Feed My People

My people are hungry.

          This is
what the Lord has been laying on my heart ever since arriving in Kenya.  I look around as I walk the impoverished
streets, and I see hunger, physical hunger, in people.  This is shown to me through street children
running up to me, asking me to spare 5 shillings (6 cents) to feed their little
mouths, through the men and women laying in hospital beds, ailing from
debilitating diseases.  I see a physical
hunger.

But more than this, way more than this, I see a spiritual
hunger.

In all people, I see hunger, a desire to be fulfilled,
happy, successful and satisfied.  In the
States, this hunger is often quieted by temporary “food�, whether it be through
relationships, money, alcohol, popularity, success etc… .  People feel fullness through these outlets,
but it’s always fleeting, leaving them wanting more.  They don’t see that what they are actually
nourishing their soul with is junk.  It
would be like eating Big Macs and Ice Cream every day.  It may be easily accessible, taste good as
you are eating it, but it definitely will not sustain you.  After a while, the effects of eating this
garbage will show and it will be harder and harder to climb your way out of the
debris. 

                “On the right they will devour, but still be hungry; on the
left they will eat but not be satisfied� Isaiah 9:20

Feed My people.

I have the ability to feed these people.  Tangibly yes, as much as I am able, as I
recognize this is necessary and essential to following in the ways of
Jesus. 

                “For I
was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes
and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you
came to visit me.� Matthew 25:35-36

                “What
good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save him?  Suppose a brother or sister is without
clothes and daily food.  If one of you
says to him, “Go, I wish you well, keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about
his physical needs, what good is it?  In
the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.�
James 2:14-17

This is necessary, I so strongly believe it.  But infinitely bigger than this, I have the
ability to give these people the bread of life, nourishment for their souls a
sustaining feast of truth. 

Jesus is the Sustainer. 
I promise you, He WILL sustain you. 
Through Him, we are promised life and life to the full! His Spirit
provides lasting fullness; He fills the spaces in our hearts that in all other
circumstances are always left feeling dry and empty.

  The Jesus declared,

                 “I
am the bread of life.  He who comes to me
will never go hungry and he who believes in me will never go thirsty.� John
6:35

                  “Do not work for food
that spoils but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of man
will give you.� John 6:27

In Kenya, I see this hunger in
people more tangibly.  While there are,
of course, numerous channels through which the people attempt to sustain
themselves, it is not as masked as it is in the U.S. .  There are fewer distractions as people just
do not have as much.  This thought in
itself challenges me to consider who is more blessed, us or them.  But that’s for another blog entry. 

  I see
people’s hunger for truth, as I am welcomed in, no questions asked, to a
stranger’s home to share my faith with them, through being allowed to walk
throughout the hospital, praying healing over the sick, family members
incessantly thanking me, through seeing understanding and longing in beautiful
Kenyan eyes as I explain the truth of the Gospel. 

 People
being physically hungry pains me.  My
heart breaks every time I see it present in a child I hug, in a woman I greet
or a man I acknowledge.  It hurts.  Over the past few years the Lord has been
teaching me to channel that righteous anger into passion for change. 

            “Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my
faith by what I do� James 2:18

But God has been filling my heart with anguish for those who
are spiritually hungry.  Anguish. The kind of pain that twists
your insides until everything is bound up and hurts like nothing you have ever
experienced.  I desire for these people
to know Jesus.  I desire for them to be
satisfied every single day of their life; to experience freedom. I desire for them to eat from the bread of life and never
go hungry again.  I desire this for
them.  I desire this for you.

God keeps telling me to feed
His people.

                So I
will.