I met a man who calls the streets of Kuala Lumpur home.
I met a man who sits on the corner right outside of my hostel, holding a cup in his disfigured hand.
I met a man who owns nothing but a couple of t-shirts, some shampoo, and a bag for his spare change.
I met a man who I am proud to call “friend.”
When I look at the scars on his arms, I see the second chance that our Father gave him.
When I see the smile on his face as we walk up to him on the corner, I know that the Lord has something good for him.
Rajan is a 30 year old man whose life was drastically changed 8 years ago. After being in a tragic motorbike accident, mistaken for dead and put in a body bag, he has been given a second chance at life. He was in a coma for six months, his hands are almost useless, and his arms are pieced together with more steel than I could imagine.
To me, it seems as if God took leaps and bounds to keep this man alive.
But, in reality God is orchestrating a plan for Rajan that is greater than I could ever imagine.
This month, it wasn’t unusual for us to be hanging out with Rajan on the street, laughing at his jokes, and just talking about life.
Today was different.
While a few of us were hanging out with Rajan, a man on a motorbike pulled up on the sidewalk and started yelling degrading things to and about our sweet friend. This man was telling us that we had no business sitting with Rajan, and that all he wanted from us was our money. My heart broke as I listened to my soft-spoken friend scream at this man who had just treated him so unfairly.
Anger welled up inside of me when I watched Rajan walk off and slam his arm into a telephone booth.
We saw the man on the motorbike when we were walking back to our hostel and Aly wanted to stop and talk to him. I listened to that man tell Aly that we didn’t need be talking to people on the streets, and as she kindly explained to him that the reason we’re here is to love people and build relationship, he responded with: “But, you don’t need to have a friendship with him.”
Why? Why shouldn’t I love a homeless man?
Jesus ate with tax collectors, gave strength to the weak, and called on sinners to raise them up into righteousness.
Jesus was a perfect man who showed no judgment to these people who, to the world, were worth nothing more than dirt.
As Aly was telling me to calm down while I was yelling to this man that he had no right to say these things about Rajan, I was trying to make sense of why he would make those judgments in the first place. I still can’t understand why someone would form such a harsh opinion about someone that you don’t even know, but I can tell you this: because of the injustice that man presented today, we were able to show a man who has no one to love that he is treasured. Not only were we able to show him how much we love him, but he got to see that Christ cares about him infinitely more than we do.
I count it as a blessing that a random man’s ignorance gave God so much glory today.
It was incredible to see how Satan tried to swoop in and rob Rajan’s joy while God was already prepared to intervene with his love and truth.
I don’t know what the Lord has planned for Rajan, but I know that if He can save his physical body from an accident that he should have died in then He can lead him towards the path of salvation.
Our God is bigger than deformed hands, degrading strangers, and life on the streets.
Praise Him!
