A kind doctor was coming to Togo one day and thought to himself that it would be nice to bring Christmas gifts for all of the on-field missionaries. So he let them know that he would have room in his luggage for A LOT of stuff. And stuff they sent. Grandparents sent gifts to grandchildren, parents sent gifts to children, school supplies and a laptop were sent for the Christian schools, and supplies for the hospital laboratory.
When he arrived his luggage could not be found – not an uncommon problem here. For a week he waited. Then finally the airline was able to send the luggage to him.Receiving the totes he soon discovered that little remained. Only one of two had arrived. For the second, they had sent only the lid. The laptop, school supplies, and gifts were all gone. The laboratory supplies had been picked through and haphazardly put back. When as the announcement was made during evening church that the packages would not arrive; you could see the joyous anticipation turn to sadness. And together we mourned silently in the few silent moments – helpless to do anything and outraged at the injustice delivered us…
We mourn not because of the loss of material possession, but rather because these gifts were an outpouring of remembrance by the family and friends from our sending communities. And these gifts represented a token of love to children who remember little or nothing of their grandparents who long to see them, to watch them grow up, and want their grandchildren to know that despite the physical distance, they are still part of a close and loving family.
Mr. Grinch, you have stolen the outpouring of love through gifts given by our families.
We mourn not because the school children will have fewer crafts to do or papers to write on, but because those supplies represent a part of the means to raise of a generation of Togolese that are better educated, a generation of leaders trained in God’s word to raise Togo from the despair that it dwells in. And so to does the laptop represent the ability for the teacher to prepare lesson plans quickly and with better quality. Even though this single theft of a few school supplies might not seem significant, if a thousand men like you do the same, how quickly do the children lose their means to education? And what example are you setting for your children?
Mr. Grinch, you have stolen a piece of these children’s future and in so doing have stolen a piece of the future of your country and your own children’s future. You have helped perpetuate the cycle of depravity onto the next generation.
We mourn because we wonder about the condition of the equipment for the laboratory – will it work, will it be accurate now that it has been jostled and tossed?
Mr. Grinch, you may have stolen the hope of life saving diagnosis from hospital patients.
We mourn because it reminds us that there is still evil in this world. And it reminds us that this is our mission, whether in Togo, or the United States, or within our own families – that there are still people who’s hearts are two sizes too small and need to grow, and that the heart of this person and many like him needs the life giving spirit offered by God’s saving grace. And we consider the furious wrath that God has saved up for those people who do not embrace the saving grace of His son – a God who says “Truly, I say unto you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these you did not do it to me.”
We mourn because we want to see these peoples throughout Togo and beyond to know and fear the almighty Jehovah God of the universe and embraces the salvation He offered.
Mr. Grinch, the celebration of the coming of that salvation is what Christmas is all about. It would make our hearts grow two sizes too big to see you celebrate that saving grace too.
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