first home which was made of sticks and mud, I saw Angeline, the young girl that he wanted to pray with. She is 14 years old, weighs about 40 pounds, is blind, and is laying in a bed which is the only piece of furniture in the one room hut. She reaches out to take each of our hands as we pray. She wants to touch us and have us touch her just to know that someone cares. As we are leaving, a young man comes up and asks us to pray for his little brother who is hydrocephalic. We stop and pray with him before moving on to the next house on the list to be replaced. This woman has 7 children in one small room and no husband. The water source is a hole with a tire around it and a bucket. The toilet is a hole in the ground. The next place is an elderly woman that drops to her knees on the dirt to pray with us. One wall of her mud hut washed completely away in the last rain. Deismy says there are so many needs and it's so difficult to choose, but he prays that God will give him wisdom to make the right choices. I am struck by the number of times I have been in Haiti on a work team and never taken the time to go into the community to pray with anyone. Often we are so task oriented and we are so proud of what we accomplish, we miss the relationships. We don't see the people or take time to humbly enter their lives to show Christ's love. The next day when he returned from bible study, Deismy asked us to pray for him that he will be humble before God and not prideful. This young man embraced the neediest people the day before and poured his heart out in prayer. I have to ask myself, what will the King say to me?
Note: Homes for Haiti begins their first home this month. For more information see web site.
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