The Beautiful Reflection of a Generous Life

On a recent trip to Haiti, I traveled hours into the Pestel mountain region where human suffering from poverty-related issues is indescribable. I was there with my friend Miriam who has rescued dying children in Haiti for 30 years. Over the years, I’ve seen the effects of malnutrition, disease, and dirty water; however, nothing could have prepared me for what I saw that day.

After learning our group had arrived in the area, a grandmother walked hours down the mountain carrying her desperately sick six-year-old grandson in hopes of getting him medical attention.

Miriam quickly assessed the boy and we knew he needed urgent medical attention or he would die within days. She shouted for the team to get this child in the Toyota truck immediately, in hopes we could get him to a doctor in time to save his life.

A Life-Saving Gift

This is where the story intersects with a past event. Two years earlier, I introduced Miriam to a man I greatly admire. I’ve witnessed many acts of radical generosity through his obedience to God’s calling on his life. Little did I know this introduction would turn out to be a divine appointment covered with the fingerprints of our Lord and Savior!

Thirty seconds after I introduced Miriam to this man, he handed her a check for $10,000. I was not surprised, but she was overcome with joy! As our meeting progressed, Miriam shared her 30-year journey of rescuing malnourished children from the mountains in Haiti, and how she started an orphanage in Port-au-Prince to care for these sick and abandoned children.

At the end of our time together, the man asked Miriam, “What do you need right now?” She replied that she needed a new vehicle, one sturdy enough to make the treacherous 12-hour journey up the mountain, deliver medical supplies and food to suffering people, and use it as an ambulance to bring the severely sick children back to Port-au-Prince.

She described this vehicle as a life-saving vessel that would be the hands of feet of Jesus. Without batting an eye, the man pulled out his checkbook and along with another generous man, wrote the exact amount needed for a new Toyota truck. When you witness this level of selfless generosity for the Kingdom… there is no question: the Creator of the Universe has just showed up, and shown off!

Blessing Upon Blessing

Now here I was, two years later in Haiti, watching a grandmother and her dying grandson climb into the TOYOTA, the holy vessel so generously given. As I watched the Toyota drive away, I knew I had just witnessed biblical generosity unfold in one of the most significant emotional events of my life.

You see Miriam has been extravagantly generous with her life, dedicated to God’s suffering people and orphans. The generous giver was moved by the reflection of Jesus in my friend Miriam, and he opened his hand and his heart as the Holy Spirit prompted and guided him. Through these selfless acts of generosity, a tsunami of blessing poured out that day in Haiti as the sick child was given a chance to live.

Through this radical story of generosity, God gave me a glimpse of eternity. He showed me that a generous life is a beautiful reflection of the original giver, our Lord and Savior Jesus.