Sometimes God uses something very simple to remind us of his love for us. What did God use to speak to a young boy and a grown man in Philadelphia? Ken Burg of Minnesota tells us the story.
Several years ago I was ministering to Hmong refugees in a church just outside of Philadelphia. One day I was feeling lonely and blue. I was visiting some Hmong families in a very impoverished section of Philadelphia. Graffiti, abandoned buildings, and heaps of trash were all around.
I spotted a Hmong boy playing in a vacant lot. Sam was about six years old and attended our church. Always quick with a smile, he looked at me with a toothless grin. My heart broke to think that this vacant lot was his playground. No trees. No swings. No basketball court. Just broken glass and piles of discarded bricks, concrete and junk. It all seemed so hopeless and sad. Often I wondered, “How are these people going to find hope in an environment like this?”
Just then he pointed to a lone dandelion at his feet. I will never forget what he did next. While still pointing, he looked up at me with that beaming little face and in his broken English said, “Jesu love me.”
My heart leaped as tears came to my eyes. Little Sam reminded me that Jesus is indeed all around us. If he could find Jesus’s love in the ghetto, certainly I could be thankful in the midst of my little problems. All of God’s creation speaks to us: “Jesus loves me.”
Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. Isaiah 6:3b (NIV)