What do you say to an elderly woman who has three children who are mentally challenged adults and her husband died about 3 years ago?
This woman I met lives in "Tent City" here in the Philippines (I explained "Tent City" in my previous blog "Dumped into nothing").
She told me that she has no one to take care of her.
Her sons cannot take care of themselves let alone take care of her.
She has no husband. She has no job. She has no teeth. She has nothing.
I prayed with her. I thanked God for her life. I thanked God for giving her and the world her 3 children who are gifts and are dearly loved by Him. I prayed that she would put her hope in Jesus and not of the things of this world. I prayed that she would know that God has not forgotten about her and is taking care of her. I prayed blessings over her and her family.
After praying, she shed a few tears and I hugged her telling her how much Jesus loved her. I reminded her to put her hope in Jesus. Because this life here will pass away. I told her "all of this (I acknowleded our surroundings) will be gone. When we die we no longer have to worry about where we will live or what we will eat. We need to be sure that our hope is in JESUS that we will be with Him in His glory for eternity". She said "yes, that's what I'm doing".
Throughout our entire conversation, I just kept telling her how beautiful she was, or that she was "maganda", and I kept hugging her saying that I loved her.
Her face lit up as she giggled and smiled that beautiful "teeth-less" smile.
In the car ride back to our main ministry site, my heart felt heavy. That overwhelming feeling of compassion and sadness. That feeling of knowing that when you leave, it doesn't all just go away. Those people still live their lives there.
At the end of the day, I was able to reflect. This was the outcome…
I cannot feed every hungry child or person I come in contact with.
I cannot give money to every poor person I see.
I cannot change people's living conditions.
I wish I could do these things, but I just can't.
But what I realized is that what I can give them is far better than anything they could ever need.
I can give them a message.
A message of hope in Jesus!
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can NEVER perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls”. (1Peter 1:3-9)
