I am currently on month nine of the longest, hardest, most beautiful eleven-month journey I’ve ever taken. Number nine on the list of countries is Tanzania, the last of our African countries. We are living with a Pastor and his family who have cleared out of their rooms and beds so that we could be comfortable for the month. I wonder if any family in America would do this, not to mention that they all pitch in to cook for us, clean for us, and even do our laundry. They won’t accept any help even when we beg.
For ministry this month, we have a very light load. We started the month with a few 4-hour revival church meetings, and since then we’ve been speaking at women’s’ groups or prayer meetings and sharing whatever the Lord lays on our hearts. We’ve also been attending the 8am-2pm church services on Sundays. But, in between the ministry there is a lot of downtime. Which, although I find myself going a little stir crazy some days, has come at a perfect time.
After eight full months away from home, constantly changing countries and cultures, sleeping in new beds (if there even is a bed!), taking bucket showers, switching teams, 15-hour bus ride on dirt roads with live chickens, and many, many other things a restful month to reflect is exactly what the doctor ordered.
So, the past two weeks have been FULL of journaling, conversations, reading, and praying. I have truly gotten a chance to process the changes God has grown in me, the heart-wrenching things I’ve seen, the people I have met along the way, the teammates family I will miss being with 24/7, and everything else! This month has been a chance to breathe. It has been the best refresher.
But today, God reminded me that I’m not done. For ministry, we went with our Pastor to the local, government hospital to pray for patients. I really had no idea what to expect. I knew that it was silly to expect America, but what I encountered blew my mind.
We entered the hospital during visiting hours (which is when all the patients’ family members come to the hospital to feed, bathe, and care for the patients since the hospital only provides “medical care”, and I use those words lightly). We split into teams of two and each pair, along with a translator, took a room.
To describe the scenery, each room contains about twelve twin beds. Also, it is not rare for two patients (complete strangers) to share a bed, along with each patient’s three family members who are visiting. The illness we saw in one room ranged from stomach pains and paralysis to HIV and severe burns from the hips down. One of the pairs even prayed for a man with leprosy who was missing his foot and the flesh-eating virus was visibly working its way up the man’s leg.
At one point, we came across a man who out-stretched his arm to us from his bed. We shook the hand of this man who couldn’t have weighed more than 100 pounds. He was an older man and looked on the verge of death. Through our translators we learned that the man was brought to the hospital earlier that day. He couldn’t remember who brought him there. He has no family (which means he has not been fed all day) and is HIV positive.
We prayed for the man and asked God to heal him. We asked God to show this man who He is and that He loves him very much. After we finished praying, our translators turned to pray for the next man. But, my heart stayed with this sick and alone man with no family who was slowly starving to death. I asked the translator if we could buy the man some food and bring it back to him. She said there would not be enough time and we needed to pray for the rest of the men.
All I could remember was I John 3:16/18 “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need and has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person… Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” What a convicting passage! We are called to love strangers as our brothers and sisters. We are to love them financially, spiritually, physically, and emotionally, as we would want to be loved.
And I know I wouldn’t EVER leave one of my sisters sick in a shared hospital bed with no food in Tanzania. Never. I would spend whatever necessary to make them comfortable. I would pay no attention to how much it cost. I would pay no attention to the time I spent sitting with them. This is the love and devotion we are to show our brothers and sisters in Christ, whether we know them or not.
Yes, I believe God can heal anyone according to His will. And yes, I believe God is bigger than any medicine or operation. But I also believe the Bible says, “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes or daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace: keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” in James 2:16. We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We are called to love as Christ loved us, without reservation and selflessly.
There are orphans and sick people and widows in every neighborhood. There are lonely people in every neighborhood. They are our responsibility. The Bible also says that to whom much is given, much is expected. The fact that we are a blessed country is not simply a fact; it is a responsibility. Our financial position is a God-given resource intended for loving our neighbor. Are you doing that with the gifts God has given you? Are you using the free time God has given you to love your brothers and sisters? I definitely wasn’t before leaving on this trip.
Lord, I pray the convictions you have laid on my heart tonight will be engraved in my soul. I pray that I will use my resources of time, money, and love to serve my brothers and sisters. I pray that I will live my life selflessly with a passion for loving people. Please continue to convict my heart.
