What Is Holding Us Back from Seeing the Hopeless Like Jesus Does?

Take a moment and imagine you’re a farmer in Asia. You work hard all day, day in and day out. But you’re working in a place where there is so much dust. Often, you get dust in your eyes. Over time, your vision is damaged. Even though you’ve worked hard all your life, you still can’t afford treatment to take care of your eyes. It is a frustrating situation.

This was the predicament of a man named Bakhtawar. Many people in the area where he lived faced similar problems. That’s why GFA-supported workers decided to organize an eye-care camp where people could come and get free eye exams and treatment. Patients came from a dozen surrounding villages to receive care from the specialists there. These patients included people like Rahman, who had never been able to afford glasses and was so thankful for the free medical care he received at the camp, and Chakori, who had waited years for treatment because she never had enough money.
receiving free medical care - KP Yohannan - Gospel for Asia
Through Gospel for Asia-supported medical ministry, people in villages all across Asia are receiving free medical care that is much needed.
Apart from those like Bakhtawar for whom healthcare is inaccessible or unaffordable, there is another huge group of people who have been pushed deeper into poverty because of the cost of medical treatment. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “About 100 million people are still being pushed into ‘extreme poverty’ . . . because they have to pay for health care.”

Try to see from the perspective of these people. Think of the impossible, heartbreaking decisions they might be faced with if an illness unexpectedly hit someone in their family. As WHO’s Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said, “No one should have to choose between death and financial hardship. No one should have to choose between buying medicine and buying food.”

April 7 is World Health Day. 2018’s theme is about the need to achieve universal health coverage. This is defined by WHO as “all people and communities [receiving] the health services they need without suffering financial hardship.”

By God’s grace, Gospel for Asia-supported medical ministry is helping thousands of individuals at the community level to receive free medical care and treatment each year in the name of Christ’s love. In 2016, GFA-supported workers organized 829 medical camps. Apart from offering medical advice and treatment, these camps are also a means to raise awareness about how to prevent common sicknesses that can easily develop into something serious.

I am so glad for the difference that is being made in so many lives through Gospel for Asia’s medical ministry. The need is huge. We have plans in the works to be able to go into very remote areas to provide ongoing medical care to those who otherwise never would have had an opportunity.
Even more than the health of these precious people, God cares about their soul. He sees their need—every one—and He knows how much it would mean for them to truly understand that He sees them and loves them.

Our call to respond to the needs around us and our example is given by our Lord Himself. In Matthew 9, you see Jesus going to different places teaching, preaching and healing the sick. In the next chapter, He’s sending the disciples out: “And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease” (Matthew 10:1).

It’s impossible to know Christ, to gaze upon Him and walk closely with Him and not be affected by His passion for those who are suffering and in need. For when you are near Him, you will begin to see all from His point of view and through His eyes.

In John 4, when Jesus traveled through Samaria, He was hungry, thirsty and desperately worn out. His disciples were, too. Jesus sat at a well, asking for a glass of water while he was waiting for the disciples to come back with food. But something happened in the meantime—His encounter with the Samaritan woman. He talked to this one little woman who did not understood the Father’s love for her. She was undone, unforgiven and despised.

This one encounter eliminated his physical appetite. When His disciples returned, they were confused why He didn’t want the food they had brought back and wondered if He had gotten food to eat from somewhere else. Christ basically said to them in John 4:34-35, “My food is to do the will of my Father and finish His work. Are you confused about it? If so, don’t worry, lift up your eyes and see what I see.” What was it that He saw? Multitudes of people like this woman who needed hope. He wanted His disciples to see them, too.

Medical camps in Asia - KP Yohannan - Gospel for Asia
Medical camps in Asia underwritten by Gospel for Asia provide free medical care to the sick and poor, who are usually helpless to pay for the care they so desperately need.
What is holding us back from seeing the hopeless as Jesus does? I think often it is our self-centeredness, our health, our wealth, our future, our marriage, our land, our house, our security, our ambitions, our dreams, our children, our grandchildren and all the other things that are not necessarily bad things but continually pull us to become consumed with our own little world.

Let us lift up our eyes and walk away from our own world for a little time. Let’s look for ways to practice doing what Christ has instructed and showed us how to do. Maybe this World Health Day can be an opportunity for us to see the poor, the sick and the suffering through His eyes and to respond with His compassion.

Lord, thank You for being our Savior, for being our example. Thank You that when You call us to follow You, You never ask us to do it in our own strength. You simply ask, “Be Mine, walk with Me, abide in Me, let Me live through you."

Today, Lord, the best we know how, we say to You, we want to be like You. Please live through us, change us and make us to become more like You. Help us to see the world around us through Your eyes. Amen.

===


Click here, to read more articles on Patheos by Dr. KP Yohannan Metropolitan.

Go here to know more about Dr. KP Yohannan: Integrity | Facebook | Twitter | Book

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Attitude Towards Suffering

Image
In 2 Timothy 2:3, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Everyone, at some point or another, faces suffering, the soldier especially. However, it is not so much what we suffer, but how we suffer that matters. The way our heart responds to suffering is crucial, because by it we will either advance or become stagnant. To suffer like a good soldier is to willingly endure all for the sake of the call. To suffer like a bad soldier is to grumble when difficult situations and hardship arise. Instead of throwing our lives into what God has called us to, we can try to hold on to our lives, wanting to get away with as little suffering as possible, paying as little price as possible. We have forgotten that we are under the orders of our Master and that we willingly gave up our lives. Christ’s Example of Suffering Christ lived with the expectation of suffering. Throughout the Gospels, He repeatedly referred to
Read more

What Is the Poverty Cycle?

Image
The question, “What is the poverty cycle, or cycle of poverty?” is one that must be answered to address and end poverty across the globe. Put simply, the term refers to the trend where the vicious effects of poverty and deprivation pass from one generation to the next, with no seeming way out. [1] Someone born into poverty has fewer opportunities than their wealthier peers. They must focus on survival above all, leaving little room for anything else. One illness can wipe out a family’s savings, but the unclean water sources and lack of protection available to them invite sickness. Walking to retrieve water can be time-consuming yet must be a daily priority, and many children must work alongside their parents for the family to afford food. Thus, school is often a far-off dream. Having had few opportunities to acquire skills, the kids grow up to repeat the cycle of poverty with their own children. This story was all too familiar for Nalah. His father worked in the tea fields, trying to e
Read more

In Which 10/40 Window Countries Does GFA Work?

Image
GFA World has ministries in over twenty nations, many of which are in the 10/40 window. Countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal are largely poor and desperate for the Gospel, and GFA is working to address these problems. Bangladesh is a lush, green landscape marred by brutal poverty, corruption and unrelenting natural disasters. Though it was once among the wealthiest areas of South Asia, it is now one of the poorest, with over a third of the population living below the poverty line. [1] About 387 people groups, adding up to 155 million people, call Bangladesh home. Of that number, only one percent is considered Christian. [2] Compounding the nation’s issues are a low literacy rate—just over 50 percent—and persecution of the few Christians who live there. [3] The island nation of Sri Lanka is world-famous for its tea. Its sandy beaches and lagoons make it a popular tourist destination; however, this beautiful land is scarred by years of internal strife and natural disaster. A
Read more