The Heart of God Towards the Poor and SufferingНамуна

At eight-years-old, Hernando has never been to school because his mother simply can’t afford to send him. A product of a broken home, he lives in a dilapidated shack in a rural region of the Philippines where poverty and hunger are widespread.

Hunger and unsanitary living conditions have taken a toll on Hernando’s body. His frame is tiny and he suffers from a skin disease that is common among children in the Philippines who are living in extreme poverty.

But Hernando has recently found a glimmer of hope after being enrolled in Convoy of Hope’s children's feeding program in his neighborhood. When he first came to the program, he was literally starving to death. Now, Hernando receives a meal everyday through Convoy of Hope and it’s supporters and sometimes is able to bring home food to his family.

“My dream is to someday have three meals a day,” Hernando says.

What you and I consider normal, this little boy dreams of. He is one of millions. Jesus commented in Matthew 25 that when we serve people like Hernando, we are serving him. What we do or don’t do for others in need is a reflection of how we treat Christ.

In order to grow in the area of compassion, it is important to see why it is that God cares for the poor. He cares because Jesus relates to the poor. He takes it both seriously and personally how we treat the suffering around us. God insists that if we do not imitate his concern for the poor we are not really his people—no matter how frequent our worship or how orthodox our creeds.

Christ represents himself to us in a special way in the hungry, the naked, the sick and the prisoner. He is among us in the outcasts and the oppressed of our age. Their cry for justice is Christ's cry for justice.

The next time you have an opportunity to serve someone, take a moment to see them as Christ does before you walk away. Be aware that Jesus is the Poor One among us.