The pain and anger we may feel following the September 11 terrorist attacks should not limit our compassion for other victims of evil, says Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Seventh-day Adventist world church.Listen to the Audio ]
The pain and anger we may feel following the September 11 terrorist attacks should not limit our compassion for other victims of evil, says Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Seventh-day Adventist world church.
The scale of human suffering in Afghanistan is a tragedy that Christians cannot ignore, Paulsen told employees gathered for morning worship October 2 at the church’s world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States. He challenged the group to look beyond one-dimensional portraits of Afghanistan, to see the poverty and helplessness of millions of its people.
“Afghanistan: What does the name conjure up in your minds?” asked Paulsen. “Do you see before yourself something very evil?”
“There are 25 million people in Afghanistan, 99 percent of whom are victims,” he said. “And they are as much human beings, loved by God, as you and I are.”
The countries surrounding Afghanistan are already experiencing an influx of refugees, fearful of forced conscription or military conflict, said Paulsen. “And there could be millions more over the coming months.”
“Have you met refugees?” asked Paulsen. “Have you looked into the eyes of a refugee? Have you seen the emptiness in their eyes, the vacancy in terms of hope and future? Are we touched by these things? I hope we are.”
Paulsen recalled his visit, 10 years earlier, to a refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border. He spoke of walking through parts of the camp, which housed some 1 million displaced people.
Paulsen described the utter poverty of the people, plagued by years of civil war and uncertainty; people who had fled their homes and who had no means to support themselves and their families. “When I think of the children, the hundreds and thousands of children, what sort of future do we bring to them?” asked Paulsen.
“It is the children who perhaps move me the most,” he added. “They are totally innocent. They are like pawns in someone’s political game. They have nothing, nothing. It is a luxury if they get a piece of fruit to eat.”
Paulsen cited a series of grim statistics: in Afghanistan, 15 out of every 100 babies die at birth; 25 percent of those who live do not reach five years of age; life expectancy, for both men and women alike, is no more than mid-40s.
“Pray for them, think kindly of them, feel for them,” urged Paulsen. “Let’s allow the Spirit to touch our hearts, so that even though we’re a long way away and have plenty, we can remember them, and at least talk to the Lord about them. And, when an opportunity comes along, we can give something to support them.”
A persistent theme of practical compassion runs through much of the writings of the biblical prophets, said Paulsen. “The emphasis is on ‘Do good, help, heal, look after the poor, look after the fatherless, don’t oppress people who cannot defend themselves.’
“It has always been God’s intention to tell His people, ‘You need to have in your heart a compelling sense of feeling with the ‘losers’ in society,’” said Paulsen. “And we have them! We have them everywhere. I pray to God that we will have within ourselves the capacity to feel for the losers of our world.”
