A Priest, a Levite or a Samaritan?
I have been thinking about this blog update for a very long time and how to approach it when Mindy happened to comment a little while ago while we were driving, “Don’t you ever feel like you are like the Priest or the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan?” And that is when the idea for the blog hit me. That is what I am going to write about.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Wherever you drive in Haiti or wherever you look there is someone in need, someone who needs that extra dollar: to eat, to get clothes, to get water, to have medicine, to live for the next day. When you pull up to a stoplight there are people asking for food, asking for help in many different ways. As you drive down the street people are lying there wanting help, needing it. It always plagues on my heart and on my mind. When have you given enough? Who can you say no to? Who should you help? Who will not receive any help today? This is a tough area to live in and it really strikes a chord with us. Chloe often asks: “What does that little boy want?” or “Why is that person standing there with their hand out wanting money, why do they need money?” As many times as we have explained it to her she still wonders why so many people need money and so many people live in a tent all the time.
It is not that I don’t want to help but the question is who do I help? Where do I start, where does it end? If only I had enough money to help all those around me, then things would be better. I wish I could. I came to Haiti like a lot of other people who have come here. I came to make a difference, I came to change Haiti. It is so hard to ‘sit back’ and not help those around you. I wish I could and when Mindy said don’t you feel like the Priest or the Levite it really hit home and I wondered what I could to, if I could do more. I am not sure what else to do or where to go. Please pray for guidance and pray that we as a family can hear God talking to us and directing us on who to help in their time of need.
