Life To The Whole Person
Haiti, a country that has been the tragic front cover of
news stories around the world is once again the center for tragedy. A cholera
epidemic has ravished the country, killing thousands upon thousands. What is
most upsetting about this tragedy is that the cholera outbreak has been traced
back to the United Nations and troops they shipped into help from Nepal, which
have been sighted as the cause for the contamination of the water with cholera.
As a result of this, the people of the country have grown to mistrust
“foreigners” seeking to give them help.
To hear the full details about Haiti watch the video above.
After watching this report two things came to my mind,
Living Water International and Dr. Corsini’s lecture on helping the whole
person (the material and immaterial). Dr. Corsini has encouraged us to not only
look at the material needs of humans, such as the need for clean uncontaminated
water in Haiti or relief from depression, but also at the immaterial needs,
spiritual life to one’s soul. Living Water International is addressing both of
these needs at once. As a non-profit Christian organization, Living Water has
made it their mission to bring pure drinking water to places similar to Haiti
and at the same time bring God’s word, truth, and love. Living Water
International is an active example of what Dr. Corsini has been stressing in
class, to bring total healing to a person. This requires both physical and
spiritual resuscitation.
The cholera out break in Haiti is very tragic and
distressing to me. Money had been provided for the clean up of water, but the
actions were not taken to use this money properly. Further, what a difference
could be made if Christians around the world joined the call of organizations
like Living Water and provided immediate physical healing and relief along with
spiritual healing. This is dear to my heart having had the privilege to work
with Living Water International in Guatemala last year. I got to experience God
meeting both the physical needs of a village there and, also, saw Him bring
children and women to Him after the gospel was shared. The cholera outbreak in
Haiti brought this truth to my mind, loving the whole person is loving and
serving Christ. "Then
the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my
Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation
of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty
and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I
needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in
prison and you came to visit me.’” Matthew 25: 34-36.
To learn more about Living Water International: http://www.water.cc/
Thank you for posting it Noel, it is encouraging to see how God use life to influence life to show his glory. It reminds me of a motoo, "If we want others to see Jesus in us, we have to see Jesus in others first." Just like what we have learned from Bible, no matter where we come from, what status, races, and genders we are. We are created in the image of God. We are not only to learn how to love and be merciful, but also show respect in lives.
ReplyDeleteI had not even heard about this going in Haiti. Thank you for sharing this! This is so incredibly tragic to learn. I have often thought that whenever we as Christians try to meet the physical and practical needs of others, we should also try to meet their spiritual needs as well by telling them about Jesus, praying for or with them, showing the love of Christ through how we interact with them, etc. What you have written about here reminds me of the verses in James 2:15-17 that say, "Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
ReplyDeleteSuch a good post, Noel. I didn't know all of this was going on in Haiti either, and it is heartbreaking. This reminds me of Maslow's hierarchy of needs from undergrad psychology class, which basically means that when people have immediate, physical needs (such as the need for safety, food, water, shelter) they cannot even think about trying to get any other needs met that are higher up on the hierarchy (such as the need for belonging, love, spiritual connection, self-esteem). The Gospel is not going to have any effect if we are simply "telling" it but not taking care of people's immediate physical needs. It is important for us to "show" our faith rather than just "tell." The meeting of material and immaterial needs should go hand in hand.
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