Vietnamese Orphans

Transcript

A young Vietnamese girl—injured when her orphanage was bombed—required an immediate transfusion. In broken Vietnamese, two American medics talked to the orphans who matched her blood type. They said that without blood from another person, she would die. Visibly shaking, one boy consented.

While his blood was drawn, he quietly sobbed. A Vietnamese nurse entered the room, talked with the boy, and he grew quiet.

“What was wrong?” the doctor asked.

The nurse said, “He thought he was dying so that his friend could live.”

This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. This boy’s willingness to give up his life for his friend is the ultimate example of love. Our opportunities for self-giving may not be so dramatic—but they come to us often in the high calling of our daily work.

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

(Rom. 5:7-8)