Dwelling in God’s word: overwhelmed and inspired!

In an increasingly chaotic world, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, and that can lead to paralysis and helplessness. We can think the needs are too great to respond.

When I spent a week at Kakuma refugee camp back in 2019, I definitely felt overwhelmed at the scale of the operation. In the middle of the desert was a place that once hosted a town of 8,000 people and now was home to 60,000 people in the town and a further 190,000+ people in the refugee camp.

Hundreds of refugees were still arriving in the camp on a weekly basis, nearly 30 years after it had been established. I found it confronting to see this scale of human need.

At that time, the Lutheran churches were responsible for providing primary education at Kakuma. Our entire Lutheran education system in Australia has around 22,000 primary enrolments. The primary enrolments for Kakuma refugee camp are around 60,000! We visited one school in Kakuma with 3,300 enrolments. The smallest class was 130. The largest was 217. It was overwhelming!

Read Matthew 14:13–21. The disciples wanted the crowd of thousands sent away to take care of their needs. How did they respond to what Jesus asked of them?

Was it a reasonable request? How would you have responded if you were there?
What resources did they have? Are the resources we have more or less than they had?

I wasn’t just overwhelmed by what I saw at Kakuma. I was also inspired. I was inspired by the way our Lutheran churches had been first on the scene and were still present. I was inspired by the coordinated and concerted effort of multiple aid organisations working in harmony to meet this human need.

I was inspired by the resilience of humanity. These refugees needed help, but were not helpless. The women we met were resourceful as they sought to provide an education for their children. The children themselves attended to their studies with a discipline that would be the envy of most of our Lutheran schools in Australia. I was inspired by the difference it makes to be in community.

Read Hebrews 13:1–3. How can love be expressed internally in our faith communities? How can love be expressed externally by our communities?

Is your faith community intentional in its internal and external expressions of love? Who are the ‘strangers’ and ‘imprisoned’ ones that God is calling your community to serve and love?

I had many takeaways from my time in Kakuma. One of them was the global responsibility we have as the LCANZ to be engaged in these spaces. I was so proud of the work ALWS had been doing in being our hands and feet as the church on the ground in these places. The gospel was clearly being enacted.

The need is still overwhelming, but our contributions to this point in time have made a significant impact. We have answered the call of Jesus: ‘You give them something to eat’. ALWS is one vital mechanism we can use to help us respond as a community to the overwhelming needs in our world. The example of ALWS at work can help inspire us to think of others.

Read Romans 13:8–10. How can you fulfil the debt to love one another?

Are there limits to the way we can love? What are some practical ways we can love our neighbours – locally and globally? How can we hold each other accountable to this outstanding debt to love?

God has met our overwhelming need to be loved through sending his Son, Jesus. Jesus loves us and inspires us. Jesus resources us with everything we need to be his church and to embrace the overwhelming needs in our world.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for your love for me and for our world. Thank you for the challenge you issue us to ‘give them something to eat’ and to ‘love our neighbour as ourselves’. Thank you for equipping us with everything we need to respond to every need. Lead us to have your heart for our world. Amen.

Pastor Stephen Schultz is the LCANZ’s Assistant Bishop and the Assistant Bishop for Mission for the South Australia–Northern Territory District.