The images are everlasting.  

A few years ago, I was afforded the opportunity to visit the slums of Nairobi, Kenya.  As part of the Christian Missionary Fellowship I was given insight into the needs of millions of people trapped in a lifestyle that seemed less than even many farm animals in my country.

The severe poverty.  I witnessed the lack of education, medical care, clean water, shelter, and food.  It was dire.  For those whose lives were lived in the slums, it seemed there was no way out.  But caring Christian people were there, trying to make a difference.  They were building schools and teaching not only children, but parents as well.  They were providing sanitation.  In places where there was no electricity, they were putting skylights in shacks.  So much was being done in the name of Jesus.

And then I met Mercy.  My daughter began sponsoring Mercy through Compassion International.  Meredith was a middle schooler.  Mercy was a young child.  I found that Mercy lived in the Kibera slum, and so I was taken there to meet her and her mother.  I gave her my daughter’s Bible.  I gave her money to spend on something she desired.  She said she would buy food for her family.  As a child, Mercy had hopes and dreams.  Now, as an adult, she still lives in the slums.

I also met Harry and Echo VanderWal.  Harry, a doctor, and Echo, a physician’s assistant, decided to leave lucrative careers in the States and move their family to Eswatini.  There, they now care for over a third of the country’s population, providing health treatments for any in need and employing over 700 others who care for people devastated by disease and injury.  The VanderWal’s stories touched my heart.  The intense suffering.  The lack of resources.  The gratefulness of those whose lives have been positively impacted.

Jesus Christ is recorded in Matthew 25:40 teaching that as we care for the most needy of God’s creation across the world, we care for him. In many countries, I have come to know those who are most needy.  I am thankful that God has given us an opportunity to show our love for him by showing our love to his.

Stephen Carpenter