"I was a stranger, and ye took me in."—Matthew 25:35

 

Jesus taught: "I was a stranger, and ye took me in."—Matthew 25:35 We find it easy to serve and show kindness to people we already know and love. But we don’t fully follow the Savior’s example until we extend that same kindness to people we don’t know. Ways you can help a stranger Which one of your coworkers do you know the least? Invite the person to lunch to get to know him or her better.  Has a stranger ever done something nice for you? Determine a way to pay the kind act forward.

Today’s verse Matthew 25:35 “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in.”

It is very clear that He expects all written above from us.

I want to tell you about the saddest story.  Where we were in church, there was a lady with a baby; this lady only had one leg.

My mother use to feel so sorry for her, because she realised that it must be difficult for a mother to look after and carry a baby with one leg.

Everyone at church decided to make money together to buy this lady a wheelchair.

She was so happy when she received the chair as it made her life easier to cope and move around.

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What nobody knew was that she was actually terminally ill.

One day when we got to church, we heard that she had passed away.

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This nearly killed my mother as well.  These people lived on a farm and after church; my parent's went straight to the farm to see if the man was coping with this 8 month old baby and if they could help in anyway.

We were poor people but my dad said if there is anything we could do to help, he must just say.

He said, it is heart-breaking but I cannot raise a baby and try and farm on my own.

My mother immediately said, give her to me. I will take her in and you can come and visit whenever you want to.

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He cried and said, this is wonderful, as I know you will look after her as your own, because you only have one child he is such a lovely child.  I was two years old when all this happened. 

This was such a dream come true for me as suddenly I had a sister.

The father came to see the child at least once a week and brought us some vegetables from his farm as well as meat.

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This was highly appreciated as we were poor.

We use to play together as we were growing up and never ever thought that we could lose her.

One day when she was 5 years old, her father came to tell my mother that he is remarrying and would like to take her home.

It was probably the hardest thing in our lives as to us she was ours and we never thought we would lose her.

Her father saw the pain in my parent’s faces and said he cannot thank them enough but he has to take her home. Just like my parent’s told him, he said whenever you want to see her you will be welcome at the farm.

After a few visits from us, my mother saw that this woman that he had married was very good to her child as she felt she belonged to her.

This made it a bit easier for my mother as she knew the child was loved and well cared for.

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My mother never lost contact with her, and she use to go and visit at the old age home, before we had to bring her to us as they wanted to put her in frail care.

We moved very far away after we went on pension, and we had my mother here with us then.

When she passed away, at the age of 96 just this year, we sent her ashes to this child that my mother felt was like her own, because she still lived in the same town as where my father had died. 

When he died they put the two graves next to each other and my mother always said we can cremate her but please put my ashes next to my husband as that is where I want to be.

We sent the ashes and I will show you with pictures here how wonderful she and her son did this for us.  She sent me photos to show me that we had fulfilled my mother’s wishes.

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If that is not paying it forward then I do not know what is.

Thank you for reading my true story and may you have a wonderful day here from the Wild Coast.