Finding the Lost Art of Empathy by Tracy Wilde

Author:Tracy Wilde
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Howard Books

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I. William Barclay, A Beginner’s Guide to the New Testament (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995), Matthew: p. 2, Mark: pp. 6–7, Luke: pp. 10–11.

II. N. T. Wright, Luke for Everyone (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), 127–28.

III. Ibid.

CHAPTER 6

Compassion Fatigue

Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.

—M OTHER TERESA

When I was nineteen years old, I went to southern India on a church missions trip. I had been on other trips like this before but not to a Third World nation like India. We spent several weeks giving basic necessities (e.g., toothbrushes, toothpaste, brushes, deodorant) to orphans, widows, and those living with the effects of leprosy throughout southern India. I hadn’t realized leprosy existed outside the New Testament until this trip. We went to leper colonies where we gave basic care packages to men, women, and children who were missing limbs, parts of their face, and disfiguring sores and lumps all over their bodies.

I was overwhelmed by the need I saw as we stood side by side and worshipped God with these beautiful people. They greeted our young American missions team with big smiles and hugs. They were so grateful not only for the necessities we brought them but the kindness and companionship that came with them.

As you know, India has a caste system. This social class structure places these poor victims of leprosy at the bottom of their caste system. Just as in the Bible, they are the lowest of the low. Christian mission in that part of the world has provided relief and comfort to these neglected people. One thing that astonished me was the joy that permeated those people. Each colony is located far from civilization, and inhabitants do not have much, if any, contact with the rest of their society. But they were all full of joy.

We also visited schools, orphanages, and widows’ homes. The widows broke my heart as much as the leper colonies had. These women (ranging in age) are basically living in a sort of orphanage for women who have lost their husbands and have no social or economic standing in their country. I will never forget one beautiful widow who grabbed my face and, with tears pouring down her face, began praying for me. The translator who was traveling with our team quickly came over to translate her prayer. She was praying for America and me. She said if God would save America, then the whole world could be saved. Tears were now cascading down my face too, and I was overcome by this woman’s boldness to pray for the United Sates and me. These widows pray hours upon hours a day for America. I felt so convicted for not having this same fervency for my own nation (or for theirs).

At the conclusion of our trip, we stopped in Mumbai, where I was introduced to the shocking reality of the sex trade industry. On one of our last

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