Almost every person that comes to our ministry has one thing in common; we're all they have left. When the troubles of life begin to compound and you begin that downward spiral that ends in desperation and ultimately destitution, your friends are few and in the end even your family leaves. Solomon once said by the Holy Spirit, "Pity the man who falls alone." Sometimes the greatest ministry you can do is to add just one person to an alone person's life, and that one person may just be you.
It's easy to judge at this point. "They are just reaping what they've sown." Or "If they would have treated their people better they wouldn't be alone." And all this is true. In most cases the loneliness is a result of sin somewhere in their not too distant past. And yes, reconciling with their families is certainly a large part of their recovery. But today, right now, they need a friend, someone who can stand with them in their trouble.
The gospel is the story of a friend who rescued His people in their trouble. Isolated by sin and suffering it's fatal consequences, a Savior came to us in our trouble and rescued us. No one could help us but Jesus, so "he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Phil 2:7-8) And in that spirit, we reach out to those in our city who are alone, isolated by family and friends, surely due to someone's sin, and we offer friendship and with that friendship hope.
"Two are better than one, ...for if they fall, one will lift up his fellow." (Eccl 4:9-10) Sometimes all we do at Crosswind is "add one" to a broken person's life. And in so doing we "lift up our fellow" Corinthian and begin a journey to help them restore their lives to wholeness, starting with life that comes through Jesus and ending with all the fruit of that relationship.
In the last couple of weeks the sweetest "thank you's" that our missionary teams have heard sounded like this, "When I was down I didn't have anybody, but you stuck with me and see what God has done." Friends, you might be the 'one' that God is calling to a person who is alone, broken by all manner of things, waiting for a friend to "lift them up".
Add one. It makes all the difference in the world.
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