What we fail to realize is that in many situations this type of response might not really help.  In fact, it could actually hurt the very people we are trying to help, and although this response might make us feel better, in the end, it could actually hurt us as well. How then, can we help alleviate poverty without hurting the poor and ourselves in the process? This is the question Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert address in their book, When Helping Hurts:  How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself, (Moody Publisher, Chicago, 2009).

First, we have to understand the many types of poverty. We first think of material poverty, and ignore the more devastating forms of poverty such as the poverty of self image, and the poverty of relationships with others, with God and with the rest of creation.

It is only when we understand the complicated nature of poverty that are able to see how our “band-aid approach” to alleviating material poverty often hurts the very people we are trying to help. Corbett and Fikkert do an outstanding job laying out a solid biblical and practical foundation for addressing the important issue of poverty.

This book is by far the most practical guide in print today addressing alleviating all types of poverty.  The authors walk you through the intricate and complicated issues surrounding poverty, with examples and stories that bring both clarity and conviction. The authors discuss the fundamental nature of poverty, and then identify three key issues that must be addressed in any poverty alleviation strategy: relief, rehabilitation and development. The last section of the book applies all these concepts to a set of strategies designed to alleviate material poverty through “economic development.”

Once we have determined whether relief, rehabilitation or development is our strategy, where do we start? Many times, we begin by asking, “What do you need?”  This needs-based approach, however can communicate the wrong message. Starting with a focus on needs, amounts to beginning a relationship with materially poor people by asking them, “What’s wrong with you? Or how can I fix you?”  This approach creates and confirms feelings of inferiority on their part, as well as superiority on our part.

The authors suggest an asset-based approach.  Why not begin with a focus on their strengths?  What resources do they have?  What are the assets they bring to the table?  This approach affirms people’s dignity and moves us away from our western god-complex.  It empowers them to participate in the solution, rather than being part of the problem, destined to receiving handouts.  This approach enlists and inspires local involvement, and it enhances local initiatives.  It creates a sense of self-worth, and is the basis for helping them discover, celebrate and develop God’s gifts to them.  From this position, we can better present the Gospel – God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself – a reconciliation of relationships between the individual and God, self, others and the rest of creation.

In other words, the essence of alleviating poverty is reconciling these relationships.  Everything we do therefore must focus on building relationships – helping people discover how God designed them to relate to Him, to relate to themselves, to others and to all of creation.  Here is a powerful question to ask about our efforts to alleviate poverty:  ”At the end of the day, the ultimate question for our poverty-alleviation efforts is this:  Have we worked in such a way that both we and the materially poor are closer to fulfilling our highest calling of “glorifying God and enjoying Him forever?”

I wish I had read this book many years ago, before leading dozens of short-term mission trips to Majority World countries. This book would have been a tremendous help to me when, as a young pastor, I had to respond to requests from people coming by my church asking for gas money, for help to pay the rent, or buying groceries.

Every pastor, every person planning to participate in a short-term mission project, and every missionary simply must read this book.

Reviewed by:

Dr. Larry Doyle

Changing our attitude toward immigrants is only the first step toward participating in God’s plan. For some, this first step may be the hardest one. In order to discover and follow God’s plan, we have to first accept those who do not look like us, or talk like us. Then, we need to be His messengers and agents of reconciliation to all the “nations” or people groups in our world. His purpose and plan go beyond being charitable toward the “sojourners” or “aliens” who live next door.

The next step of this immigration reform is embracing the “Great Commission,” What is the Great Commission? It is found in several places in the New Testament, and it consists of the words Jesus spoke to His followers after His resurrection, and just before His return to the Heavenly Father.  Matthew’s record is the most well known.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19, 20 ESV)

Mark and John also have similar versions, but Luke gave us the most detailed of the four. He begins with two disciples as they were headed home from Jerusalem after the Passover, and the horrible experience of Jesus’ crucifixion. They were despondent and discouraged because nothing made sense. They could not understand how Jesus death on a cross could bring about God’s Kingdom. Perhaps, they were still looking for an earthly king. The resurrected Jesus appears to them, and then to the entire group, leaving them with this command,

“And said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.“(Luke 24:46-48 ESV)

After giving them this command, He explained they would become His witnesses in “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the world.” (Acts 1:8) And, then Luke puts a huge exclamation point on everything in the second chapter of Acts where he recorded what happened after the Holy Spirit came and empowered these believers to proclaim the good news of Jesus:

“And they were amazed and astonished, saying, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?‘”(Acts 2:7, 8 ESV)

This is the heart of the gospel. God, through Jesus’ death and resurrection, made reconciliation possible for everyone. He wants everyone to come to know His Son Jesus and ultimately to experience this reconciliation.  His plan is for us to share the news of reconciliation to all those around us, regardless of their ethnicity or race. We are the ministers and messengers of God’s reconciliation!

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18, 19 ESV)

I believe it is God’s plan for us to connect with our neighbors, and to engage them with the gospel, so that they too may become followers of Jesus. As we go, we are to “make disciples of all people” wherever we find them. This is our “Great Commission.”

I have a question for each of us. Will we accept our new neighbors, love them, and share the gospel with them as Jesus commanded? Will we be the ministers and messengers of reconciliation to all the “ta enthes” of our world?

Since 1970, the United States has experienced the greatest period of immigration in its 227 year history. Some estimates say over 35 million people immigrated into this nation between 1970 and 2005. The number of immigrants in this short, thirty five-year span equals or surpasses the great immigration that occurred from 1800 to 1924.  How our churches respond to immigration will define the shape of our ministry in the coming years.  As our nation becomes more ethnically diverse, being the Body of Christ becomes more challenging than ever before.

The 35 million legal immigrants coming into the United States since 1970 have literally broken the melting pot, and created an incredible mosaic in almost every city and state in this nation.  Adjusting to these changes is not easy.  Nevertheless, as followers of Jesus, the words of the Great Commission should determine both our attitudes and our actions toward our new neighbors.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

The Greek phrase translated “all nations” (panta ta ethne) is better understood as “all people groups.”  The concept of “nations” as a geo-political theory did not exist until after the 19th century.  Jesus’ command is to make disciples of all the people groups, and to do this “as we go” into the entire world.  Today, we live in a time when the “nations” or “people groups” literally have come to us, and live next door.  We no longer have to cross over geographical or national boundaries to make disciples of all “nations.”  They are here, next door!  This is why our attitude is so critical.  How we view immigrants and how we feel about them will affect how we share Christ with them.

I am an advocate for immigration reform (a reformation of our hearts) because how we feel about our new neighbors will determine how we share Christ’s love with them, and whether or not we fulfill the Great Commission in our lifetime.

We must look deep our hearts and ask God to shed the light of His Word on those attitudes that foster fear, resentment and animosity. Instead of pontificating and judging those who look and speak differently, we should listen carefully to what God said to His people centuries ago.

“When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.  The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.“ Leviticus 19:33-34 (NASB)

Instead of speculating and passing judgment on why they are here, I suggest we give thanks for the opportunity God has given us to demonstrate His love to our new neighbors.  Rather than demand they look, cook and live as we live, why not celebrate our differences and appreciate the diversity they bring to our communities.

I confess this kind of immigration reform is difficult, especially if we have lived most of our lives in a some-what, homogeneous world.  This kind of reform takes place in the heart, and you cannot legislate a change of heart or compassion toward others.  Only God can work in our hearts to bring about change, and only a miracle of His grace and love can root out our deep-seated fear and prejudice.

When I was growing up in south central Kentucky, diversity was a black and white issue. That is no longer the case.  In city where I live today, Greensboro, NC, there are 142 different nationalities represented in our county school system.  According to the US Census report, approximately one out of every ten people in our county is foreign-born.

In light of these demographic changes, we have a choice.  We can choose to be angry because things are not like they used to be, or we can celebrate the opportunity and privilege God has given us to introduce our new neighbors to our Savior. The foreign mission field has come to us!

This is the “immigration reform” I advocate – a prayer that God will give us compassionate hearts for the “strangers” who have come to live in our midst, and to enable us to love them unconditionally as Christ loves us.

In many helicopters, there is a rotor-retaining nut that holds the main rotor to the mast. If that nut comes loose during flight, the rotors would detach from the mast and the aircraft would plunge quickly to the earth. This nut is affectionately called “the Jesus nut.”

American soldiers may have coined the term during the Vietnam War. It was the first war where large numbers of soldiers were transported by helicopters to and from battle zones. Others suggest Igor Sikorsky, a pioneer of rotor wing aircraft, and a deeply religious man, coined the term.

Regardless of the source, if the nut (more accurately a pin) were to fail in flight, the fate of the helicopter crew would be sealed.  The crew therefore, must have faith in the Jesus nut to do its intended job without failing. Real examples of Jesus nut failures are rare, because the pin is checked before every flight.

In the systems-engineering world, the phrase “Jesus nut” has come to mean any single component of a system whose failure would cause catastrophic failure of the entire system.

In life, everyone has a “Jesus nut” – something or someone, if suddenly taken away, would cause our life to crash and burn.  What holds your life together? What or who is your Jesus nut?

In Colossians 1:15-17, the Apostle Paul describes the “Jesus nut” for the universe. Speaking of Jesus Christ he says:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (NIV)

The bottom line is Jesus Christ holds all things together. Without Him, the universe would be unsustainable. Without Him, the world would not know love, compassion, forgiveness or hope. Without Him, there would be no chance for peace in the present, or any hope for the future. He is what defines creation, eternity, peace and love.

Without Jesus, the entire system would crash. According to this passage, He is not only the creator of the universe; He is also the One who sustains it. On a personal level, the writer of Hebrews says Jesus Christ is “the author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2 NASB)

While you and I may assent to this as a theological truth, do we know it as a personal reality? Do we look to Him as the One who sustains us, and more importantly do we live in total dependence on Him? Is Jesus the lynchpin, the One around whom and for whom we define our very existence? Is He the One who you rely on to keep your life together instead of spinning out of control and crashing?

If not, I urge you to turn to Him today, and make Him the center and foundation of your life – your “Jesus nut.”  More than anything else, He desires to have such a relationship with you. He is the only One who will never fail you. He has never failed and will never fail.

This commercial reminded me of how from time to time, my granddaughters created imaginary playmates. During our visits to see them in Atlanta, we often have a tea party with the girls.  The youngest, Emma-Kate loved to invite her imaginary friend to join us for those special occasions. I was always amazed at the different names she would create for her friends. Like the tea party, the imaginary friend is part of her make-believe world.

Who is God to you? Is He some kind of imaginary friend a person creates? Is belief in God something you grow out of when you get older like a childhood fantasy? How do you view God, and most importantly how do you relate to Him?

Do you wrestle with the question about what it means to pray and talk to God?  I do. Defining and explaining the experience of prayer has been difficult for me. This may sound strange coming from someone who prays daily, and has given several sermons and Bible studies on the subject.  During my formative years growing up in Kentucky, we sang an old gospel song entitled, “Just a Little Talk with Jesus.”  According to the words of this song, regardless of the problems you are experiencing, just a little talk with Jesus “makes it right.”  I always felt the theology behind this song trivialized our relationship with God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.  Prayer and conversation with the Heavenly Father for me is much more than “just a little talk with Jesus.”  However, what is it exactly? What does it mean to “pray without ceasing?” (1 Thes. 5:17)

Recently someone gave me a book that helped me define and explain what it means to live a life in constant conversation with God.  More Than Ordinary:  Enjoying Life with God, by Doug Sherman, paints a picture of what it means to “walk with God,” and enjoy life with Him.  His simple yet powerful insights about prayer and daily conversation with God are both informative and inspirational.

This is one of those books you’ll read over and over because it makes you examine and re-examine what you believe about God, and how that belief translates into daily actions and choices that honor and exalt the name of Jesus.

Many say they are followers of Jesus, but live stale, lackluster lives, moving through their daily routines, never experiencing what Jesus said in John 10:10 – “I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.”  There are also many who live in such a way that “knowing God” looks more like a child’s imaginary friend.  In other words, their talk about God, does not match how they live. Their attitudes, choices, relationships and moral values do not match what Jesus taught and lived. God is there to make them feel good, but has no claim on their lives.

One of the main reasons I recommend this book is because of its practical suggestions and insights on walking with God. After taking the first six chapters to describe what an intimate, personal relationship with God looks like, in the final three chapters, the author explores specific ways to walk by faith, worship and praise God, surrender to His leadership, and ultimately enjoy an exciting and fulfilling relationship with Him. In other words, this is a book about how to make life an adventure through a daily, intimate, relationship with God.

In the final analysis, I can say with absolute confidence, God is not my imaginary friend; He is the amazing God of glory and majesty. He is the Eternal Creator and Sustainer of the universe who is “relentless in revealing His greatness and goodness to us throughout every day.” (p. 99) He is the One who guides my life each day, with whom I enjoy an amazing friendship, and through whom life is an extraordinary adventure.

The reason this program is so popular is, at least in part, because we believe everyone deserves a place to call his or her own – a home, a place where family dreams are made, and futures are built.  Having a house or a home is more than just a luxury in our culture. It’s a place for security, protection and building life-long relationships.

Building someone a house, especially if that someone is a very deserving individual, is something that attracts attention.  Habitat for Humanity is one of the most respected non-profit organizations today.  They have built homes from literally thousands of people and inspired volunteers worldwide.

House building, an important metaphor in the writings of the Apostle Paul, describes what believers are supposed to do for each other.   The word is translated “build up” or “edify” and is used at least six times in the letter to the Ephesians.

It was a common term used to describe the actual building of a house.  Paul used it to talk about what we should do for each other.  To “build up” a brother or sister in the faith means to use words and actions that encourage, uplift and strengthen them.  Literally, we are to “build a house” for them with our love and kindness.

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”  (Ephesians 4:16 KJV)

Just as a carpenter plans well for the construction of a home by selecting the right materials, we must carefully choose our words and reactions to those around us.  In a sense, we are building houses in the way we treat each other, houses that will provide safety, security and hope. We “minister grace” through our words.

This spiritual house-building is not optional.  It is critically important for the entire body of Christ.  In Ephesians 4:12, Paul talks about the “perfecting” of the saints and the “building up” of the body of Christ.   The word “perfecting” is a rare medical term also translated as “mending.”  The building up of the church comes from the healthy mending of each member.  Later in the same chapter (v. 16), the Apostle suggests that only as every member “supplies” what they are designed to give, can the body of Christ build itself up in love and grow into the “full measure of the stature of Christ.”

What are you building through your words, and through the way you treat others? Are you building them up or tearing them down?  Do your words build healthy relationship or do they contribute to broken relationships?

I’ve been to Honduras countless times. In fact, I even lived there for a while. Almost every time I go, I bring something back with me, something that impacts my life and my ministry. This last trip was certainly no exception.

Most of the team members on my latest mission trip to Honduras had read, Radical, by David Platt. In that book, Platt describes a life-changing experience he had at the Tegucigalpa city dump. Everyone wanted me to take them there. For several reasons, I did not want to go. I had been to the city dump about five years ago, and I knew the conditions had not changed, at least not for the better. I knew we would see poverty, injustice, and human depravity at its worst. My thirteen-year-old grandson Noah was with us, and I honestly didn’t know how this would impact him. But we decided to go.  Click here to see the Tegucigalpa city dump.

Unless you’ve been there, you cannot begin to imagine this place. Nothing can prepare you for the sights and smells. To see children, young teens, and women living and working in the filth of miles and miles of garbage is simply beyond description. Locals call it the Crematoria – the best translation being, “the burning place.” It reminded me of Jesus talking about hell in Matthew 1:8. He used the Greek word geenna - the name for the valley outside of Jerusalem, where mounds of garbage burned constantly – to describe a place where the fire is never quenched.The Crematoria is much like the geenna of Jesus’ day.

At the city dump, there was smoke rising out of the trash everywhere you looked. The smoke and smell permeated everyone and everything in that place. Our bus stayed only a few minutes, then turned around, and headed back down the hill, away from what was perhaps the most depressing place in the world. As we drove down the winding road out of the dump, everyone on the bus was quiet-no words, no conversations, no questions, nothing but silence, and a lot of tears. I think they were all shocked at, and I was certainly reminded of, the stark reality of how people live in places like that.

I feel sure there are crematorias in many other places around the world – places where people live in abject poverty, where people suffer injustice, and live totally without hope of anything better. We don’t have to go to Tegucigalpa to find people living in some kind of “hell” they can’t escape. People like that are much closer than we think.

What I brought back with me to my home, to my job, and to my ministry in Greensboro was not just another memory or experience, but rather a message from the Holy Spirit that is already impacting how I work, how I live, and how I relate to others. From what I saw, smelled, and felt in the dump, the Spirit of Jesus wants me to remember that these are the people He came to die for, and these are the people He sends His Church to care for, and reach out to with His love and the good news of His mercy and grace.

In a real sense of the word, there are city dumps all around us. But, we tend to build our interstate highway systems, and our lives, so that we avoid them. Our busy schedules and commitments don’t allow us time to see them, much less interact with them. Our homeowners’ association covenants, and city building codes prohibit them from moving in next door. And, our fear of catching some strange disease, or being the victim of crime wouldn’t allow us to move to their neighborhood either. They have their world, and we have ours. And, that’s the way it is. But, I have to ask, is that the way it should be?

What I brought back with me, is a determination to find a way to break into their world – the world of the city dumps – and somehow, some way become the Good News to them. I now understand a little better what it means in John 4:4 where it says, “He had to go through Samaria.” Respected rabbis in Jesus’ day, didn’t go through Samaria, and avoided all contact with Samaritans because of racial and religious prejudice. Going through Samaria, and going into the city dumps is not what most religious leaders do today. But, if we follow Christ, we must follow Him into Samaria and beyond.

I also brought back a commitment to never again look the other way. I refuse to pretend there’s nothing I can do. I reject the temptation to blame their poverty on them, or their governments, and by doing so, excuse myself from any responsibility to act. I’m reminded of the words of William Wilberforce, the man who helped end slavery in England:

“Having heard all of this, you may choose to look the other way; but you can never again say that you did not know.”

From this trip to Honduras, I brought back a desire to look for the poor and the outcast in the city dumps, and find ways to step into their world in order to make a real difference. I want them to know my Jesus! Perhaps I’m crazy, but I’m done with living in the sterilized bubble of the American Dream. It’s time to go to Samaria!

I’ve seen the need. I’ve felt the Holy Spirit nudging me forward. I cannot look the other way. I’m ready to go where only Jesus would lead me. I wonder, how many people feel the way I do? Would you go there with me?

Larry Doyle

The Eastman Kodak Company dominated the photography market for over 100 years.  No company commercialized the camera and its associated products as successfully as Kodak.  Some of Kodak’s landmark products include the Brownie camera introduced in 1900, Kodachrome color film, hand-held movie cameras, and the easy-load instamatic camera.

Today, Kodak is only a shadow of its former self, largely due to shifting its focus away from photography to other interests.  In the late 1980s, Kodak began expanding into pharmaceuticals, memory chips, healthcare products, document management, and a host of other non-photography related fields.  During this time of diversification, photography began its transition from a film-based industry to a digital one.

But because Kodak had lost its focus, it failed to recognize the seismic shifts occurring in the photography world. It didn’t take long before Kodak, who had been a leader in their field for over a century, found themselves chasing several competitors who had aggressively embraced the digital era. Within a few short years, Kodak was unable to catch up, and unable to recapture its magic.  Kodak’s stock price today is about 97% below its peak of the mid-1990s.  Kodak is all but a relic of the past because it lost its focus. Other things, not all bad, distracted Kodak from its main purpose.

I wonder if the church isn’t suffering from the same mistakes Kodak made – failure to focus on the essentials.  Pick up any book on church growth or church planting, and you will find a list of things the church or the church planter should do to start or grow a successful church.

Many of these books are filled with great ideas based on wise leadership and organizational concepts, but at the same time, they often miss what the Bible tells churches to focus on.  Many of the books lead its readers to conclude the church should be devoted to well-planned events, solid mission statements, catchy core values, innovative media, or relevant music.  Nothing is inherently wrong with any of those things, but they are just not where the Bible instructs the church to focus.

It took Luke only a few short words to summarize what the first church was centered on: “and they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42).

We see four things the first church made a priority. The first church was devoted to the Gospel–the teaching of the apostles.  They were devoted to living together in fellowship that was a direct result of their mutual fellowship with Christ.  They were devoted to practicing Christ-ordained, cross-centered worship, including the Lord’s Supper.  They were devoted to private and corporate prayer.

We do not see the first church establishing business meetings, writing vision statements, starting special programs, doing community events, or trying to be relevant to the culture.  None of these things are bad, as long as they are peripheral and not central.  These things can become distractions if they become the church’s focus.

Like Kodak’s fateful diversification, the church’s failure to devote themselves to the four things the apostles and the first church devoted themselves to, can distract us from our Acts 1:8 mission to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

God does not need the church in America with all its innovations. God needs simple churches focused on His Word. Churches are springing up all around the globe, many under severe persecution. These churches are not distracted by programs and man-made philosophies, but are following the footsteps of the early church.  These churches may not boast huge buildings and multimillion-dollar budgets.  They may not make Outreach Magazine’s list of “most innovative churches,” and they may not have satellite campuses broadcasting their pastor to tens of thousands.  But what they do have is an Acts 2:42 focus, and that’s all they need.  These are the churches God will use to truly change the world.

Steve Doyle, pastor

Harbins Community Baptist Church

Dacula, GA

At the lowest point in his life, Elijah needed a word from God. In spite of his awesome victory over the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, and the revelation of God’s power in answer to his prayer for rain to end the seven-year drought, Elijah sank into a dark hole of depression and self-pity.   Feeling alone and worthless, he wanted to die. At that moment, God’s word came to him through the angel who said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” (1 Kings 19:7)

What journey? Where was the Prophet going? His destination was a cave on Mount Horeb – the place where he finally heard a “still small voice” calling him back into service, and back to the place where God would use him again. These words served as the Prophet’s wake up call! God provided exactly what he needed at that moment in his journey.

The Bible is full of stories of great men and women who have experienced something similar to what Elijah experienced.   For example, Moses was on a course of certain burnout, when God provided a wise father-in-law by the name of Jethro. After seeing Moses attending to the needs of the people day after day, Jethro said, “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.” Moses heeded his advice and set up a system of leadership to take care of the needs of the Israelites. (Exodus 18:13-27)

Simon Peter, the great Apostle of the early Church, needed something a little different when his journey was in danger of taking a wrong turn. After leading the Church to accept and welcome non-Jewish believers, and after standing firm against racial and religious prejudice, he caved in to the pressures of his peers by refusing to eat with the Gentiles. A younger and less experienced leader in the church by the name of Paul called him out. Boldly and courageously, Paul confronted Peter with his hypocrisy. (Galatians 2:11-21) When the journey became too much for Peter, God provided exactly what he needed, a firm rebuke from a loving brother.

I’m also reminded of one of the greatest figures in the Old Testament, King David. Although God described him as “a man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22), he too faltered in his journey. His adulterous affair with Bathsheba, and the brutal cover-up of his sin, was perhaps the lowest point in his journey. He was totally off course and out of fellowship with God. At that moment, God provided what David needed, a prophet to call him to repentance and restoration.   David’s prayer in Psalm 51 reveals the impact of this divine intervention in his journey.

The journey we are on is too great for all of us; but God is faithful. He knows the journey we are on, and will provide what we need at the moment we need it. Whether our need is for food and rest, wise guidance and counsel, a loving rebuke from a friend, or soul wrenching call to repentance, His provision is always on time and on target.

If one day, we hope to say, as the Apostle Paul said, “I have finished the course, I have kept the faith,” we must, 1) embrace the truth that the journey is too great for us, 2) humbly receive God’s gracious intervention, and 3) remember God’s awesome promise, “Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!” (Joshua 1:9)

Where are you on your journey? Where has God intervened in your life recently? Take a moment to thank Him for bringing into your life exactly what you needed to complete your journey. If perhaps you are at a crossroads where you need Him to step in, I invite you to “seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” (Isaiah 55:6)

Suddenly, all the dots connected in my mind, and to say the least, I was overwhelmed. This wasn’t just another patient. I remembered, ten years ago, when a medical team I was on, stopped to look at a six-year-old boy standing beside the road going up to Camp Bethel. I recalled the slim figure of this little boy, much smaller than the other children. He was lethargic, and didn’t run and jump like the other children around him. I remembered it like it was yesterday, putting my hand on his chest, and actually feeling the swishing of the blood moving back and forth from one side of his heart to the other. His congenital heart defect should have been repaired soon after birth, but he wasn’t born in a hospital, and his family lived in abject poverty. We all thought there was no hope he’d ever get the surgery he so desperately needed.

Other memories came flooding back. I remember the team’s commitment to do everything possible to get this little guy back to the United States for his surgery. I recall the physician on our team telling us if Brian didn’t get the surgery, he would not live past his fifteenth birthday. I remember the months and months of prayers, and the futileattempts to get paperwork signed, doctor’s permissions, visas and such. Nothing worked. Then, after two years of unsuccessfulattempts to get this child to the United States to have his surgery, he and his mother suddenly disappeared. They moved to a different part of Honduras, and we lost contact with them. I often wondered what happened to him, and indeed, if he was still alive.

Now, ten years later, that same little boy stood before me. Through joyful tears, I asked him how he got the surgery. He couldn’t tell me exactly how it came about, but a medical team from the United States came to Honduras last month and repaired his heart defect. He came by the clinic that day to thank us for our prayers. He and his mother had moved from Tegucigalpa to a place near the U.S. military base where someone from the hospital near the base discovered Brian, and took an interest in his condition.

Although he didn’t know the details of how and who, what he did know was many people had prayed for him, and God has answered those prayers. He knew ten years ago his grandmother and other relatives were not followers of Jesus. He knew growing up that a lot of badthings took place in the house where five to ten families lived. He knew some of his uncles and cousins were still in prison because of the things that had happened then. And, most importantly, he knew Christ had transformed his family. He came to the clinic that day to say thank you, and to give God the praise for what He had done.

He couldn’t explain why, but he knows God spared his life – something even more difficult for him to understand when he thinks about his nine year-old cousin, Christian, who is dying of cancer in the same house.

As I reflect on how God answers prayer, I am amazed, and humbled. I’m amazed at how God uses different people, from different places, at different times, to fulfill His sovereign purpose. I’m humbled that God in His sovereignty would allow us to participate in bringing about physical and spiritual healing to one single family, and one single person in a world filled with so many hurting and suffering people.

Yes, it’s just one boy, and one family in one small, country, Honduras. In some ways it seems like so little in the face of such overwhelming need around the globe. But, that’s how the world is transformed, one person at a time.

Jesus was always there for the least of society. Can we do less?

Then the righteous will answer Him, “Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?” The King will answer and say to them, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”

Matthew 25:37-40 (NASB)