Very Convicting

Today I had the opportunity to go and visit with my husband's best friend, and my quasi brother, Ronny Rowell at a welcome home party/open house. He just returned from his second deployment to Iraq. While visiting with Ronny, his spirits seemed very high and he was so confident in his mission and the mission of the men who were replacing him in Iraq.

During our visit, Ronny did a question and answer session so that everyone would have a chance to ask their questions, since there were so many people and only one of him. This time was so sweet. We opened with prayer. Ronny's dad, prayed for our time. During the question and answer time someone asked how the evangelical efforts were going in Iraq. Ronny's response was simply amazing, although I think the way he answered he was fearful that it was disappointing. Let me try to summarize his response:

Ronny said that because of time (they couldn't stay too long in one spot at any given time for safety purposes) there really wasn't the opportunity to share the Gospel per se. He continued that all they could or had time to do was love on the people. They handed out Beanie Babies to the children, talked with the men and women, and gave students schools supplies that they were otherwise lacking (pencils and paper). He even mentioned how they had the chance to spend some time with a little girl in a wheel chair, that due to their society, otherwise wouldn't have received any attention. They were building relationships with the future youth of Iraq. They were loving on the people, they way Christ loved on the people. He finished by telling everyone seeming a little disappointed that he didn't have much more to tell us or share with us about this aspect.

After this question, everyone just simply moved onto the next question and didn't seem to think twice about what had just been said, but it stuck with me. I think that what Ronny and his men did was sharing the Gospel with the Iraqi people more than had they actually used words. I mean seriously, think about how those people had been living, how they were used to living. They have lived in fear without anything, not even pencils and paper. Then, these men and women from America came in and poured out their love and affection on them, while also protecting them from harm. Now really, for all of you out there that believe you have to share the "four truths" in order to spread the message of the Gospel, can you honestly tell me that what these men and women are doing isn't spreading the "Good News?"

I think I was so convicted by Ronny's answer to this question for two reasons. First, Ronny didn't even realize, because it comes so naturally to him, that what he was doing, was out of the ordinary for these people. He was being Christ and was very humble in doing so. He never once expected anything in return. Second, what Ronny and his men were doing was so simple and so valuable, yet so many of us would rather do nothing than something small for someone because in it seems in today's society if you don't do something worth "recognition" it's not worth doing at all. Ronny and his men are true men of God and despite the flack they all receive day in and day out in the media they continued to be a light to the people of Iraq. We should learn a lesson from these men and do the same in our own country to the people we encounter everyday.

Let's be a people who always strive to do random acts of kindness without expecting anything in return.