How Good is the God We Adore by Charles Harvey

Author:Charles Harvey [Harvey, Charles ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780692229507
Published: 2014-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

In 1995 my nephew John was returning to his home when he was hit by a 6-wheeled truck. He was badly injured, his head taking the brunt of the collision. There were no hospitals nearby, so my sister, Ursula, and her husband, Francis, had to rush him to Zimbabwe a few hours away. The unconscious little boy clung very tentatively to life.

The story of how his mother cradled him in her arms while she and Francis cried out to God for his life, the drama at the border crossing, and the way their God and Father provided for them at the hospital in Harare is an inspiring one. But it was the full recovery that John made that is simply unexplainable in any other terms but that a miracle had taken place.

Soon after, I had the joy of visiting Ursula, Francis, and their children John (who had been restored to perfect health), Matthew, and Lisa in Mozambique. I flew into Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, which was experiencing an economic downturn and an increase in ethnic tension resulting from dictator Robert Mugabe’s decision to redistribute land to the black population. Francis, Ursula, and I traveled overland into Mozambique.

They were missionaries ministering to orphans created by a previous civil war and had built a school for hundreds of children; their love for and empathy with the poor and underprivileged in their area was an inspiration to me. My little sister had grown up and become “the fragrance of Christ” to children and staff alike. Francis, by God’s grace, had achieved miracles in building the school and in taking full responsibility for the expenses associated with it. Theirs is an inspiring ministry built upon love and a clear understanding of the God-given dignity of every child.

Their work wonderfully affirms Mother Teresa’s thought that, “Few things are as close to God’s heart as helping the poor and the oppressed. But preeminently important is Jesus Christ Himself. He is more significant than any ministry, no matter how good or noble. Only Christ is central; everything else is only to Him and for Him.”

What a wonderful expression of the extravagant grace of God that Ursula and I, siblings in a family from a small town in the West of Ireland, had both been privileged with the call of God on our lives to bring the message of redeeming love, hope, and restoration to vulnerable and poverty-stricken children in two of the most needy areas on two continents. How exquisite is the God we love and adore!

Earlier I mentioned Uncle Dennis and the love that he had for Jesus Christ. My father once told me my great-grandfather had been a Church of England minister in Exeter. I am convinced the godly lives and prayers of these and other family members gained favor with the God whom they loved and adored during their own life times and that their descendants are also reaping the benefits of their Christian witness and heritage. Lives lived to the glory of God transcend time, geography, and the natural laws governing us while on earth.

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