Am I willing to help?
By Jessica Brodie
I looked into her eyes and my heart tugged—literally tugged. Her name is Dulce, and she lives about fifteen-hundred miles from me, somewhere in rural Guatemala with her parents. She’s kind, intelligent, and good at math; this much I know.
She’s also saddled with something most ten-year-old girls don’t have to deal with. Dulce is living with a painful genetic bone marrow disease called fanconi anemia.
And if she doesn’t get a bone marrow transplant, she’ll die. Only, they don’t do those procedures where she lives. She’ll need to travel to another country to have a chance at life.
“If you can do anything to help…”
The pastor, who is also a medical doctor who runs the clinic where he met her, had emailed me those words, for in addition to blogging, writing faith articles and fiction, and serving as a writing coach and editor, I also run a monthly religious newspaper for The United Methodist Church (the Advocate) that reaches thousands of people each month. He was emailing to see if I could share news about their efforts to help Dulce with my readers. And his words reverberated across my mind.
If I can…?
I knew it in my core: It wasn’t a matter of if. Rather, the real question was would I help?
Of course I could get an article in my newspaper. That’s easy.
But those deep, dark eyes staring back at me from her photograph, gazing into my soul, wouldn’t let me go.
I needed to do more.
And so I prayed for Dulce. I gave money to help Dulce. And I decided to volunteer to be a team leader for the GoFundMe campaign set up by her doctors at Healing Guatemala, the organization trying to help her.
I’m sharing Dulce’s story, opening my heart to Dulce, because I need to… I can… and it’s the right thing to do.
I’m doing it because I care, and when I care for someone like Dulce, I’m caring for Jesus.
That’s what Jesus said, isn’t it? As he told his disciples in the parable of the sheep and goats, “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, 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. Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 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’” (Matthew 25:35-40 NIV).
We don’t have much to offer Jesus. There’s very little he requires—believe, repent, and follow him. Love God, and love people. Go and tell the world about him so all can have the same opportunity we have.
Make no mistake: We can’t possibly earn salvation by anything we do in this world.
But, Jesus tells us, when we love other people— especially people like Dulce, who can’t possibly do for themselves, who are hungry or poor or in prison, who have no way forward but through miracles and the kindness of others—that’s how we can show love for him. That’s how we can express gratitude for all we have been given.
For me, today, loving Dulce by trying to help her and send money to get her the lifesaving bone marrow transplant she needs is that way.
Perhaps it’s a way for you, too.
Dr. Luke Rhyee, the South Carolina pastor who leads Healing Guatemala, was able to find a hospital in South Korea that has agreed to help financially and do Dulce’s procedure, but the steep cost isn’t something they can cover alone, even though the cost of the treatment in South Korea is about a third of that in the United States. So Healing Guatemala is doing whatever they can to raise $100,000 to get her there and help pay for what the hospital doesn’t cover.
If you want to help, visit their page at https://gofund.me/802224ae or the Healing Guatemala website at https://healingguatemala.org. You don’t need to be a millionaire or a mighty prayer warrior to help, either… it’s so much simpler than anyone thinks.
But whether you help Dulce or not, consider: can you do something to help her, or someone else, in the same of Jesus? And if you can, will you?
I can, and I will. Will you?
This Christmas, ponder this deep in your heart. Then, empowered by the Holy Spirit, act.
God bless you, my friends. Merry Christmas.
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THANKS TO MY SPONSORS: MATT BRODIE, KATHLEEN PATELLA, AND BILLY ROBINSON.
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