In my last blog, I introduced you to Hilda and her amazing, hope-filled work with children in the slum of Dandora, Nairobi, Kenya. She held onto hope for 15 years, and as a result a worship center was built that had a profound impact on the community. It’s been my privilege to work together with her.
On one trip, I knew a contested election had sparked riots across Kenya and angry mobs had torched practically everything since our last visit. Hilda greeted me, then said, “You have got to see this.” She dragged me over to the fence.
“Look over there. What do you see?” Everything had been burned and blackened—except the church.
“Do you know what happened?” she said. “When the riots broke out, everybody hid in their houses. But when the mobs started to approach the church, the women of the community ran out of their houses and stood in front of the building. ‘You will not torch this church,’ they insisted. ‘This is where our children get help.’ The mobs walked right by the church, and it was left untouched.”
I was standing in the middle of what looked like a war zone, listening to a lady who has very few resources but who has a huge heart and even greater hope. Her church building still stands today, instead of lying in a smoldering heap like the buildings around it. Why? Because her hope infected her neighborhood. Her unyielding compassion, fueled by hope, deeply encouraged her destitute community and, in turn, emboldened its members to seek ways to spread that compassion.
Adequate resources don’t change the world. People with hearts strengthened by hope change the world!
In my next blog, I’m going to write about the top three human essentials.
YOUR HQ BOOSTER
Compassion—fueled by hope—makes your courageous.