Romans 5:10

 ¹⁰For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

2 Corinthians 5:18-20

 ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Ephesians 2

¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were  far off have been brought near  by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴For he himself is our peace,  who has made us both one and has broken down  in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one  new man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶and might  reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷And he came and  preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were  near. ¹⁸For  through him we both have  access in  one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹So then you are no longer  strangers and aliens,  but you are fellow citizens with the saints and  members of the household of God, ²⁰  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,  Christ Jesus himself being  the cornerstone, ²¹  in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into  a holy temple in the Lord. ²²In him  you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by^[d] the Spirit

 This month’s word is reconcile. i’ve chosen it based on visit to Rwanda. After a tour of the genocide museum and reading about the events of April 1994, it is a miracle to see how the country is being reconciled. The church is working so hard to make a difference and there is a real sense of hope in a country that has known so much pain and poverty.

A woman walks the rocky hill alone on the outskirts of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, after an exhausting but unsuccessful search for work. In her head is the nagging thought that her children will go to bed hungry tonight. Suddenly, a conversation catches her attention and stops her train of thought. A nearby church was going to register children for Compassion’s programme the following day. That was four years ago when nine-year-old Dawit, her youngest child, was registered at the Compassion-assisted project. After Dawit had been in the project for about a year the centre health worker, Mrs. Mulunesh, began to wonder about his recurring health problems.

“I repeatedly asked Dawit’s mother to tell me the problem with her brilliant and sociable boy,” explains Mrs Mulunesh. “I started spending more time with her so that she would be comfortable enough to tell me what was wrong. After a lot of one-to-one time with her, she asked me how I would feel if she told me that she was HIV positive.” Though the mother’s frail body and health had given Mrs Mulunesh reason to suspect that she might have the virus, hearing this news was a shock. Reassured by the health worker’s nonjudgmental reaction, Dawit’s mother revealed another shocking fact. Dawit, too, was HIV-positive.
“I got him tested when his doctor told me to after his repeated health problems. It was hard to accept my son’s results. His father abandoned us and it isn’t easy to raise my children alone,” says Dawit’s mother. The Compassion staff immediately began much-needed health interventions for the family, thanks to funding from Compassion’s HIV/AIDS Initiative. Dawit’s recurring pneumonia left him with very little energy, so the Compassion staff devised a special diet to help him regain his strength. He was also immediately started on antiretroviral therapy. Many visits to the health centre and several follow-ups, later Dawit’s health began to improve.

Dawit, now 13, continues to live life like any other boy at the project. The money he receives for food supplies has helped him maintain a balanced diet, which is necessary to keep him strong while taking the antiretrovirals. Mrs Mulunesh and Dawit’s mother go to the market together to buy food for the children. They buy healthy foods like milk, rice and meat. The steady advice and the open discussion between Dawit and his mother and the project staff has encouraged him to be more optimistic about his future.
“Dawit is a very dynamic young boy who has shown great resilience in his daily life,” says Mrs Mulunesh. “Sometimes, he gets too tired to play with his friends, but most of the time he does everything his friends do. He is also a good student who is very focused on being successful.”
With all this support, Dawit hopes he will be able to grow up and realise his dream of becoming a doctor. He wants to help children who suffer.
“Had it not been for the timely intervention of Compassion, Dawit wouldn’t be here,” concludes Mrs Mulunesh. “His mother would have continued to hide her son’s illness, fearing discrimination. Even if he got medical help, the poverty would have made it impossible for him to get the proper diet to tolerate the medication. Compassion’s health intervention has saved this young man’s life and opened doors of opportunities for him to strive in life just like any other 13-year-old.”

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