Jesus touched the lepers
Tonight was harder for me. We went to Agua Panela, the homeless ministry that the church does every Wednesday night. We’ve gone with them every time they’ve gone while we have been here but tonight was harder for some reason. I think it was because I knew that this was my last night to get to do this ministry. The church brings bread and sugar water to the homeless on the streets and invites them to the shelter every night and the homeless church service on Saturday nights, as well as the drug and alcohol recovery program. Most of the men and women on the streets here are addicted to either drugs or alcohol or both. I’ve never been in an environment like this before, surrounded by people rummaging through trash, or so strung out on drugs that they can hardly see you.
I so love the heart of any of the people that go to this ministry who have graduated from the drug and alcohol program. They have no boundaries with the homeless, they just walk right up, shake hands with the man or woman, ask their name and start carrying on a conversation, as normal as can be. They treat them as human beings, instead of less than human as some people do. They look them in the eyes and hear whatever they want to talk about. Mainly I love their love for these people.
Tonight I walked around with one of the guys who has been graduated from the program for 6 months. He’s only 16 years old now, which means he was 14 when he started the program. It’s heartbreaking to think about one so young having to enter a program for recovery in the first place but unfortunately it’s far too common. He’s amazing though, I love him. He had such love for the men and woman that we talked to tonight and he shared Christ to those who would listen. My favorite thing was how he acted so natural around these guys, so open and as if they were long lost friends.
I took my cue from him and really saw the people we were talking to. I reached out my hand and shook hands with these men as we introduced ourselves. Was I thinking about the germs and dirt and the filth that was all over their hands? Yes. Was I thinking about the fact that some of them had to switch whatever they were smoking into their other hand just so they could shake my hand? Yes. Why do it then, you may ask? Because Jesus, when He was ministering on this earth, went towards the outcast and shunned in their community. He touched the untouchables, those that others were afraid of and shied away from. He touched the lepers.
It’s so important, when showing these people the love of Christ, that you love them enough to treat them as humans, just like anybody else. It’s important to break that touch barrier in healthy, beneficial ways. I feel like this is one of the best ways to show them Christ’s love.
Tonight, while we were there and as we were leaving, I just kept thinking how much Jesus loves these people and how He made them and values them and how much I loved these men and women. They are so precious to me. There is so much value and potential and freedom that can be lived in their lives. I look at them and I see someone so special and loved. It was truly hard to leave and know that I would never see them again. I don’t want to forget them. I don’t want to forget the importance of doing things that go contrary to what you normally would think was ok. I don’t want to forget to see the people around me as God’s creations and as valuable, despite what they are messed up in at the moment. I don’t want to forget that Jesus touched the lepers. And as a follower of Christ, so should I.
