Not that long ago my wife and I were sitting in our kitchen, preparing a nice family dinner. Suddenly our doorbell rang. Going to the door we saw Ghebremariam, a 38 year old woman from Eritrea who works for Mariam. Ghebremariam is a refugee from Eritrea, a neighboring country to Ethiopia. She had to leave three children behind and has now been in Europe for four years.
We have known Ghebremariam for quite a while, since Christmas when she came to our home for a party for the lonely and enjoyed it immensely. As she sat with us in the kitchen, she began to share more of her heartbreaking story. When she came to Europe four years ago she hoped to find a place of peace, a home, a hiding place from all the abuses, all the arbitrariness and unrighteousness she had to live under. But now, as she was sharing her story, crying aloud, she told us she was just refused as a refugee, being left without any rights and without support. Our dinner changed from a leisure time to a wonderful expression of care, love, acceptance. We listened, cried with her, hugged her, prayed for her and finally blessed her with some money. After two hours her countenance lifted and she smiled slightly. When she left we knew that we had expressed the kindness of Jesus to this dear woman.
Suddenly it dawned on me. It is Good Friday and Jesus has visited our home. We were able to console Him, for Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 25, that whatever we have done to one of the least, we have done to Him.
Church planting means meeting Jesus in the lives of others, sharing their pain and helplessness. As we are faithfully doing this as an expression of our lifestyle, it becomes a continuous prayer and invitation for Christ to come.
