Extinction. Orphans. HIV. Starvation.
These words are rarely reality to most of Western
civilization, yet they are scrolling through my mind. These four foreign words
seem to be just that. A Foreign problem. Where they were formerly foreign, they
are now a reality that surrounds me.
Swaziland
is a country in need. In need of Life, Family, Hope. A peaceful people, I
sometimes forget the current status without natives around me, screaming in my
face the things they are facing…”MY CHILD WILL GO TO SLEEP HUNGRY,” “MY BROTHER
IS DYING AND LEAVING HIS ORPHANS TO ME, A WIDOW” “I AM THE LAST ADULT IN MY
HOMESTEAD,” “WHY’D MY PARENTS DIE,” “IT”S NOT RIGHT FOR MY 7 Year old TO BE
RAISING MY NEWBORN,” “I WANT HELP BUT DON’T KNOW WHO CAN HELP.” “WHAT’S HOPE?”
Easy to forget those who are peaceful, asking God to keep my
heart soft and sensitive to the compassion He has for these people is a
constant plea.
While health care and education are vital, there is nothing
that replaces sharing the hope that is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 25:35-36 “For I was hungry and you gave me something
to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and
you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you
looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
John 6:35 “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He
who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be
thirsty.”
The gospel is wholistic and realistic in that it addresses physical
as well as spiritual neediness. While the need for Christ surpasses the need
for food, it’s important for me to remember that Christ had compassion on the
physically poor.
