As I’m writing this I am at Indianapolis International Airport waiting to board a plane to Mumbai, India. I am traveling with a group of pastors and businessmen on a scouting trip for a future missions project.
Our plan is to build a center for hope in a hopeless town. This center will serve as a home, education center, and vocational school for girls and women who have been rescued from human trafficking.
I still do not travel overseas enough to be used to the long flights, jet lag and language barriers. It’s still all a little nerve-racking. However, I’m nervous for a different reason today.
I have been asked to share a teaching with a group of girls at an already existing home like the one we plan to build, and I’ve been confounded by what to speak on. I’ve been racking my brain for the last couple of weeks about this short devotional.
The constant question has been, “What do you share with a group of girls who have experienced the most horrific things this world has to offer? How does a 38-year-old, white, wealthy (at least according to their standards), American relate to children and teenagers who have been to hell and back? How can I minister to people who have been through the muck, the garbage, the filth and the sin of this world?”
Then it dawned on me: This is what I do every week as a minister.
You see, whether in Mumbai, India, or Greenfield, Indiana, our world is full of people who have experienced hurt, pain, offense, abuse, regret, guilt, shame and more. Whether your pain is emotional, physical, mental or spiritual, all of humanity knows the weight of a world without hope.
Every week I have the privilege of sharing hope with a hopeless world; this week is no different. The audience has changed, but the message has not. Jesus loves you, and he died and was raised to life to set you free from the consequences of sin.
2,000 years ago Jesus left the privileges of heaven to come to the muck, the garbage, the filth and the sin of this world. He experienced the most horrific things this world has to offer. He literally went to hell and back.
Why? Why did He do it? He did it because He was able to look past all of the junk and see broken, hurting people that He loved. People He could save. People He was willing to die for.
If you feel bound by the junk of life, reach out to Jesus. He is able to make your burden light. He is able to forgive you of your sin, and help you to forgive those who have sinned against you.
I think that is what I’ll share with these children in India.
Adam Detamore (@adetamore on Twitter) is pastor of Realife Church in Greenfield. This weekly column is written by local clergy members. Send comments to [email protected].
