Wess Stafford is an
internationally recognized advocate for children in poverty. He has also been
the president of Compassion International for over two decades, a ministry that
leads the world in child sponsorships. In one of his books, Stafford wrote
about a teacher who learned a valuable lesson about compassion.
Several years ago, a
public school teacher was hired and assigned to visit children who were
patients in a large city hospital. Her job was to tutor them so they wouldn’t
fall too far behind in their studies while they were recovering.
One day this teacher received
a routine assignment. She took the boy’s name, hospital and room number. She
contacted the boy’s regular teacher by phone and was told on the other side of
the line, “We’re studying nouns and adverbs in class right now. I’d be grateful
if you could help him with his homework.”
It wasn’t until she got
outside the boy’s room that she realized it was located in the hospital’s burn
unit. No one had prepared her for what she was about to discover on the other
side of the door. Before being allowed to enter, she had to put on a sterile
hospital gown and cap because of the possibility of infection. She was told not
to touch the boy or his bed. She could stand near, but must speak through the
mask she had to wear.
When she finally had
completed all the preliminary washings and was dressed in the prescribed
coverings, she took a deep breath and walked into the room. The young boy,
horribly burned, was in a great deal of pain. The teacher felt awkward and didn’t
know what to say, but she had gone too far to just walk out. Finally, she was
able to stammer out, “I’m the special visiting hospital teacher, and your
regular teacher sent me to help you with your nouns and adverbs.” Afterward,
she thought it was not one her more successful tutoring sessions.
The next morning when she
returned, one of the nurses on the burn unit asked her, “What did you say to
that boy?” Before she could finish apologizing, the nurse interrupted her by
saying, “You don’t understand. We’ve been worried about him, but ever since you
were here yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He’s fighting back,
responding to treatment . . . It’s as though he’s decided to live.”
The boy later explained
that he had completely given up hope and felt like he was going to die, until
he saw that special teacher. With happy years in his eyes, the little boy who
had been burned so badly expressed his transformation like this, “They wouldn’t
send a special teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, now would
they?”[1]
Sometimes we impart hope
to others by just showing up with compassion and doing what we can in the name
of Christ. Never discount the small acts of compassion. A few encouraging words,
a short visit, a warm hug, a cup of cold water—can change someone’s life for
eternity.
There is a simple passage
in Matt. 9:36-37 which contains a profound truth, “35 And Jesus went throughout
all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the
gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When
he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Now obviously, we can’t do
miracles like Jesus did, but notice what this passage tells us about his
pattern. He went to where hurting people were, “their cities and villages.” Then
He saw their suffering and that’s when His heart was moved into action. A four-step
pattern emerges: Go. See. Feel. Act. The first step is always that most
daunting. We have to get beyond the gated community, off the couch and out of
your comfort zone. If we are going to display Christ-like compassion, we must enter
the poverty and brokenness of this world. Allow our eyes to behold ugly things
that break our hearts. We must be wounded by the plight of the people that inhabit
our fallen planet. Instead of blogging, tweeting or posting about it, we must
respond like Jesus did. True compassion crushes our heart and then moves our
hands into action. -DM
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