November 13

Compassion

What shall we do?

“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 25:40 (NASB)

Her name is Pauline. She is 3 years old but looks 18 months. She has
orange hair, stick legs and arms and an extended stomach with constant
bowel trouble.

Down the road from her house is a clinic where she could go to
have a blood analysis to determine what might be afflicting her underdeveloped
body. The cost would be 200 kwanzas, about $2.50. In three
years, she has been to the doctor once.

Her mother died at age 22 with malaria, as did an older sibling. Her
father has abandoned her, so she lives with her grandmother, who is
pregnant with her ninth child; three of the other eight have already
died. The family of a dozen lives in a small two-room house, and none
of them have any meaningful employment.

Without help, Pauline will die at an early age. With help, her family
will learn to pass the responsibility for her on to someone else, namely
us. It is the constant dilemma we face in a place like Angola. How to
help in a positive and responsible manner is a decision we have to make
day by day. What shall we do? We can’t ignore her, because she lives 50
feet from our house. What would our Lord do?

After weighing the options, we will take Pauline to the local clinic
and take it one step at a time. It may result in a host of sick children arriving
at our doorstep, but how can we do less than this?

—Scot, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa

Father God, You looked out into the multitude and felt compassion. Help me to
have a compassionate heart to meet needs that You call me to meet. Give missionaries wisdom to discern which ones You desire to meet through them. Amen.

Next day