Let’s be honest. I have no clue why you decided to click on whatever link brought you here. I don’t know why your eyes are skipping across these words right now. And I’m definitely lacking a reason for your decision to invest your time in reading about my life. But since when do I have to know why in order to be thankful that you are? Feel me? And in a similar way, we don’t have to know why God chooses to do (or not to do) certain things in order to be thankful that He does. Yeah. Anyway, I just wanted to remind you that I’m thankful for you. And that last bit was a rabbit trail God opened up, so I took it. Moving on…

At the end of September, I flew to Malawi to help out our new CUREkids Coordinator at our hospital in Blantyre. In some ways, it felt like a country girl’s trip to the big city. In other ways, it just felt like visiting extended family. Each of our hospitals are CURE, but they’re unique, almost like one brand of ice cream offering 20 different flavors. And while I could ramble on with some sort of venn diagram comparison of CURE Kenya & CURE Malawi, the differences aren’t the point. Just as God desires of us throughout His Word, we are all members of one family, with one heart that beats for the One who gives us the chance to serve those in need. That’s the point. So here’s what I believe is well worth telling: Ellen’s story.

The infant clubfoot clinic at our Blantyre hospital is on Thursdays, and on the Thursday before I left, Ellen showed up at the clinic with her mother, Maria, and older sister, Mada. They’d come once before, but hadn’t shown up for awhile. And since our infant clubfoot treatment depends on consistent weekly casting in the beginning stages, Ellen would pretty much have to start back at square one. Doctors thought simply re-emphasizing the importance of consistency would do the trick. But with that little “chat” came the unveiling of a much bigger picture. Maria is blind. Her husband was also blind, that is until thugs broke into their home and killed him back in February of this year. Since then, Mada, at a whopping 7 years old, has had to become eyes for her mother, feet for her little sister, and the glue trying to hold their family together. They haven’t been able to stay faithful to the treatment schedule for Ellen, because by day, they’re begging on the streets of Blantyre, and by night, they’re praying to see another day. While I was upstairs washing out my coffee cup, I could see the 3 of them from the window overlooking the courtyard where they were finishing up lunch. Maria was sitting down, listening to her girls play. Mada was playing peek-a-boo with Ellen. And then, after a gentle prompt, their interaction turned into some sort of choreographed dance: Mada got up, organized her mother’s bags and umbrella, picked up Ellen & placed her on Maria’s back, waited for Maria to secure Ellen with a wrap, put the bags around her neck & held the umbrella, waited for Maria’s grasp on her shoulders, and then started walking. Ellen on Maria’s back. Maria “on” Mada’s shoulders. After I managed to shake myself from the trance I was in, I went downstairs to join Lawrence, our Malawian CUREkids assistant, to get some pictures & video of the trio. As we sat in the grass capturing their interactions, I can’t fully express the feeling that comes over you when you’re around them. While their circumstances might justify depression, anger, doubt, sadness, or bitterness, they radiate love, peace, hope, happiness, trust, and perseverance that transcends worldly explanation. Here’s the link to Ellen’s CUREkids profile: Ellen Sawasawa.

When I encounter people like that, there is something that pinches in my heart that says, “Something has to be done to help them.” I’m hoping you get that pinch too, because when confronted with desperate need, if we aren’t compelled to help, I’d wonder if our heart was too small to even find somewhere to pinch. Because I know that there’s nothing that happens in life that God doesn’t cause or allow, so I know that when we cross paths with those in need, it can be a pretty telling EKG of our heart health. Now at this point, I’m going to go ahead and apologize for the stream of consciousness writing that might happen, because a few different things are coming to my mind…

• Maybe you’re thinking, “Well Jenny, it’s easy for you to see need, because you live in a third world country. I doubt I’ll ever encounter someone like Maria…that just doesn’t happen here.” Touché. But getting past the literal and into the spiritual, there are blind people everywhere. Family, friends, co-workers, your teacher, the cashier at the grocery store, the waitress at the restaurant, the mechanic, the lady ahead of you in line, your kid’s soccer coach. You know who I’m talkin’ about. They are walking blind. And as long as our hearts aren’t pinching for them, I’d say we’re walking blind too. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4, 3:16)
• Spiritual blindness affects life here & in eternity. Physical blindness just affects life here. So I’d say spiritual blindness is a condition in far greater need of help compared to the blindness Maria experiences. That might sound far fetched to you, but I doubt Maria would trade her life of worldly poverty & spiritual wealth for one of worldly wealth & spiritual poverty. She needs and deserves our help, for sure, but we know that nothing we provide for her here will rival what God has assured her through faith in His Son.
• You’ve probably heard the saying “the blind leading the blind” and I see it happening in two ways: 1- Unbelievers continuing to model their lives after other unbelievers. 2- Believers hesitating to put their faith into action, making excuses for not fully accepting God’s command to lead the lost, and walking blind to the severity of need around them.

I know for me, I have to consistently ask God for His eyes to see need in all it’s different forms. I want to have a heart that gets pinched just as much by encountering spiritual need as it does by physical need. Because I don’t want to see our kids here at the hospital leaving with just a physical need met. That need is temporary & limited to life here on earth. I want to give them a cure-all, and in order to do that, I can’t be walking through our ward blind. A bowed leg is easy to see. A burn contracture. A clubfoot. And while I believe God is definitely concerned with those physical ailments, He’s the One who not only searches the skin or the bones, He searches the heart, because that’s the “meat and potatoes” of it all. So in order to see the heart need in the people around us, in order to diagnose the spiritual condition, we have to give up our eyes for His and walk “blindly” by faith, not by sight. Open the eyes He’s given you through His Spirit to see who’s walking blind around you, because I think that’s when your heart will pinch for the things that pinch God’s heart most.

“And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.” Isaiah 42:16 (ESV)

Originally posted at: http://nashipai.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/walking-blind/.