The Least of These
The short excerpt is by Katie Davis from her book, Kisses from Katie. I highly recommend this book. She left Brentwood, TN to serve in Uganda after high school and at 24 is still there serving. She has also adopted 13 girls and has established a ministry that feeds and sends hundreds more to school while teaching them about Jesus. The scripture is Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
I certainly don’t believe everyone should sell all of their belongings and pack a suitcase and move to Africa. I don’t think people all over the planet should drop everything to go somewhere far from everything to go somewhere far from everything familiar and be missionaries. In fact, I believe anyone can be a missionary right where they are.
I don’t always want to help other people. Generally speaking, I do. But there are certain days when I, like everyone else in the world, simply want to do what I need to do and keep moving. It’s part of being human. But so often, when we stop to be kind when we don’t really want to, that’s when the sacrifice becomes most rewarding.
The night in 2007 was cold and rainy. I was walking out of the supermarket on Main Street in downtown Jinja, on my way home. Then I saw him. Huddled on the street corner, drenched and shivering, was a little boy. At that moment, all I really wanted to think about was getting home, getting dry, and crawling into my warm bed. But a voice inside told me to stop.
I took the little boy inside the supermarket to dry him off a bit and bought him some biscuits and juice. I gave him my sweatshirt, a small wooden cross I carried in my pocket, and some change so he could get a ride home.
As he left, he called, “What is your name?”
“Katie,” I responded, “Auntie Katie.”
“Me, I am Daniel,” he shouted and disappeared into the wet chilly night.
About a year later, I walked in to supermarket to buy food for my family and got caught in a big hug. Two small brown arms wrapped around me as a child’s voice excitedly proclaimed, “Auntie Katie!”
I looked down to see Daniel. Beaming.
“Wait,” he urged me.
He hurried to the nearest street vendor and bought me a popsicle with the little pocket change he had. He then dug his little hand in his pocket and pulled out the small wooden cross. Looking at me with a wide grin, he spoke words that pierced my heart: “I have never stopped praying for you every day.”
To this day, I think of that story and stand amazed at the goodness of our God and the enormous things He can accomplish if I am obedient to His command to stop and love the person in front of me. He didn’t just remember my face; he remembered my name. He prayed for me. He prayed for my safety and for the opportunity to see me again. I blessed him just one cold night, and he blessed me every day after that for an entire year.
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
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