Bold and Simple Message
Dave Schmidgall
Nov 10, 2008 · 1:00 PMWe must love our neighbors.
James’ wife Brenda shared a bold message to the village: [that] as God loves his people, his creation, so also does James love the people of Malawi. Indeed, this is the heartbeat of Servants of the Nation. And what a challenge to us: to live as “imitators of God”—Ephesians 5:1. James then spoke to the village members, and his message was simple: we must love our neighbors. Who are our neighbors? Those in need. We may have different homes, statuses, or skin color, but God calls us to reach out and to serve others despite our differences. James and his team usually spend six to seven days a week meeting with villages, hearing and understanding needs, and doing their best to provide what they can, as acts of mercy and examples of God’s abundant love.
In response to the village’s previous request, the team was able to help Servants of the Nation show love through action and provision by passing out packets of salt to the people of Chilota village.
Salt is an expensive commodity, and the people often suffer from iodine deficiency when their diet contains no salt. It was both a great joy to provide this need and a heartbreaking, sobering realization that we could not to more at that time. We left the village and returned to the lodge for the evening. We stayed up late discussing the events of the day, praying for the people of the village, and thinking about how we might be able to serve them and help Servants of the Nation this week and in the future.
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