As the morphine coursed through my body, the relief from pain was almost immediate.
 
Moments before I was on my knees begging for anything to counteract the pain of the kidney stone that had suddenly changed all my plans for that day!  There is no price you won't pay to eliminate a kidney stone attack, trust me.  Besides that, my wife knows I have a low tolerance for pain.  I was stuck in Iquitos, Peru when the pain struck.
 
A week later I found myself in the home of man whose leg was quickly turning to gangrene.  He had his leg crushed when he accidentally stepped into an animal trap some twelve months ago.  Two operations and pins in his legs had not worked.  Gilberto had sold his farm to pay for his operations.  Now he lay before me penniless and in excruciating pain, a long way from a hospital.  The doctor had recommended amputation and now it was decision time.

Gilberto

Looking at Gilberto reminded me of the human condition for millions of people living in pain but with little to no resources to alleviate their misery.  My two team members agreed that whatever the financial costs they would help me get Gilberto to a doctor and have his leg amputated.  On July 17 the odyssey to Tarapoto was completed and Gilberto no longer has gangrene nor a leg below his right knee.  He seemed relieved and grateful just to be alive!
 
Suffering is our human lot, we live in fragile bodies, pain comes in all kinds of ways, but we press on.  Millions starve daily, millions have no medical care.  What do they do when a tooth will not stop aching and kidney stones attack you in a jungle village?
 
As I contemplated my own low tolerance for pain, I found myself underneath a moonlit sky watching the Passion of the Christ film along with the villagers of Yacusimma, Peru. The pain of our suffering Lord was too much for me.  I watched quietly with tears streaming down my face as Jesus faced his tormentors and suffered with such incredible tenacity and love.  No morphine for Him, no rescue from heaven, no doctor to comfort Him in His pain.  He suffered "the just for the unjust" in ways unimaginable to rescue us from our sinful ways.
 
We don't have the power to rescue everyone living in pain or is far from help. But I am reminded of an old saying, "To the world you may be just one person, but to that one person you may be the world."  And so we (you and me) prepare to stand in the gap where God allows us.
 
Thousands of people in Haiti, Chile, China, Pakistan and other places in the world have experienced severe natural disasters recently. This presents the church with a unique opportunity for Christian compassion to be put into action. 

 

God is changing the hearts of people, and His power and Grace is being released as Christians take their stand for the Gospel in very practical ways.
 
Thank you for partnering with GO InterNational. We have had the joy this summer to witness life changing Grace come into people's hearts and we are encouraged to press on as God gives us strength.
 
In Him,
 
Larry Cochran

Past President