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We see so many appeals in magazines and on television for many causes both at home and in other countries that we can get overwhelmed! For years I saw those pictures of starving children or children with cleft palates that I pushed them away and went on to something else. Am I alone? But if you had a child with cleft palate you might put that at the top of your list.
I saw many in need when I served as a missionary in Nepal. If I gave a rupee to each one, I would go broke! Then one day I had one of those firsthand experiences that changed my life.
We had a Bible study every morning in the place I was staying in Nepal. The man who ran the place, Doctor Matern, often brought patients home with him to stay in one of our vacant rooms. One day he brought a father and his starving three-year-old child to stay until the child had recovered enough to go home. They did not speak English, but attended our study anyway. The father, Ganeshwar, sat holding his son, Ranget, in his lap. He was sitting just a foot or two from me. The little fellow kept crying "Ama! Ama!" He was crying for his mother who was home with his siblings. Father cuddled the boy to keep him warm, as it was winter and there was no central heat. All our hearts went out to Ranget and his dad, who had stopped working to take care of him though he couldn't really afford to quit work, but out of love for his child he made the sacrifice.
I glanced over and saw a magazine with one of those pictures I had pushed aside for many years, but here was a real-life case so close I could reach out and touch his head. I even shed a tear. I knew I would never be the same.
Even though the father could understand nothing, he felt the love of those around him. When Ranget had recovered enough to go home, his father told the villagers about that love. I sent one of my seminary students up to tell them about the love of Jesus. In a short time that whole village near the Tibetan boarder had become Christian!
Except for my experience in Nepal, I might have gone on being a goat on Jesus' left hand. You can read about this and more life-changing experiences in my book In the Shadow of Everest.
Look around and see those in need right in your city. Every city has needy. When I served a church in downtown Dayton, they knocked on the church door for help every week. If you open your eyes, you will see them -- even in a magazine! So be a sheep this New Year! Let that be your resolution!
I saw many in need when I served as a missionary in Nepal. If I gave a rupee to each one, I would go broke! Then one day I had one of those firsthand experiences that changed my life.
We had a Bible study every morning in the place I was staying in Nepal. The man who ran the place, Doctor Matern, often brought patients home with him to stay in one of our vacant rooms. One day he brought a father and his starving three-year-old child to stay until the child had recovered enough to go home. They did not speak English, but attended our study anyway. The father, Ganeshwar, sat holding his son, Ranget, in his lap. He was sitting just a foot or two from me. The little fellow kept crying "Ama! Ama!" He was crying for his mother who was home with his siblings. Father cuddled the boy to keep him warm, as it was winter and there was no central heat. All our hearts went out to Ranget and his dad, who had stopped working to take care of him though he couldn't really afford to quit work, but out of love for his child he made the sacrifice.
I glanced over and saw a magazine with one of those pictures I had pushed aside for many years, but here was a real-life case so close I could reach out and touch his head. I even shed a tear. I knew I would never be the same.
Even though the father could understand nothing, he felt the love of those around him. When Ranget had recovered enough to go home, his father told the villagers about that love. I sent one of my seminary students up to tell them about the love of Jesus. In a short time that whole village near the Tibetan boarder had become Christian!
Except for my experience in Nepal, I might have gone on being a goat on Jesus' left hand. You can read about this and more life-changing experiences in my book In the Shadow of Everest.
Look around and see those in need right in your city. Every city has needy. When I served a church in downtown Dayton, they knocked on the church door for help every week. If you open your eyes, you will see them -- even in a magazine! So be a sheep this New Year! Let that be your resolution!
