The Man Who God Sent

I once read about Doug Meland, a translator and a missionary for Wycliffe. When he first moved into a village of Brazil’s Fulnio Indians, they referred to him simply as “the white man.” In that neighborhood, this was no compliment since other white men had exploited them, deceived them, and robbed them of their lands. 

However, after Doug learned the Fulnio language and began to help the people with medicine, they began calling him “the respectable white man.” When he began adapting the customs of the people, they gave him greater acceptance and spoke of Doug as “the white Indian.” 

Then one day, as he was washing the dirty, blood-caked foot of an injured Fulnio boy, he overheard a bystander say to another: “Whoever heard of a white man washing our feet? Certainly, this man is from God! From that day on, whenever Doug would go into a Fulnio home, it would be announced, “Here comes the man God sent us.”

What a turnaround. What a witness! Saint Francis of Assisi once said, “Preach the gospel everywhere you go. Use words only when necessary.”

Let us pray: Take my life and let it be, consecrated Lord, to Thee. Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love. Take my feet and let them be, swift and beautiful, Lord, for Thee. Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise. Amen.