They exist in every city.
Every country.
The untouchables.
Those that are walked past day after day as if they don’t exist. They might be homeless, disabled, or poor, but it seems as if we all can wear some magical pair of glasses that allows us to look right through them as if they were just a wisp of air.
Last week I sat on a beach in the Dominican Republic spending time with my squad before we were all sent out to our ministry sites when a few of us saw Pepe. Very slowly he propelled himself forward through the sand.
Unable to stand, he used his hands and feet to move himself along; even though they were as twisted as the roots of an old weathered tree.
My teammate Rachel felt immediately we should go pray for him and we set out across this tourist beach to the man that apparently no one could see.
He had stopped to rest in the sand as we knelt down to look him in the eye and speak to him. One of the girls spoke Spanish and we quickly came to realize that in addition to his physical challenges, he had a mental disability. One of the first questions asked was, “Do you feel God’s love?” He quickly responded no as we began to pray for him.
If I were to tell you that it was easy to just take in that situation I would be lying. HE is the lost, the last, the least of these that Jesus tells us about. He wanders this beach begging while people ignore his cries as they sip their drinks and play in the surf. They can walk away, he can’t.
I prayed with a fervor that day that I barely recognized. I wanted that man to get up and walk with every fiber of my being, but when we were done praying there was no instantaneous healing… but he asked us to pick him up none the less.
There he STOOD.
With our arms holding him up, he was able to look directly into the eyes of those who walk past. It was in this moment that a miracle DID occur.
“Do you feel God’s love now?”
“YES.”
Who knows the last time that man was touched in a loving way? When was he last held in the arms of someone out of compassion and love? Far too long would be my guess.
Jesus met Pepe on the beach that day in a beautiful way. Some would say miracles don’t happen anymore. I would say they’re wrong.
A miracle occurred in our hands and words as a bit of heaven touched earth through LOVE.
