I Know a Man

I know a man who represents the Kingdom of Heaven.
I can't tell you his name, or where he lives or even what he does for a living.  It's too dangerous.
I have met this man personally and my family has been blessed by his actions.
Here is what I can tell you about him:
He works three jobs, well in excess of 80 hrs. per week.
He lives on a dirt road and raw sewage runs along side of it.
His house is made of cement and cinder block and the roof is made of sheet metal.
His windows do not have glass or until recently even screen, and there is no indoor bathroom.
He doesn't have a refrigerator or microwave. Such things would be useless since there are only a few hours of electricity per week.
He doesn't own a car, he rides in crowded cabs and buses everywhere he goes.
He has nine children, six of whom still live in his house, and did I mention that he shares his house with another family?
Despite all of this he has cared for more than 20 foster children.
For the past two years he has provided a home for at least 5 foster kids at any given time.
For a while last spring he had nine foster children in his house.
He has spent countless hours on hot crowded buses and cabs without air conditioning, breathing astoundingly polluted air in the process of walking nearly 100 families through the adoption process.
He has escorted, translated, interpreted for and protected scores of families as they visited his country.
He has delivered several tons of aid to more than ten orphanages in his country.
He, along with his wife, has nursed several children back to health from the brink of death.
He and his family have suffered from diseases that were transmitted from the children that he has cared for.
He has spent countless hours waiting outside of offices and waiting rooms on behalf of people he has never met.
He has worked through the night many times and no one really knows the last time he took a day off.

Despite all of the discomfort that this man experiences in life, he is willing to continually sacrifice his time, energy and resources on behalf of orphans and strangers.  Unless you have met this man personally, unless you have been to his country, been to his house and met his family, you can not appreciate his personal sacrifice.  Why would he do this, why would he make such sacrifices when nobody would blame him to seek comfort and diversion (beer consumption in his country is extreme).  Why? Because this man is a follower of Christ.  He truly understands what it means to emulate Christ. He LIVES the sermon on the mount. The reality is he is surrounded by poverty, violence, corruption and evil.  Despite this he works fervently to push forward another reality, the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven. 

This man is my hero.  This man saved Haven's life. 
For that I will be forever grateful.

Thank You and your family
L.L.O.

Amen and Amen

Brian