Brothers and Sisters

The sad facts about Hong Kong.  $28 HK dollars is about $4 Canadian.  $3,275 HK is @$430 Canadian.

Matthew 25: 31-40

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

   ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

   ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

   ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

What I am learning about the least of my brothers and sisters is that more than food and shelter and drink, they need to be invited into your life.  For whatever reason, mental, bad circumstances, bad choices, etc there are brothers and sisters who end up in a very poor state.  I have for the most part ignored the least of my brothers and sisters, walking by them, shunning them, busy fussing over my plans and what I need to do.  Yet the chance to pause and spend some time with the least of my brothers and sisters with the members of the Fuk Lam ministry has been amazing.  Last Tuesday we spent some time with a 96 year old woman who lives under three traps strung up in a narrow alley way.  She gratefully accepted our food and drink with a smile.  As we talked with this fine woman, one of the ladies of the ministry ran off to a pharmacy and got medicine because the old lady had a bad gash on her shin.  When she got back she took care of the wound.  We spent about a half hour with the this old lady and as we talked other people from that alleyway stopped by to chat with the old lady and us.  It was as if our taking time to be with her was a signal to others that this was ok to do.  

We visited three other people that night.  In each and every case they welcomed the food, water, and friendship with smiles and gratitude.  Some even allowed us to pray for them.  While there was an obvious language barrier, compassion and gratitude is easily conveyed through physical gestures and actions.  

Finally the experience on Tuesday night showed me once again that I have high living standard and that I need to be much more grateful for it.

Have a great week everyone.

God bless you!

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk   

The back alley where the 96 year old woman lives.

  This brother, shirtless, collects cardboard to exchange for a few dollars at the end of the day.

 The poor are often seen in a blur, ignored and marginalized.  This brother has received a carton of food from the Fuk Lam Ministry.

  Brother on the street.  Almost invisible he is surrounded by a few bags holding all his earthly possessions.

The cardboard from the poor are wrapped in plastic and then sent off to be recycled.