God of the Nations
After 25 years of ministry, I recently made my first international trip. Needless to say, experiencing 27 hours on a plane or in an airport, was not one of life’s greatest pleasures. I also learned that jet-lag is real! I must confess that before personally experiencing jet-lag I had no pity on those who tried to share with me their jet-lag experience. By nature I am not a sleeper,and actually do not require much sleep. I can also normally operate at semi-maximum brain capacity, on little sleep if necessary. This was not the case after arriving in Manila, Philippines.
The first morning there we hit the ground running. We slept 5 hours and were headed out to an outreach on the streets of Manila, to a place called Malabon. Experiencing the travel to Malabon was astonishing. Traveling through a city with 18 million people, in itself, is indescribable. The law on the streets is; if you get your nose in front of the other car, you proceed. Needless to say, the fearless rule.
The sound of hundreds of simultaneous horns brings shock to an American driver. Every traffic law in America is being broken, as you watch what seems like chaos. Amazingly, you see no wrecks, no road rage, and after a while you see the chaos as an amazing chaotic order.
Behind the obvious fears of the traffic, you are also experiencing the pollution of millions of cars, the stench of poverty, and the faces of thousands that look hopeless. Looking past the traffic, you see children begging on the streets, people walking with no shoes, and others are obvious addicts and beggars.
I cannot describe the poverty and how powerless I feel. The measure of the need seems to consume what I have to give.
We arrive at the outreach and are met with hundreds of needy people and children. We are totally surrounded. The culture displays it’s touchy, feely, characteristic. It’s like southern hospitality on steroids. Many are sick, and all look hopeless. Most of the children however, are full of love, all needy, yet ready to play. Most of them reach for you to hold them.
Charity Graff begins to sing worship songs. The children sit down and sing. Many of the parents sing songs about Jesus. My emotions are internally out of control. I feel so powerless! I reach for a child, pick him up, hold him, and sing songs in his ear. As I sing, I hear the scripture; If you did it to the least of these, you have done it unto me.
We cannot solve the poverty of Manila, or feed all the hungry. Neither can we provide medicine for everyone that is sick. But in our tiredness and weakness, we can pick up one child and sing a song in their ear. We cannot give them everything they need, but we can give the one thing they need most, and that is Jesus.
Freely we have been given, freely we can give!
We can – Be the ONE!
Let’s do it,
Pastor Tom
