Yesterday I felt deep, raw pain.
I hadn’t actually gotten to the point where I wanted to go home until we were walking through the market and a young crippled man was dragging himself through the streets in front of us. My heart immediately broke for this man who was living a life so full of pain and heartache that I couldn’t even begin to comprehend. His legs were completely useless, positioned in the splits as one rested beneath his chest in front of him on a flat dolly and the other dragged behind him as he used his arms to pull himself through the streets while pushing along a metal pail he was using to beg for money. He wore a sign on his back and the most awful sounding music/speech played from a speaker tucked beneath him.
In that moment all I wanted to do was crumple to the ground and weep for the amount of pain I felt for this man. What could we do for him? What could possibly help his situation. Adam (my incredible teammate) felt what I was feeling and bravely stepped out and acted on it. He approached this man, bending down to ask if he could pray for him, but not understanding what Adam was trying to do, the man kept pushing himself through the crowd. What are we supposed to do now? With heavy hearts we kept walking. As he passed by us for the second time I knew we absolutely had to do something. I knew I couldn’t live with myself if we didn’t give it all we had.
During the entire amount of time that we were around him, I saw only 1 person stop to drop a couple of coins in his bucket. Should I give him money? If I do, will someone just reach down and take what little I had to offer out of his bucket and take it for themselves? I continued to ask the Lord how we could help this man who was probably no older than myself. In that moment I felt God’s still small voice in my soul. If we bought him a bottle of water, we could at least show him that we cared. And so we did. As our team walked back to him, the water was exactly what we needed for an open door. We were able to show him the love of Jesus through our kindness and we were also able to use the opportunity to pray for him. Right in the middle of the streets of China(where it’s supposedly illegal), our team stepped out in complete boldness and prayed for a man so broken and alone and so in need of Jesus. My prayers for this man were that God would become evident to him in his life. I have faith that God will restore his heart and his life. Whether that will be by healing him physically so that he will someday rise up and walk or by healing him internally (emotionally).
I didn’t understand why God would allow someone to live their life like that, but with my team’s awesome support, encouragement, and incredible love for God, I have been brought to the realization that even if someone lives their entire life crippled, when they encounter Jesus, it will all be worth it. The Lord will take our pain and carry it for us if only we will allow Him to and so that is my continuous prayer for that man, that God would continue to bring Christians into his life who would lead him to the Lord’s saving grace and overwhelming presence so that he wouldn’t have to carry his burden any longer.
If you would, please join me in praying for this man every day. I don’t know his name, but God does. This is why we’re here. The miracle of the story is not that we saw a man rise up and walk(because we didn’t), but that God brought a team of 7 people, who’d never met each other before, to China, to walk through a market and cross paths with a man who desperately needed to be shown that God exists. When I first saw this man, I questioned why God would bring me half way around the world to encounter such pain. But that’s exactly why He did. So I would feel the pain that these people feel in this world and then show them that there is a God that is willing to heal their pain and carry their burdens if they would turn to Him. How will they ever know if no one ever shows them, how will they ever believe if no one ever tells them?
Though this has been an extremely challenging week, I choose to continue on with this journey because I know God brought us to this place for such a time as this.
My team is still needing financial support. I believe in what we’re doing this year and I pray that you would too. Here’s a chance for you to step out in faith and be a part of what God is using us to do all around the world:
$8,000 www.adamparker.theworldrace.org
$2,500 www.allisonlaverty.theworldrace.org
$6,000 www.brianledtke.theworldrace.org
$4,000 www.cabestandford.theworldrace.org
$3,500 www.karabryant.theworldrace.org
Visit the blogs above to support! Thank you!
