Loving the Half-hearted and the Corrupt

It was for this world that Christ had died; the more evil you saw and heard about you, the greater glory lay around the death. It was too easy to die for what was good or beautiful, for home or children or a civilization--it needed a God to die for the half-hearted and the corrupt.

--Graham Greene, in The Power and the Glory

I was reading the God’s Politics Blog earlier today, and, while I don’t agree with everything it says, I was challenged by a simple question posted by one of their bloggers: “Does my life look like Jesus on the cross?”

I think that this question is asking if we are living sacrificially, offering love to others whether or not they ‘deserve’ it. It seems like living sacrificially would be much easier if people were easier to love—but people are broken and fallen.

Jesus didn’t die for us because we’re such good people; he died for us because he loved us.

I’m often struck by how hard it is to show love to people. Missionaries—those sent by Hospitals of Hope and by other organizations, both in the US and in other countries—deal with physical danger, unfamiliar surroundings, and cultural misunderstandings as they try to share Christ’s love. It’s not always easier closer to home, either. Even loving our neighbors or our family members can sometimes feel impossible.

Yet, in all of this, to quote Paul,

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Philippians 2:5-8

As Easter approaches, we ponder the depth of Christ’s love for us. It is because of him that we do all that we do here. I pray that this week, and every week, we will grow more and more like him.

What does it mean to be a missionary? (Guest post by Thomas Stanley)

So you’re called to be a missionary? Great!

Start praying, find a missions agency which fits your direction, set a date, raise the funds and pack your bags.

Is it really that easy? Yes and no.

Yes, you can go through a checklist of steps needed to go on a trip, but, when you are in the realm of missions, the complexity of the process resides in the internal battles.

Last year I was fortunate enough to go on a month-long mission trip to Bolivia for Hospitals of Hope. My experience with short term missions (1 week to 2 months) raised several personal issues.

Were my motives pure? Was I simply doing it to appear pious? Is it merely a vacation to avoid the problems which exist in my current life? Isn’t there mission I could be doing in my own town?

I mean, poverty exists in Wichita. There are thousands who don’t know Christ in my own backyard. The problems of drugs, perversion, and violence are prevalent in my very neighborhood.

These issues paced through my mind in the months before the trip and lingered afterward.

This mild existential crisis mellowed after clarifying my purpose. The purpose of my trip wasn’t to simply do the lofty work of saving sinners, curing the sick, and fixing the country's problems.

My purpose was to serve the Lord in all capacities and view the trip as not an end, but a means to an end.

My mission trip didn’t end July 8 when I left Cochabamba, it merely began. The short-term mission trip gave a drastic paradigm shift in how I viewed the world. If you’re open to it, it can change the way you view your neighborhood, your city and your daily ministry.

I heard a pastor say, “If you’re a missionary, then what does that make everyone else?” It is not merely the job of a missionary to do missions. In Matthew 28:19-20, Christ calls us all to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Does this mean you shouldn’t go on mission trips? Certainly not, the experience of immersing yourself in a different language and culture is unlike any other. Serving the Lord internationally is difficult yet fulfilling.

But if you are thinking about missions, I would encourage you to not simply work toward a trip but toward a lifestyle change. Again, the trip itself is not the end; it is a means to a greater end of serving the Lord in diligently your entire life.

Expanding Health Care in Liberia

The man who came into the ER was vomiting blood. A viper had bitten him, and it had taken him more than 24 hours to reach the hospital, which was far away from where he lived.

He could only afford one vial of antivenin, so that was all the public hospital was willing to give him. It was clear, though, that that wasn’t going to be enough.

The Hospitals of Hope team, which was at the hospital installing medical equipment, saw the man’s condition and quickly decided to help cover the cost of his treatment. By that point, unfortunately, it was too late.

This man’s life likely could have been saved by quicker treatment, but Liberia’s lack of medical infrastructure makes it difficult to access health care.

In the past two years, we have primarily focused our work at JFK Medical Center, since this is the referral center for the entire country of Liberia and since it lacked basic medical equipment. In the last year, Hospitals of Hope has donated $1.1 million of medical equipment to JFK, greatly increasing its capacity to effectively treat patients.

Now, however, after February’s trip installing x-ray machines, a central oxygen system, and more, we believe that it is time for us to expand our reach in Liberia, working with smaller clinics and hospitals to ensure easier access to care.

In April, we will be sending another container of medical equipment to Liberia, this one primarily aimed at equipping smaller clinics. We will work with 2 other organizations on this project, providing the equipment necessary to supply the medical clinics they are building.

Another trip is planned for Liberia this summer, in the last 2 weeks of June or the beginning of July. If you are interested in joining this team, whether to treat patients, train staff, or install equipment, please contact Daniel White at daniel@hospitalsofhope.org.

Esperanza

Esperanza* was pregnant and living under a bridge. At just 17 years old, she already had a 2-year-old son and was expecting her second.

For street kids like Esperanza, healthcare of any kind is pretty far out of reach. The government hospital, which is supposed to provide care for the poor, discriminates against street kids, giving them insufficient care or flat-out refusing to treat them.

That had happened to Maria, a 14-year-old suffering from an infection so severe that she could barely walk, who was turned away at the door of the hospital, even though she had money to pay for treatment. Fortunately, in her case, missionaries intervened, possibly saving her life.

Diego wasn’t so lucky. He had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and had suffered severe wounds in a knife fight. While the government hospital treated him, they released him within 8 hours of major intestinal surgery. He died from infection less than 24 hours later.

Brianna Brown, a missionary affiliated with Hospitals of Hope, wanted to make sure that Esperanza and her baby didn’t fall through the cracks. She and another missionary arranged for housing for Esperanza, and she took her out of the city to Hospitals of Hope for pre-natal care.

The kindness of the hospital staff astonished Esperanza, as they treated her with dignity and respect and played with her son. She saw her baby boy growing healthily on the ultrasound, and, when she returned to the city, she couldn’t stop telling the other street kids about how clean the hospital was and how kindly the staff had treated her.

Esperanza’s baby, Luis, has since been born, strong and healthy, thanks in part to the care shown by the Hospitals of Hope staff. More than just medical care, however, Esperanza received the love of Jesus, expressed through the hospital staff and volunteers.


*Names have been changed.