“Whom shall I send?” God asked Isaiah. “And who will go for us?”
The nation of Israel was in uproar. The kings had all forsaken God. The people had done no less. Idolatry, poverty, theft, prostitution, and lies were rampant. And God looked down at this nation He had chosen for Himself out of all the nations of the earth, and He said in affect, “I have something to accomplish. Who will do My will?”
More than 2,500 years later, God is still asking the same question.
Have you heard Him?
He’s calling for teachers for the street children in Haiti. He’s calling for nurses in the displacement camps of Africa. He’s calling for advocates in the red light districts of India. He’s calling for parents for messed-up social kids in America. He’s calling for businessmen for the jobless in Mexico. He’s calling for counselors for the drug addicts in England. He’s calling for friends for the neighbor across the street. He’s calling for a lot.
And the widow, the orphan, the homeless, the fatherless, the helpless - they’re calling with Him.
I’ve heard their voices.
Not all of them. Not like God has.
But I’ve heard enough.
I read their words as recorded by Tresor Yenyi in his book Journey to the Heart of Darkness. “We need prayers because people hate us. They say that we are a curse to the community. But we did not ask to be raped . . .” The girl who wrote this was sixteen the day she was forcibly dragged from her school and taken into the jungle by the men of an Interahamwe group. They shot two of the girls taken with her.
Another girl writes this: “People make fun of me because I am a rape victim. I spent months crying because of what happened to me, and I am ashamed when I meet people because of what has happened to me. I stopped going to school, even though I want to learn and hoped to become a tailor. I wanted to be famous in the village for the good work I had done. I pray that God will send people of good will to come help me.” Her name is Grace. She was fourteen years old when she was raped.
I pray that God will send people of good will to come help me.
I read that sentence, and I thought, “She’s praying for me. She’s asking God to send someone like me. Not someone. Me.”
Do you hear her, or is it just a voice in my head?
They’re begging for people to listen. They’re begging for people to care. They’re begging for people to pray. They’re begging for people to give. They’re begging for people to come.
What are we doing while they’re begging?
