SERVICE
The Real Question: Does God Care About Suffering?
By Julie Ferwerda
Guest Columnist
CBN.com –
Does God care about suffering? The question is an easy one to ask when you’re driving down the potholed, polluted streets of Haiti, where suffering and sadness is a way of life for practically everyone you meet. I wondered silently why God doesn’t reach down and relieve the suffering of His own children, especially the ones pleading with Him daily for food and help.
One of God’s children I met in Haiti is Willio Joseph, a thirty-year-old native Haitian doing his best to help twenty other people survive. Willio, along with his gentle and kind wife, Chrismene, live in a 500 square foot cinder block home, taking in kids off the street whose parents have either died or abandoned them in Ouanaminthe, a town of 16,000 located in northern Haiti. The problem for Willio? Until recently, it was the lack of food, clean water, and medicine for the kids. For several months, Willio was only able to feed the growing household one meal every 2-3 days.
Seeing the kids starving was really hard for Willio. “Most of the time I felt sad. I remember my childhood and the suffering. I would go to school so hungry I couldn’t understand what the teachers were saying. I don’t want to see any more kids go hungry.”
 Last February, Willio was out of answers and almost out of hope. It was one such day after yet another desperate plea to God for help that Willio stopped in a local “internet café,” consisting of a few computers hooked up to a generator, and typed the word “hope” into a search engine. When the U.S. based international ministry of Hopegivers came up, he gave it a try and sent them an email asking for help, not expecting a reply any time soon.
By the next day, Willio heard back from Hopegivers and before long, began receiving support for the household. Within a few months, Hopegivers’ supporters donated enough money to dig a fresh water well and supply medicine for some of the critically ill children at the home. To say this support has made a huge impact on Willio and the kids is quite an understatement.
“When people are suffering with no hope and then God brings hope, that’s proof to believe God is real. All the kids have seen God.”
Recently Willio stepped up his efforts by quitting his job at a public school to open a Christian school for street kids. In almost no time he found over 400 very willing students—mostly kids who had never set foot inside a school. He would have even more kids if there was anywhere to put them. The kids already sit three to a chair in a cramped schoolhouse, but they are grateful for the chance to learn and listen intently to their lessons by the volunteer teaching staff. It wasn’t a hard decision for Willio to quit his job at the public school where the other teachers beat the students when they don’t know the answers. “We opened this school because God wanted it. If you beat the kids, you beat God’s heart.”
Willio’s desire for the kids’ lives intersects with his heart for the country of Haiti. He wants to take in as many children as possible who are homeless and hopeless, and give them love, family, safety, a relationship with God, and an education. He hopes that “his” kids will someday take the love of God into all parts of Haiti, as they grow up and leave the orphanage. Willio wants to change Haiti—to make it a better place for everyone—one kid at a time.
 This job can’t be done alone. There are many needs to be met before this can become a reality—many of them basic necessities. The children need a more well-rounded diet, beds to sleep in, and Willio needs a computer so he can be in regular communication with his support system. The school needs books and salaries for the teachers. In the near future, the orphanage and school will need to be expanded so that Willio can give even more kids a chance to make it in this world.
The Real Answer
Meeting Willio, God taught me a little bit about His heart for those who suffer. When I returned home from my trip, I happened across a few verses whose message couldn’t be mistaken:
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27
“This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love.” 1 John 3:16-18
“Then [God] will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” Matthew 25:41-45
Finally, I understood. God does care about suffering—a lot—and He wants to alleviate it through His servants. On this earth, we are His ambassadors. We are His Hands, His feet, and His heart to take care of those who need Him most. He has entrusted some of us with much that we may be ministers to those who have little or nothing. And that is the very thing He will hold me accountable for when I see Him one day.
Especially during this holiday season, please consider giving to those who are in desperate need, such as Willio and the Haiti orphanage. Willio has so little but he’s giving so much. For me, I have so much but I’ve given so little. I think it’s time to give hands and feet to God’s love for the Haitian people. We could impact their lives for eternity. In fact, through Hopegivers’ supporters, that’s already becoming a reality, according to Willio. “I feel happy now because I see that God doesn’t leave me alone with the children. He sent some angels to help us out.”
To learn more about Hopegivers, visit www.Hopegivers.org.
Julie is the author of The Perfect Fit: Waiting for God’s
Best after Failed Relationships and has written articles
for other publications such as Marriage Partnership,
Brio & Beyond, HomeLife, Discipleship
Journal, and Revolve III Biblezine Project for teen
girls (Thomas Nelson). To order the book or to find
out more go to: www.JulieFerwerda.com.
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