“Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when
it is in your power to help them, If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say,
Come back tomorrow, and then I will help you.” I read these words in my morning devotions on
one of the first days that I was here at Tenwek. They have haunted me ever since. These words have pushed me to respond to some
of the many, many needs that surround us here every single day. Whether it is
the mother at the door begging for food for the day, the father requesting school
funds for his eldest daughter, the orphanage director seeking funds to run his
facility, the nurse seeking to further her education, the new mom of twins
requesting funds to pay her hospital bill so she can return home to her six
other children; the list goes on and on.
But in reality there is only so much that we can do here in a short
time. However, there is much that can be
done if we join forces as Christians from around the world to help those in
desperate need. The amazing thing about
all of these requests was that they completely trusted that God would fulfill
their needs. I wish that I could always say that my faith has been that strong.
Today I went into the country, down
a bumpy road and up a very steep hill to attend a Women’s Bible Study with
about 50 women and a few pastors, some of whom had walked an hour to get there.
It was held at the home of Willis and
Marcella and their eight children, the eldest of whom has cerebral palsy and is
confined to a wheel chair. Much of what was said was in Kipsigis however;
the smiles, hugs, and greetings to me and to my church in the U.S. were easily
understood. In my feeble greetings to
all of them I assured them that I would be praying for them as would the people
in my church. Willis and Marcella are
the proud owners of a new cow which was purchased for them through the Tabitha
Ministries. This is the same group that
helped the women of my circle at First Pres purchase a cow for another friend
of mine, Richard. I want to tell the women that Richard is doing well, as are
the twins that I nurtured three years ago.
He is a superb father according to all reports! Not only that the cow is pregnant and due in a
couple of months!
And so another year at Tenwek has
passed very quickly! As expected it has been different from any
other year. It has been fulfilling but
also troubling as the needs are greater than ever. Oh, how blessed we are in the U.S. and we
have done nothing to deserve these blessings except we were born there. Please remember our sisters and brothers in
the Lord who struggle to survive each day.
“If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say, Come back tomorrow, and
then I will help you.” God help us all to live by those words. We can make a difference.
Love you all and see you soon,
Mom
Mick...between this post and Marv's thoughts, I find some tears spilling over. I always felt that if I worked for a life time I could not change India with its suffering, bias, and lack of education. But here you are, putting one foot after another, doing what you can in the moment. It is never the grand gesture, but rather people like you at Tenwek joining in a spiritual and physical chain of caring, year after year, that does make a
ReplyDeletedifference. Giving of yourselves is, I think, the greatest giving of all.....