If you are a parent, what would be the worst thing that you could image for your children; for your family? Poverty? Hopelessness? Disease? Unemployment? Death? Malnutrition? Addiction? Children sold into slavery or prostitution? Starvation? Abandonment?
Today I saw virtually all of this during a short stint at one of the many slums of Delhi, India - a city that is the 8th largest in the world with over 16 million people. According to the Hindu News, some 52 percent of the city's population live in the urban slums; where all of the above takes place daily. And our particular slum had tens of thousands of people living in conditions that bordered on the unthinkable. Here is just a portion of what I experienced:
**Safe drinking water was problematic, **sewers ran literally down the middle of 8 foot wide alleyways, **homes were stacked on top of each other on every side, **entire families and extended families lived in rooms that are not much bigger than 10 x 10, **disease of every kind was rampant, **tons of garbage was strewn everywhere, **the men and children were wearing mud-caked, dirty, and tattered clothes while the women wore incredibly colored clothing in an attempt to maintain their respectability and culture, **a heavy dank smell choked our sensibilities and airways and left me feeling suffocated, **a feeling of demonic oppression from the countless pagan temples through-out the slum covered us like a heavy morning dew, and **hundreds of children followed us like we were the piped piper leading them from darkness into light. **Less than 8.2% of the people we saw had a bathroom they could call their own .. the rest had to go in the streets, next to their homes, in the flowing ditches that streamed down "main street," or hike to stand in line at a foul public restroom.
I along with the GYI Lead Team [http://gyi.cc/] were there at the invitation of Rev. Abraham Sahu of the Full Gospel Trust of India / Philadelphia Church [http://www.tfgtrust.org/] to learn how a compassionate church can make a slight dent in the misery of the multitudes of a dark and sin-afflicted world.
The church was truly "Jesus-like" in their attitudes and actions and demonstrated God's love in countless way. They had a school for all ages, fed hundreds of homeless children, provided business and computer training, ran a Biblical school to introduce people to Christ [only .416% of the people are Christians], established programs to rescue people from addiction, slavery, and prostitution, created a financial institution for the people, ministered to lepers, HIV/AIDS affected people, and the dying, interceded and dealt with those who were demonically oppressed and possessed, and provided legal advice and advocacy to those who need it.
My senses and emotions were on overload as I took this all in and tried to process the "WHY" of the situation. I wanted to fix it ... or at least help; something that I think any moral caring person would have felt. But after walking through the slum, talking and praying with residents, and learning hundreds of facts and figures .... I simple sat stunned by it all and reflected on God and His love for humanity.
What must He think when He sees the effects of man's sin and selfishness upon His children? I know that my heart felt just a little broken by what I had experienced and I know that His is too --- because He loves all of mankind. He loves us all so much that He sent His Son to die for the penalty of our sin, to make a way for us to be empowered by His life here, and to seal us for eternity when we turn from our sin and place our complete faith in Him.
That is what the church is all about ... that is what your lives should be all about .... bringing God's love to a world that desperately needs Him. I hope that Grace will be a church like the church that I experienced today ---
Today I saw virtually all of this during a short stint at one of the many slums of Delhi, India - a city that is the 8th largest in the world with over 16 million people. According to the Hindu News, some 52 percent of the city's population live in the urban slums; where all of the above takes place daily. And our particular slum had tens of thousands of people living in conditions that bordered on the unthinkable. Here is just a portion of what I experienced:
**Safe drinking water was problematic, **sewers ran literally down the middle of 8 foot wide alleyways, **homes were stacked on top of each other on every side, **entire families and extended families lived in rooms that are not much bigger than 10 x 10, **disease of every kind was rampant, **tons of garbage was strewn everywhere, **the men and children were wearing mud-caked, dirty, and tattered clothes while the women wore incredibly colored clothing in an attempt to maintain their respectability and culture, **a heavy dank smell choked our sensibilities and airways and left me feeling suffocated, **a feeling of demonic oppression from the countless pagan temples through-out the slum covered us like a heavy morning dew, and **hundreds of children followed us like we were the piped piper leading them from darkness into light. **Less than 8.2% of the people we saw had a bathroom they could call their own .. the rest had to go in the streets, next to their homes, in the flowing ditches that streamed down "main street," or hike to stand in line at a foul public restroom.I along with the GYI Lead Team [http://gyi.cc/] were there at the invitation of Rev. Abraham Sahu of the Full Gospel Trust of India / Philadelphia Church [http://www.tfgtrust.org/] to learn how a compassionate church can make a slight dent in the misery of the multitudes of a dark and sin-afflicted world.
The church was truly "Jesus-like" in their attitudes and actions and demonstrated God's love in countless way. They had a school for all ages, fed hundreds of homeless children, provided business and computer training, ran a Biblical school to introduce people to Christ [only .416% of the people are Christians], established programs to rescue people from addiction, slavery, and prostitution, created a financial institution for the people, ministered to lepers, HIV/AIDS affected people, and the dying, interceded and dealt with those who were demonically oppressed and possessed, and provided legal advice and advocacy to those who need it.
My senses and emotions were on overload as I took this all in and tried to process the "WHY" of the situation. I wanted to fix it ... or at least help; something that I think any moral caring person would have felt. But after walking through the slum, talking and praying with residents, and learning hundreds of facts and figures .... I simple sat stunned by it all and reflected on God and His love for humanity. What must He think when He sees the effects of man's sin and selfishness upon His children? I know that my heart felt just a little broken by what I had experienced and I know that His is too --- because He loves all of mankind. He loves us all so much that He sent His Son to die for the penalty of our sin, to make a way for us to be empowered by His life here, and to seal us for eternity when we turn from our sin and place our complete faith in Him.
That is what the church is all about ... that is what your lives should be all about .... bringing God's love to a world that desperately needs Him. I hope that Grace will be a church like the church that I experienced today ---
Totally got a visual from what you wrote. My heart breaks for those people. How often we for get how blessed we are with all we have. I want to spread the gospel all the more now. So many people need Jesus and often I don't think we realize how bad the need really is until we are smacked in the face with reality. Thanks for the smack PD.
ReplyDeleteWow--I am so self-centered and stuck in my own little world. Thanks for opening my eyes!
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