Wake Up Call

I love Jesus Christ and seek daily to understand His plan for me. I seek to understand His heart and how I can respond to the life saving sacrifice He made on my behalf. It has not always been clear to me and it has certainly not always been easy, but I work at it.  One thing is clear; I was not saved so I could withdraw from the painful corners of the world to live a comfortable life of Grace and Salvation, while avoiding the pain and suffering of others by turning a blind eye to their plight.  James 2:15-16 makes it clear if I see my brothers and sisters in need, I’m to do something about it;

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

My problem was understanding the definition of “needs” and how I’m supposed to meet them. First, I needed to define what needs meant to me, and second, what to do about it?

In my world, “needs” was represented by poverty and doing something represented ending it. The problem with this view is that it was impossible for me to end poverty which lead me to inaction. To make peace with myself over my lack of action, I did the manly thing – I rationalized; poverty affects an incomprehensible amount of people I would never meet, living in conditions I would never encounter, with problems I could never solve. Why place tiny drops of help in a sea of need so vast that they surely could not be felt? There was nothing I could possibly do to make a difference, so that is exactly what I did – nothing.

Until April 1, 2007. I was sitting in the pews (we use chairs now) at church, minding my own business as our pastor delivered the message that WE are the hope and the light for those who live in poverty. We are God’s plan A, there is no plan B. As I was contemplating (read becoming restless in my chair) the WE statement, God gave me the spiritual equivalent of a wake up call. It was Compassion Sunday and it seemed like the right thing to do in response to my wake up call was to prayerfully consider child sponsorship through the ministry of Compassion International. What an odd thing God asked me to do. Sponsor a child.

I had little interest in poverty and even less in kids. I had recently retired from my own company, and not wanting to squander the gift of time, I had been praying for God to reveal His plan for my life. I found it strangely uncomfortable that He may be unfolding a plan which somehow included poverty and children. 

Tamirat

That day, I sponsored six-year-old Tamirat Samuel of Ethiopia and my life was forever changed. Since that time my wife (who has been a child sponsor for six years) and I have sponsored ten more children, an LDP student and have become volunteer Compassion Child Advocates.

Fast forward to yesterday when I returned from a week- long trip to the Dominican Republic, where I was immeasurably blessed by meeting Ricardo and Abel, two of our sponsored children. The connection was immediate – we loved each other. I had in my arms what was once just the photo of a kid in a child packet. As the tears streamed down my cheeks, I realized God’s plan for my life. A plan He divinely delivered to me on a 30″ x 60″ folding plastic table. 

Have you had your wake up call?

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Next month, we will visit Roxanna in El Salvador and God will transform one more child packet photo into a living, loving member of our family.