You shall not see...and ignore...

A message written by my pastor.

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In Deuteronomy 22:1-4 - a section well-labeled “Various Laws” in the ESV - we come across this interesting & oh so practical passage; even though it speaks of wandering oxen & fallen down donkeys. See what I mean:

“You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. 2 And if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall stay with you until your brother seeks it. Then you shall restore it to him. 3 And you shall do the same with his donkey or with his garment, or with any lost thing of your brother's, which he loses and you find; you may not ignore it. 4 You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again.” (Deut. 22:1-4 ~ ESV)


Did you see the “see / ignore” in both vs. 1 & 4?
Go ahead, look. I’ll wait.

If you see a need and ignore it - don’t help - you have sinned against your brother.
Find something that’s not yours?
Tend to it. Get it back to its owner. Seek to reunite them.

Notice a need bigger than can be done alone
- a downed donkey - an emergency repair, a huge project?
Grab a wrench, lend a hand, a skill give an hour, a twenty.

This “Various Laws” passage could easily be called a “love your neighbor as yourself” text. Does the Good Samaritan story comes to mind? It does now.  These “random rules” answer one of Scripture’s first questions (an attempted responsibility dodge): “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). When able, we are to help as we can.

What a great passage for parents to use to help clarify and enforce as they teach their kids to return treasures they find and want to keep. “Finders keepers, losers weepers” is seeing and ignoring. It is acting as if found money, phones or cool shades are not someone’s property.

Note: helping others can be inconvenient – a serious schedule interrupter. Catching, corralling, feeding and cleaning up after an errant donkey is no five minute duty.

One might wish to wear blinders. Ignorance is bliss? What ya don’t know can’t hurt ya? Wrong. It hurts others. It offends Their Maker. He sees you see and sent you to help. We are to live with eyes open to needs around us and then do what we can to help.

“You shall not see… and ignore… you shall restore…
“You shall help him to lift them up again…”

Shades of “do unto others….”? Yep?
Be good as gold, help meet other’s needs.

KSD

Support Update & Prayer Requests

Due to the generosity of my friends & supporters I have already received over half of the funds I needed to raise for the second half of this year (expenses that were not included in my monthly budget, such as airfare & travel expenses going home, insurance from June to November, and extra visas since I extended my stay). 

I have received $1,330 but I still need $1,040. Every little bit helps!

If you are interested in helping me reach 100%, there are a couple of ways you can give.

An easy way is to send it to me directly via Paypal – just click the yellow donate button at the upper right hand corner of this blog. If you need your gift to be tax deductible, you can give through my sending organization, Ripe for Harvest. They offer several ways to donate to my account (#318). You can donate by credit card or set up automatic recurring donations at their website by clicking here, or mail checks to:

Ripe for Harvest World Outreach

P.O. Box 487

Monument, CO 80132

(Make the check out to Ripe for Harvest. In the memo please write my name & account #318). IRS guidelines stipulate that contributions are made with the understanding that Ripe For Harvest World Outreach has complete control and administration over the use of the donated funds and that no goods or services are provided in exchange for said donations.

I also have a few prayer requests! 

1. Because I was not planning on being here this long, I never got a work permit but have instead been getting by with special pass visas. Mine expires in a couple of weeks and I just need to get one more to get me through til time to go home...please pray for favor with the internal affairs office so that I can get this last one with no trouble.

2. Yesterday I got a crick in my neck and am currently unable to turn my head...please pray for healing! It's painful enough that I can't concentrate on my work..

3. Please pray as I try to finish things up and wrap up my responsibilities here. We have another girl coming to replace me...please pray that her support would come in quickly so that she can get here and I can train her before I leave! Also please pray for my heart and the hearts of the girls as the time comes to say goodbye.

Thank you so much for reading, praying, and giving. I appreciate you! 

Much love,

Sarah

Kids Matter Here

I sit across from him and he looks down at the table while he talks. Sometimes he just needs to talk and there’s not too much I can answer with…how do you give answers to someone who has lived on the street for 12 years? Whose mother left him alone in the hut when he was five, only to never come back? He tells me he feels guilty staying in a nice place and eating food every day when his friends…who are basically his family…are still sleeping in the cold and sniffing kerosene to numb the hunger. He tells me about the other day when they got arrested for something and he went and pleaded with the police to let them go.

He quotes, word for word, Matthew 25:35-40.

“35 I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, 36 naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.’ 37 The righteous will then answer him, ‘When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? 38 When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 The King will reply, ‘I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me!”

Have you ever sat across from a street kid while they quoted the words of Jesus to you?

A few days later… he and his friends play around down the narrow alley while they wait for me to finish talking with someone. He sent four of them off to Kampala earlier in the morning to a street kid center, where at least they will be a little bit safer for a little while. He couldn’t get enough money to send all of them though. Three of them pose while the fourth one takes photos on a borrowed camera phone. The sun shines so bright in the back that you can’t see their faces in the photo…only silhouettes. They turn their backs to me to make another pose. One boy, the size of my little brother, is wearing a dirty, faded shirt that says in bold letters on the back “KIDS MATTER HERE.” If kids mattered here, he wouldn’t be spending the day roaming the streets with bare feet and an empty stomach.  He would be in school. He would have a home to go to tonight when it gets dark and the fierce thunderstorm hits. Chances are, he has at least one parent somewhere. Maybe they remarried and the step-parent wouldn’t accept him. Maybe they are too poor so they sent him away to find a way to take care of himself. Maybe it wasn’t actually their fault… but I’m almost certain it wasn’t HIS fault, and whatever the story, I know that he probably doesn’t believe those words on his shirt.

Some cultures have a better grip than others on the value of children. But as the church, we should have the best grip…we should be the ones empowering people to take care of their children well. Teaching them to train their children and love them unconditionally the way that God loves us. If they have no one, we should be the first ones caring for them and protecting them. It might look a little bit different for the Church in Uganda and the Church in America… and it might look different for you and me. But everyone can do something.