Feeding your Five-thousand

In October my husband's job took him to Saudi Arabia where he worked in an oil refinery twelve hours a day seven days a week.  He was there until December.  It was a heart-wrenching trip for him.  He witnessed an unfair class system and the depravity of Islam.  He befriended the underground christians that were there as well as the muslims.  One muslim man, in particular, became close friends with my husband.  They met everyday to discuss the gospel of Jesus Christ, a gospel he had never heard before.  Saudi Arabia is a strict Islamic country and christians are put to death there.  This muslim man was so hungry to hear the gospel and we pray that the seeds Joel planted will bring him to salvation!

My husband was assigned helpers while he was there.  Many of them were from the Philippines and India.  They were paid $2 a day for their labor!  They were required to stay and work for two years after which they could visit their families for two months and then return to work another two years!  He found out that many of them were Christians and he was moved by the resiliency of their spirits.  He knew God had brought him to Saudi Arabia to spread the gospel and to care for the brothers in Christ that are already there.  He gave all that he could to them while he was there--food, clothing, money, bicycles.  When it was time for him to leave, he knew he couldn't just walk out of their lives.  So, Joel wrote down the addresses to their families in the Philippines and in India.  

My heart was so burdened for these families when I heard of their poverty and sacrifice.  We are so blessed and I often take for granted all that God has given us.  It just so happened, though, that Joel was not going to be able to go back to work for a couple weeks and we were running low on money.  I was torn between wanting to help these people but needing to save for my own family.  I cried out to Jesus, asking him what he wanted me to do and the answer was so simple.  I opened my bible and these words jumped off the page:  

"He replied, "You give them something to eat."   Luke 9:13

And then Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish!  Wow.  My faith can be so small sometimes!

I need to give what I do have and watch Jesus multiply it.