Saturday, June 28

By Sherri Kirkpatrick of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, USA

The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their refuge in the time of trouble. The Lord helps them and rescues them…and saves them, because they take refuge in him.

—Psalm 37:39–40 NRSV

We met with the Kafwa health workers in Kasompe, Zambia. They took us on home visits to six clients. What a powerful experience! These incredibly courageous and upbeat people live in extreme poverty with few creature comforts.

To a person they thanked us profusely for visiting their little homes and beamed with pride that “visitors” had taken time to see them.

The Kafwa have an emergency fund provided by HealthEd Connect. It provides critically needed items for their clients. During the last six months, they spent about 90 Zambian dollars and accounted for every Kwacha (currency of Zambia) in a well-kept ledger. The ledger includes an account of the need with the items bought. It touched me that they had arranged transport to the hospital for a client who had no family.

Though the Kafwa workers essentially had done all they could and had placed her in the care of medical professionals, their care and compassion did not end. They took a few of their precious Kwacha from the emergency fund and spent it on bus transportation to the hospital to let their client know she was not alone and forgotten. She passed away while in care. However, she had Kafwa working for her until the end.

Prayer for Peace Comforting God, help us to be comforters, too. May those in need find refuge in us. May we bring hope to those who cry alone. May we share with them the peace of Christ.

Spiritual Practice: The International Community Find (or imagine) a globe or map of the world. Look at all the nations, and find a country other than your own. Notice the geographic distance between your homeland and this one. Picture a person living there. Pray for this person. Sense God’s love connecting you just as the oceans connect the continents. Thank God for the spiritual connection you have with all of God’s people around the globe. Ask a blessing on the church as a community sharing Christ’s peace, drawing all into the family of God.

Peace Covenant Today, God, I will stay by the side of a person in need, and not leave the person alone.