The man with two tunics should share with him who has none. Luke 3:11
Hope
The Doorway to Recovery
by Daryl Martin
I had the privilege of serving in Pakistan with some friends recently. We served in the mountain top village of Bugna in the Kashmir region of Pakistan. We served with Human Development Foundation (HDF), headquartered in Islamabad, which operates a field hospital and relief goods distribution center in Bugna.
The destruction from the earthquake was evident everywhere. The first time I walked into a destroyed home and saw the piles of stone and dirt I felt weak in my knees. It looked overwhelming. We gave assistance to several families by helping remove the rubble from the foundation of their homes so they can begin to rebuild.
One family we helped for three days by moving tons and tons of dirt and rock with shovels and canvas bags. The first couple days the family members watched and helped a bit. It is not unusual for a sense of hopelessness to settle in after such a complete loss. Many in those circumstances find it hard to start the process back to recovery. By the third day, however, the whole family was out helping us. To me it felt like a day of reaping the success of the other days of labor. They were able to walk through the doorway of hope onto the path to recovery.
I saw evidence of God’s faithfulness to us. Several from the team shared that they did not have much skill in the area of rubble removal and construction but they were willing to do what they could. I saw God take their willing hearts and multiply the work of their hands so that they were able to accomplish more than they or I could have imagined. God did this for the display of his splendor!
