Poor Foreigners?
“When you reap the harvest of your land,
do not reap to the very edges of your field
or gather the gleanings of your harvest.
Do not go over your vineyard a second time
or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave
them for the poor and the foreigner. I am
the Lord your God.”
(Leviticus 19:9-10 NIV)
As Christians, we can sometimes become detached from the suffering and struggles around us. Going through our daily routines, we don’t always see and hear about the difficulty others may be going through. This is especially true in times like these when each day seems to bring a new challenge.
I am so thankful for our dedicated frontline messengers who serve throughout South Asia. They keep us updated on the needs and struggles they encounter so that we can pray and respond. In all of the regions we serve, thousands have lost what meager livelihood they could earn because of nationwide shutdowns. Street vendors and day laborers are some of the hardest hit. These are men and women with families who rely on that income to survive.
In one region, our team was made aware of a slum where the conditions were particularly desperate. It is inhabited by a group of stranded street vendors who have no work, no way to get back to their families and no food. That same slum had also become home to a large group of transgenders. Being outcast by society and without income due to the travel restrictions that have all but ended tourism in the area, they are lost and barely surviving. They need more than food. They need the Light of God’s Love to set them free. The Psalmist tells us to, “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked,” (Psalm 82:3-4NIV). Our team has begun to provide food and other staples to those living in this slum and they are ministering to them as well. Please pray for breakthrough!
My friend, revival is breaking out in the most unusual places. We are hearing reports from all over the world that God showing up in the midst of all this chaos – breaking chains and setting the captives free.
We must not rest in days like this, but rather, continue to pray…to be light in the darkness…and to speak life where there is death.
By remembering the poor in our giving, we also open doors that may otherwise never have opened to share the love of God with them. Thank you for standing with Alpha Ministries in this great work! God bless you!
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim
good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners.”
(Isaiah 61:1)
