Looking for Jesus in Disguise (part 2)
On Christmas we celebrate the magic of the incarnation. In yesterday’s blog I asked “what if Jesus returned to earth, once more in disguise?” The story continues today as reported in Marisa Banas’ blog series on what happened when she felt God asking her to take a Kenyan street urchin named Allen as her son. These events are unfolding in real time this Christmas eve in Eldoret, Kenya. The ending is yet to be written.
Walking to the supermarket, I put my arm around Allen and through my interpreter, Meshack, I told him that he was special. I explained to him that he was loved by God and that he could talk to God like I talk to him. I also told him to ask God for to bring his dreams to pass.
Once at the store, I was on the hunt for a cheap but effective anti-bacteria soap. I was going to scrub this kid down from head to toe. Determined to get every germ off of him, I thought, Well, if we are going to wash his body we are going to have to wash his clothes too. I looked him over from top to bottom and I knew I was in for some heavy manual labor. His sweatshirt was filled with sharp prickers, his jeans, which were once a light color were now stained black. I didn’t know how we were going to actually do the wash, but I bought some detergent in faith. Walking back I found out that there was a river behind the church.
We walked through a garbage dump, thickets and someone’s garden before we finally arrived. Allen stripped down and I retreated to a different section to scrub his clothes in the river. Meshack helped Allen and then took over the washing responsibilities. (I don’t think Africans like to see white people doing work.) Allen’s outfit had never been washed before.
As we walked back to the church, Allen half naked, I kept thinking, “He needs a father.”
We took him to my home first. I put him in a bunk bed that none of us will sleep on because it hurts our backs.
However, he was overjoyed at the opportunity.
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Following..love this story..can’t wait for ending
St. Theresa said “…Christ has no hands here but mine, no feet, no…but ours…” It is very evident in this sister’s decision to allow Jesus to “snore” above her. May all of us have “snorers” bringing the life of Jesus to our hearts.
Hey Marisa, carry on crusader of the cross, Jesus is smiling over you. For you have obeyed his word, and he rejoices in talking about you to the Father.
What an amazing story of the love of God in action. Washing the boy down, making him clean, sorting his dirty clothes, breaking the heart over the chains that hold him and giving him the father he needs. Yeah, that all sounds just like my God at work. Marisa, a thousand blessings on what you are doing. God is loving it……and so am I!
We are never so near to Jesus as when we are surrounded by His comforting discomfort.
Thanks, Seth
i love the lyrics by over the rhine –
The last time I saw Jesus
I was drinking bloody mary’s in the South
In a barroom in New Orleans
Rinsin’ out the bad taste in my mouth
She wore a dark and faded blazer
With a little of the lining hanging out
When the jukebox played Miss Dorothy Moore
I knew that it was him without a doubt.
I love that lyric too! was playing it for someone last week in fact. what a chip off the old block you are, Tal.