The text describes love itself...
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The text describes love itself as the very image of God present in God's people. This love is love that is proactive love full of initiative. There was once a student named Clayton at Rancho Esperanza (Hope Ranch) in Campinas, Brazil. Rancho Esperanza is operated by Hope Unlimited, a mission project devoted to the rescue of street children in that country. During the 1980s, it came to the attention of many in the United States that Brazil was dealing with somewhere between one and two million homeless street children. The children had become so numerous that off-duty police officers were being paid bounties to eliminate them. Since space was limited in the school, not all children could be admitted and hard choices had to be made.
Clayton was able to find a space, but at the time he was admitted there was not yet room for any girls and his two sisters remained in Sao Paulo. He was remarkably diligent in school, learned English, and completed the program with distinction. When graduation arrived, opportunities to attend technical school became available, but Clayton, concerned about his missing sisters, married, got a job and went to search for them. It took almost a year, but he rediscovered his sisters, adopted them, and brought them into his own home to rear. It is this sort of relentless love that reflects the image of God's own love for humanity.
Clayton was able to find a space, but at the time he was admitted there was not yet room for any girls and his two sisters remained in Sao Paulo. He was remarkably diligent in school, learned English, and completed the program with distinction. When graduation arrived, opportunities to attend technical school became available, but Clayton, concerned about his missing sisters, married, got a job and went to search for them. It took almost a year, but he rediscovered his sisters, adopted them, and brought them into his own home to rear. It is this sort of relentless love that reflects the image of God's own love for humanity.
