“I placed her into Jesus’ arms”

My friend Christina recently returned from a trip to Peru, and since then, she’s been blogging about her experiences of working and ministering in some of that country’s poorest parts — such as Belen.

Here is the thing. There is only one savior. Only one. I’m not it. You’re not it… There is only one. While we try our best to reflect Jesus, we all fail miserably. The reality is that if I say I really love someone there is only one place for that person in my heart — I do not own them, they are not mine to save — that is in [the] hands of Jesus. There is a visual image I use — I literally take somebody I care about or want to help or control or be the savior over and imagine myself placing them in the arms of Jesus. He is the savior. I am not. It frees me to love. It frees me to walk away. I explained this to a friend. It is the only way I can leave Puerto Alegria. It is the only way I can watch teenagers here mess up their lives. It is the only way I can walk through Belen.

So there is Kikiho, sitting there with her new spanking white bandage. I placed her into Jesus’ arms. Robert hailed taxi. We put her on it and sent her home back into the arms of the one greater than ourselves. I pray that Kikiho will come to know the full saving grace of Jesus — her true rescuer, her true physician.