The Christian life is a chance to die to yourself for the sake of Christ – for the sake of others in need. So find a way to work for justice in your community.
One of my heroes of the Christian faith is the missionary Amy Carmichael.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and let me tell you why she’s my hero. Back in the late 1800s, this young woman left her home in Ireland to serve the Lord in India. And soon after Amy Carmichael arrived, she was distressed to learn that little girls were being sold into prostitution at local Hindu temples. These children were dedicated to the Hindu gods and they were forced into temple prostitution in order to earn money for the Hindu priests. Sometimes these were orphan girls, but often families who sold their little ones to the temple because they needed extra money. Amy’s heart ached for these girls; she wanted to start an orphanage hoping to rescue them. But the Hindu priests resented her intrusion into their affairs, and they incited British businessmen to try to stop her.
That’s when Amy went to the high priest himself. But he was not about to hand the girls over to her. Everything seemed to be against her, and she went home thinking that she would have to forget helping these young prostitutes. Perhaps, she thought, this was not to be her burden. But then, in her time of seeking the Lord about this matter, it seemed to her that she saw Jesus kneeling alone as he knelt long ago weeping in the garden of Gethsemane under the olive trees. In her thoughts, it seemed as though he were weeping for the children of India. Would she share his burden and weep alongside Christ? Later, referring to that moment, she wrote, “The only thing that one who cared could do, was to go softly and kneel… beside Him, [my Savior], so that He would not be alone in His sorrow over the little children.”
God eventually used Amy to rescue hundreds of child prostitutes from temples. She founded the Dohnavur Fellowship, which became a sanctuary for over 1000 children who, otherwise, would have wasted away as prostitutes for life. Amy Carmichael often traveled long distances on India's hot, dusty roads to save just one child from suffering. While serving in India, she received a letter from a young woman who was considering life as a missionary. The young person asked Amy, "What is missionary life like?" And Amy wrote back, "Missionary life is simply a chance to die." My goodness, what a story. God calls all of us to lay down our lives, to die to ourselves so that others who suffer might be rescued and might be saved. That was Amy’s story. But it’s not just her story.
Because there are urgent, pressing, horrible injustices happening against children, even in your own community. I know that I am struck by the desperate plight of children with disabilities around the world. Is there not something we can do, should do to address these injustices for the sake of Jesus? When we consider all the brokenness and wickedness in our world, do we see Jesus kneeling and weeping, interceding on behalf of the vulnerable who have no one to speak up for them? Psalm 82 tells us to "Defend the weak… uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Friend, the Christian life is simply a chance to die to yourself for the sake of Christ, for the sake of others in need. So find a way you can work for justice in your community. Or you can always join us at Joni and Friends, whether serving on a Wheels for the World team or helping children with disabilities at our Family Retreat. Like Amy Carmichael, let’s get about rescuing the needy. Find out how you can do just that at joniradio.org. God bless you today, and thanks for listening!
© Joni and Friends