Jesus said…

        There is one moment on my race that I think of often. Now, where we were in Zambia there are a lot of children begging for food on the streets, and in most places they have security guards to get rid of the ones that wander in asking tourists for something to eat. These security guards are not gentle or kind. They are rough, mean and condemning toward the children; sometimes often beating them or literally throwing them out of the restaurant. A few of my teammates and I were eating lunch in a Zambian cafe. It was loud with the chattering voices and the sounds of clanging dishes, when a little boy came up to me asking for food. He was quiet, dirty, and must have been about 7 years old. He kept looking around in fear so he could run before the security guard could get a hold of him. I smiled at the boy saying “hey buddy, are you hungry?” He shook his head yes. So I stood up, walked him over to the case of food and told him he could get ANYTHING he wanted. He looked up at me in disbelief, then pointed to what kind of looked like a hot dog. I asked him if he wanted a soda and he shook his head in excitement. As we waited there at the counter, you could see his whole demeanor had changed. He had a childish bounce in him as he anticipated his meal as if he was in line for a ride at Disney. I gazed down at him for a moment, feeling this joy and delight that I imagine our Father in heaven feels about us. As I was having this moment with the LORD, the security guard came up behind the boy, gripping him by the neck and yelling at him. I held my hand in front of the boy, put on a very serious face, and said “Hold up, he’s with me.” The man stepped back, changed his tone of voice, and pointed at the kid saying “Him? He’s with you?” To which my reply was, “Yeah. He’s with me.” The man then backed off with both hands up as if he was surrendering. He walked to the end of the counter and stared at me with a mean glare. When I looked down at the little boy, his face was glowing with the biggest white teethed smile I’ve ever seen. Chuckling, all I could do was smile. I patted him on the back and said “I gotcha buddy. You’re safe.” As we continued to wait, someone was calling for the boy. I turned to look, catching a slightly older boy motioning with his hand to his mouth for some food. The older boy saw that I had caught him, he backed up a few steps and then ran off. I looked down at the younger one asking “Do you know him?” He looked up at me saying “He’s my brother.” The cashier then came to deliver us the food and so I order the same for his brother. Walking out front with the smaller boy to give his brother food, they both thanked me. I smiled, told them that Jesus loved them, and they ran off. 

Sometimes love looks like buying a meal. Sometimes it looks like defending those that can’t defend themselves. Just love on someone for the name of Jesus.