India is divided into several castes. If are poor you are labeled in the Dalit caste. Christians are also known as Dalits here in India. Below the Dalits caste is the Untouchables caste. This caste is made up of the sick, the destitute, and those cast out of society for whatever reason.
Those who have contracted leprosy are in this category...yes, I said Leprosy...like in the Bible leprosy live lives ostracized by the rest of the community. It was with this group of people that we spent yesterday with.
There are many lepers colonies all throughout India. These colonies are specially designated areas for those afflicted with leprosy, also known as "Untouchables", to live. We ministered in one of these colonies to about 50 leprosy afflicted people. Men, women,..old and young....all suffering from a hideous disease that can be prevented and treated given the proper access.
These are the Untouchables...what does that even mean??? Untouchable....not worthy of touching....not capable of human contact. Sick people need a loving hand too...even more so. These people are inwardly crying out for someone to love on them, tell them that their life IS worth something even if they are sick. That even though their outward man is fading away that there IS hope in Jesus. I was thinking about Jesus today and how he loved everyone..especially the poor and the hurting, the dying and the destitute. It is His love for people that we should model our lives after. It is his passion to see people restored that should drive us to compassion. There are NO Untouchables to Jesus!
Those who have contracted leprosy are in this category...yes, I said Leprosy...like in the Bible leprosy live lives ostracized by the rest of the community. It was with this group of people that we spent yesterday with.
There are many lepers colonies all throughout India. These colonies are specially designated areas for those afflicted with leprosy, also known as "Untouchables", to live. We ministered in one of these colonies to about 50 leprosy afflicted people. Men, women,..old and young....all suffering from a hideous disease that can be prevented and treated given the proper access.
These are the Untouchables...what does that even mean??? Untouchable....not worthy of touching....not capable of human contact. Sick people need a loving hand too...even more so. These people are inwardly crying out for someone to love on them, tell them that their life IS worth something even if they are sick. That even though their outward man is fading away that there IS hope in Jesus. I was thinking about Jesus today and how he loved everyone..especially the poor and the hurting, the dying and the destitute. It is His love for people that we should model our lives after. It is his passion to see people restored that should drive us to compassion. There are NO Untouchables to Jesus!
0 comments:
Post a Comment