“Who is my neighbor?” and Opportunities to Show Mercy
In Luke 10, Jesus encouraged a lawyer to love God and to love his neighbor. In return, the lawyer asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied with the parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:25-37) Afterwards Jesus asked the lawyer which of the men passing by proved to be a neighbor to the injured man. “The one who showed mercy,” was the lawyer’s answer. To which Jesus replied, “Go and do the same.”
Living
here in the mountains among the Awa people, God often seems to bring
into our lives many “good Samaritan” moments, opportunities to show care
and mercy to our many ‘neighbors’. Sometimes these moments come when we
are weary, or when we are hoping for a quiet afternoon. We greatly
appreciate your prayers that God would continually renew our hearts with
His mercy so that we can pass that on to the needy. Pray that we would
not become weary or worn out as we interact with the people!A few of these opportunities God has brought into our paths over the last few days:
- An Awa grandma came asking for food for her little 1 yr old grandson, who she said was crying with hunger as his mother is gone undergoing surgery at the hospital in Ibarra.
- Our neighbor Porfidio coming with hand cut on sharp rocks; we were glad to be able to help him with a pain pill and ointment and bandages.
- Neighbor boys coming by hot and sweaty after school begging for haircuts for their thick hair!
- Paulino & Manuela’s daughter Mónica is struggling in her marriage; this last weekend Manuela, and three other Awa believers came along with me to make a trip to visit Mónica and her husband and in-laws. I was encouraged by their gracious words to Mónica’s wayward husband, as we together encouraged him to do what is right. We went down some narrow and steep backroads and I was thankful to make it home safely that evening! Please pray for Mónica and husband Jesús.
- 10 year old Edgar showed up (at 6 AM! ) asking for homework help for his page of long division. His older sisters had tried to help but weren’t able to do the division. He was thankful for Kathy’s help!
We
mentioned Fermin’s death in our August letter. His widow came to visit
one day asking for financial help; we offered to help her three youngest
children with their school supplies as classes began. The youngest of
the three, 10 yr old Alicia, was delighted to receive her notebooks and
other items! Each Sunday since then Alicia has been waiting by the
bridge in San Francisco to ride up with us for Sunday services in
Palmira. Alicia is very quiet but the big smile on her face shows how
much she is enjoying her Sunday school class.
- A good retreat the last week of August with the rest of our Liebenzell Mission of Ecuador pastors and coworkers!
- God’s strength for the first month with our coworkers gone.
- Gloria is teaching her Sunday School class with passion and vigor each Sunday!
Our mechanic in Ibarra has worked hard to keep our truck running despite the difficult road trips we often make!
In His grip,
No comments:
Post a Comment