- Evangelism: You were made for a mission
Author:
Linda Gehrs
It was
hot, humid, and sticky---a terrible day to be out in the blistering sun, let
alone at Auschwitz , the infamous Nazi death
camp.
I had
been teaching English in the Czech
Republic for two years
and took the summer to work at an evangelistic camp there. The team of
short-term missionaries and I needed some rest, so we went to
Krakow , Poland .
One day’s agenda included a trip to Auschwitz .
I had
been there the year before, horrified by the tangible presence of evil. I had
no desire to return ever again. But this trip was for our leaders, Americans
who needed to see firsthand some of the history deeply ingrained into the
mind-set of the people they wanted to reach for Christ.
After
Auschwitz we went to the massive work camp Birkenau, just
a mile away. My attitude grew bitter. I wondered, "What could I possible
need to see here again?" I wandered listlessly in the heat, coming nearer
to the gas chamber, unsure if I really wanted to see it. Only a few yards from
the gas chamber, I stopped suddenly as I heard a sound.
As I
looked up, I saw an old, graying figure of a man. He was an Orthodox Jew, a
rabbi, wearing his prayer shawl and yarmulke, and his beard fell down the
middle of his chest. He seemed tall, but I could not tell for sure because he
was keeling with his face on the ground. What I had heard was his weeping---not
weeping, but moaning. His body racked by emotion, he would raise and lower his
arms as he cried out in Hebrew. His sobs could be heard by many of us, and
small groups of tourists gathered to look at him. I looked away, embarrassed to
be so close to his grief, ashamed of my pitiful expression of emotion.
Where
did I have room to be angry? Before me was a man who had every right to
grieve---the blood of his own people, likely his kin, had been shed on this
spot. A new sense of loss came over me as I thought about how deep his
suffering must be—a pain still fresh after fifty years.
Suddenly,
I had a picture of God’s heart for his Son. For the first time I saw Birkenau
not as a memorial to the evil acts of humanity but to the massive, terrible
price God paid through the loss of his Son. I need to hear the grief of
Birkenau to remember my Father’s cost when he let go of his only child.
REFLECTION
How
aware am I of the suffering of Christians around the world today?
What is
my obligation toward these persecuted bothers and sisters?
PRAYER
Lord,
have mercy on me.
“The
world and the Cross do not get along too well together, and comfort and
holiness do not share the same room.”---Carlo Carreto (1910-1988),
spiritual writer.
Leadership
Meditations
Edited
and selected by David Goetz
© 2001
Christianity Today International
Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
All
rights reserved
”And
I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee
shall all families of the earth be blessed.” -Genesis 12:3
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