Soon afterwards, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out – the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, ‘Don’t cry.’ Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’ The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. ‘A great prophet has appeared among us,’ they said. ‘God has come to help his people.’ This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. Luke 7:11-17 NIVUK In 1996 I had the special privilege of working in a short-term mission team in Cernavoda, Romania. I almost didn't make it. I spent a week in Budapest before travelling into Romania and let's just say the Hungarian food at the former communist youth camp where we stayed didn't really agree with me. On arrival in Cernavoda, we set to work. We had a really amazing time there, doing children's and youth programmes on the street, being hounded out of one village and almost arrested in the city. I got checked out in hospital for dehydration due to the fierce 40 degree heat. I preached my first sermon. I learned the Korean word for 'hurry up' to get some colleagues out of the bathroom on time. All in all it was an amazing trip, and it was the decisive trip that made me want to go back for much longer. During that mission we visited a place that has stayed in my memory ever since: St Laurence's Aids Hospice (now supported by Children in Distress).
This is a hospice for little children who had caught HIV either through the promiscuity of their parents or through infected blood or dirty needles in hospital. To make matters worse, there was still a great stigma around HIV/AIDS in the 1990s in Romania. These children had been abandoned by their loved ones. Drug treatments then were not what they are now. None of these children had a life expectancy of more than fourteen years. These children lived in close proximity to sickness, tragedy and death, through no fault of their own. Some of them had awful disabilities. One child, who was partially sighted and could barely walk shuffled over to me and asked me, "Are you my daddy?". My heart broke into smithereens when I had to tell him that I wasn't. But there was one child who encapsulated everything that centre was all about. Her name was Ionela. Deficiencies in her immune system had left her face smothered in sores to the point where she could barely see out of one eye and was badly disfigured. But this child, like so many children there, was a bundle of life and joy and enthusiasm and friendly to a fault. In fact, if you sat down for more than a few minutes, you would be guaranteed to have her land in your lap, before she ran off to sit on someone else. I showed her picture in a Wednesday night prayer meeting in my church when I returned. The room fell completely silent, apart from a few sniffs and sobs. That night I'm sure more than a few prayers were said for little Ionela. Compassion had came to my church in force. You see, compassion is not pity. Compassion is not feeling bad for someone. Compassion is having a fire burning in your soul, screaming at you that something is wrong and something has to be done about it. When I was younger, they used to call it "having a burden" for something. Friend, I want to tell you an astonishing truth that will change your perspective towards your situation. Jesus has a burden for you. Jesus has compassion for you. In a noisy, wailing crowd of suffering, He sees you. He knows your needs better than you know them yourself. And He can change your situation with a word; with His word. All you have to do is to stop for a second and listen. Do not believe the lie that your situation is too far gone for Him. The Jesus who touched a dead man's beir and raised Him from the dead with a handful of quiet, authoritative words is the same Jesus you worship, and the same Jesus who has compassion on you. Friend, do not give up. Seek His word. Trust in Him. And He will raise you up once more.
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