During my Bible study last night, we studied the passage Matthew 26:6-13, which talks about Mary's pouring of an extremely expensive perfume unto Jesus' feet. Verse 11 marks, "The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me." The poor you will always have... Despite all our advancements in technology, warfare, medicine, etc., we have yet to rid the world of poverty, of hunger, of destitution. This is a sad, terrible reality that we cannot simply ignore or deny.
Today, I'd like to introduce to you all someone who has sought to do something about this matter; someone who, unlike those who simply say, "Oh those poor, starving children" on TV, unlike those who simply pass a glance at a man in rags lying on the cold, hard cement pavement, has decided to leave everything behind to make a difference, to make a change.
I first got to know Mr. Steve Peifer when I was still a high-school student in Kenya. My first impression of him was- quirky, funny, crazy, crazy, crazy. As I got to know him more throughout my years in Kenya, my list of descriptive words for him increased- caring, loving, determined, compassionate, empathetic, giver, and above all, a man of God.
He has helped me in more ways than either I or he could probably count; if it weren't for him, I'd probably be still drowning in my college applications, without a single clue on how to swim out of them. If he hadn't annihilated my essay drafts, if he hadn't told me to write again, again, and again... I'd never have written my final college essay. If not for him, I'd probably be drowning again in debt because I wouldn't have had knowledge on financial aid nor about colleges that provided such opportunities. I still remember when he visited me at my college my freshmen year; I'll never forget how he was so impressed at my choice of dinner to which he treated me after I finished giving him a tour around my college.
I remember watching on youtube as he was awarded the 2007 CNN's Heroes Award. I still remember myself chuckling as I heard him say, "I just got kissed by Tyra Banks..." But most importantly, I remember seeing just a glimpse of the pain that engulfed his past, and how with God's mercy and love, he was able to turn that pain into a driving force to return to Kenya and start a movement; a movement for education and a movement to end hunger.
I want to introduce to you all his latest book: A Dream So Big: Our Unlikely Journey To End The Tears Of Hunger. This is the story of how one family, through the loss of a beloved child to an unimaginable chromosomal condition, sought to alleviate the inhumane conditions that many must suffer through daily. This is the story of reaching out to the unreached. This is the story of pain and healing. This is the story of, in some ways redemption, the same way Jean Valjean seeks to find redemption from his painful past, to look ahead, to move forward. This is the story of my college counselor and his determination to help the needy, to feed the hungry, to take hold of a hand of nothing but dried skin and bone, to hug a child whose belly looks like an over-filled water balloon. This is his story of how he gave up everything, a promising career, his life in the U.S., everything, in order to serve God, in order to follow after His will, in order to feed the poor and the hungry.
Two more verses come to mind as I near the end of this blog:
1. Matthew 25:40- The king will answer and say to them, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brother of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me."
2. 2nd Corinthians 4:18- So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
I thank God for allowing me to know someone such as Mr. Peifer. I pray that God will continue to bless him and all those around him. I pray that Mr. Peifer would continue to rely and depend solely on God for comfort, strength, and peace.
God is moving through Mr. Peifer. God is reaching out through Mr. Peifer. God has started a movement through Mr. Peifer. Let us not be fixated on what is happening now, but anticipate on the eternal glory and wonder that God will reveal to us in the future.
May God bless you all.
The links to his CNN video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=451a94jO5I4
The link to his book:
http://www.amazon.com/Dream-So-Big-Unlikely-Journey/dp/0310326095/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358232831&sr=8-1&keywords=A+dream+so+big
Thank you all who took the time to read this.
Thank you my friend.
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