Thought for the week: Meeting needs of all in present global crisis

Night after night there are reports of distraught people facing into or fleeing the horrible war in Ukraine.

Regularly, there are stories from the Yemen showing the devastation of hunger on a grand scale alongside the total break-down of health care in the country.

In the past few weeks we have been taken to Pakistan where one-third of the country is under water, affecting 33 million people, many who have lost absolutely everything.

I cannot simply watch these news reports as an ‘onlooker’ of tragedy, distress and loss on such an apocalyptic scale. My overriding response is one of compassion, even as I feel utterly helpless to do very much – though sending a donation to the DEC (Disasters’ Emergency Committee) for relief in Pakistan is such an obvious thing to do.

With the cost-of-living crisis upon us here right now, it’s hard to overstate the need for compassion on a grand scale both at home and overseas. And surely Christian people (along with those of other faiths and none) need to be at the forefront of being filled with compassion.

In doing so, we would be following in the steps of Jesus himself. In St Matthew 15 we see Jesus feeding thousands with only seven loaves and ‘a few small fish’.

Christ’s compassion was huge, and He was able to do something remarkable with those very limited resources.

I need to trust Him to do the same with the very little I can offer in the face of such dire need both at home and overseas. That is my prayer.