Highlights

A few of my highlights from the trip in a slideshow video form. Njoy!

Neighbors in need

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:16-19)

      I’m now back in the United States. God has blessed us with a safe return journey for us and our luggage. It is a joy to be reunited with family and friends.

      Lately I’ve been reflecting on my call to love others in need, as God loves me. There are so many people in need all around me. In Zambia I saw many in need materially in the village of Chibombo. While there are many in need physically, I also realize that many are in need spiritually all around me, neighbors in need. I wonder: if anyone has ‘spiritual possessions’ (God’s love, truth, life) and sees his brother in need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

      Though I cannot physically see the spiritual realm, I imagine what I would see if I could:  a classmate spiritually burdened such that he struggles to walk; a sister in Christ wounded; another man in hand combat against the enemy, with fire in his eyes and sweat on his brow; another from Tarkington Hall, who is a lost sheep without life…

      I feel often I don’t understand others’ vital needs for Christ: those who are “harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36) and brethren in Christ who need help in their daily life. Jesus saw others’ needs, felt compassion for them, and was thus compelled into action in love. “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). I desire and pray that like Jesus we may see the needs of those around us, that our hearts will break for them, and that then we will lay down our lives in love for God’s glory.

      Fortunately, my neighbors, you, and I have hope for ALL our needs to be met by God in Christ, not according to our effort or good works, but according to His glorious riches of grace. “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) God had pity on us, and He reached out His hand to save us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Praise the Lord!