Be a Part of a Child’s Healing & Hope

A few years ago, I was introduced on cure.org to the story of a 10-year-old boy from Kenya named David. David is a shy kid, but he’s energetic, and he has kind eyes. He’s the type of kid you root for. His parents aren’t well off, but you want to believe David will be ok.

But David had a really big strike against him. He was born in Kenya with clubfoot, a condition that caused his feet to turn inward and upward, leaving him to walk on the sides of his feet and effectively crippling him. I know what the statistics say about kids like David. Without intervention, the prospects aren’t good. He’d likely not get an education because he would have a tough time getting to school. He probably wouldn’t find a job or, someday, a wife and family. He would be an economic burden on his parents, and the statistics say a life of begging was in his future.

David would suffer loneliness, hunger, loss of dignity, and pain - all because of a condition that is fixable through a simple surgery.

But everything changed for David when he was taken to a clinic run by CURE doctors and scheduled for surgery. His story was told on CURE's website, and a few dozen people got together to support his care. At the CURE hospital in Kenya, he received the surgery and follow up care he needed to heal his body, and the CURE spiritual ministry team shared the love of Jesus Christ with him and his family. Today, two years later, David’s doing well, and he’s living his dream - a dream to be just like any other boy his age. David experienced the kind of healing that Jesus provided throughout His 3.5 years of earthly ministry, and it changed everything for David and his family.

Healing matters to God

Jesus healed a lot. Have you ever thought about that? Why did Jesus spend so much of His time on earth healing sick people? The lame? The deaf? The leper? The demon possessed? Meeting the needs of those who couldn't do for themselves seemed to be pretty important to Him throughout his ministry. In fact, over 70% of the "stuff" Jesus did was healing people. Why healing? The Roman world had as many problems as any modern-day, developing-world nation, yet Jesus chose to heal.

I think the answer to that “why healing?” question is tied closely to Jesus’ identity as God.

When John's disciples came to Jesus for proof that He was "the one we are waiting for," Jesus famously responded, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” (Matthew 11:4-5). It's as if these acts of healing and proclaiming were tied together in what it meant for Jesus to be known as God.

We see examples throughout the Old Testament of God specifically identifying Himself with and through healing. Isaiah 35 (read the center section of the poem - v. 5-6) is only one example of many passages throughout the Bible that testify to the complete (physical and spiritual) restoration of human beings that Yahweh delights in providing. So perhaps it shouldn't be any wonder that when Jesus arrives in 1st century Palestine, people are healed. For Jesus, healing a person created in God's image was a calling card to the rest of creation of His true identity and His good intentions for the world He made. Even Jesus' last recorded words in Revelation drive this point home when He declares, "I am making everything new!"

So what about us?

So maybe the question ought to be: If healing matters to God, what about me? What about my family? What about the people I've been called to lead? Few of us have the gifts to actually restore someone's broken body, but we all have the opportunity to partner with God in the restoration of hearts and lives.

So here's a challenge. Right now -- literally, right now -- there are hundreds of children in CURE hospitals around the world who are either waiting for surgery or are in recovery. They are kids like 10-year-old David from Kenya; kids who have waited years to be rescued from crippling but correctable deformities. These kids have bodies that need to be restored, but their hearts are just as broken. Many of them have been rejected by their villages and sometimes even their own families. They've been called a curse, and some of the mothers of these kids have had to sacrifice everything in order to bring their children to the healing that God is providing through a CURE hospital.

You and I can be a part of their healing through the simplest act: sending one of these little ones a get well message -- a message that tells them and their parents that someone on the other side of the world knows their name, loves them, and is praying for them.

If you’d like to participate in the healing Jesus is bringing to these kids, you can right now from your phone. You can use the CUREkids App to send a get well message to a real child in a CURE hospital or you can visit CURE's website. The child you write to will not only get the message, but they will cherish it for years to come.