Walking among the multitudes but ministering to the one

As I read through the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark (especially), Luke and John I am awestruck that even though Jesus was a Man of the crowds He ministered to the one in the crowd or on the side of the road calling out to him in faith for His touch. Recently I read Luke 18:35-43 where Jesus healed the eyesight and gave salvation to the beggar blind Bartimaeus who became a follower of Christ. In Metro Manila, where we live and work, we're always in a crowd such as in a mall, restaurant, traffic, walking on a sidewalk or through a squatter community. The Lord is teaching us too to be sensitive to the one who's calling out to Him even though we minister to the masses via our various ministries such as feeding, camping, Christmas evangelistic parties and street/community outreach. Recently Matt Muraski, of Feed My Starving Children who visited us in February, wrote this in a letter to recipients of their food "Behind all the numbers and programs are faces. Let's always remember our calling to serve the Lord ends up with a single person with a unique face in a unique place-a face that God knows well and that Jesus died to save-a face that smiles when you do what you do, feed the hungry in His holy name." Well said and amen!

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