Protected

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Luke 10: 7-10

During the early years of our ministry among refugees, we saw how difficult it was for them to trust anybody. And they had good reason! In the countries they had left behind, there were plenty of people trying to take advantage of them—corrupt police, government officials looking for bribes. Then, when they got to America, they found so many con artists here, too—people who made large promises, but then took their money and ran. No wonder it was so hard for them to trust us when the Christians showed up!

There was only one thing we could do with people who had been harmed so often that they couldn’t trust anymore—and that was to behave as much like Jesus as we possibly could. Because Jesus came to us to be our Savior—not to get something out of us, but to save and protect us. He safeguards his sheep, even at the cost of his own life. And he has a special care for these people who have been so deeply damaged by others.

Pray for your new American neighbors who have trouble trusting. Ask the Lord to make himself known to them, so that they will have the best Protector in the world—the One who died and rose again to make them his own.

Dear Father, protect my new neighbors and bring them under the care of the Good Shepherd, Jesus our Lord. Amen.

By Dr. Kari Vo