The bigger picture – Day 12

A group of motorcyclists band together once a year under the auspices of the Bible Society. They then travel with their motorcycles to rural and previously disadvantaged communities to distribute Bibles. They are called the Word Riders. During their first tour, this group visited a farm school outside Ladysmith in KwaZulu Natal. The children at Umvolu Primary school come from the surrounding farms.

The Grade 7 pupils were encouraged to be diligent in reading their new Zulu Outreach Bibles. They were encouraged to take the message they received from the Bible seriously and to apply it in their everyday lives. Their faces were solemn as they listened. They understood the importance of the occasion. I took many photos. When the meeting ended with the pupils’ spontaneous recital of the Lord’s Prayer in Afrikaans, many of us were in tears.

We also took some Zulu Children’s Bibles along on the trip. One of the riders took the Bibles and handed them over to a couple of younger children, who waited for their older siblings. Their eyes could not hide the gratitude and excitement.

I took a picture of one of our riders with two of the youngsters. His big arms were all around them and I could see only love in his eyes. The love of Christ shone through in this act of compassion.

I thought of the verse in Matthew 25:40. These children were truly some of the “least important”, how could we not reach out to them? Christ’s love urges us.

There are many poor and overlooked people in our society. They all look different and find themselves in different situations. There are people who do not have what we have and who are not as privileged as we are. People who might not necessarily yearn for material things, but instead seek spiritual food. Do we dare let the opportunity to reach out to others less fortunate, pass us by?