“Be kind to your enemies…” 

“Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink […] Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:20-21

For me, personally, it has been the hardest lesson to learn. Our biggest enemy in Haiti has been the man who donated all of this beautiful land to Love A Child, but he donated it because it was ugly, full of thorn trees, needed wells, and had Voodoo people living on it. He knew it was “useless” to him, so he donated it. But after we cleared the land, dug the wells, made peace with the squatters and gave them money to leave, and after we built this beautiful orphanage and schools, etc., that same man became our worst enemy. There is no disease quite as deadly as jealousy, and he was full of rage and jealousy… When Jesus said to “pray for our enemies,” I will confess that it was the most difficult and painful thing for me to do every morning, but we did. After a while he stopped fighting us, so we don’t know what happened. We only know that we did what God told us to do.

Afterward, as many more people came to our area, we found ourselves surrounded by thugs, guys with guns and gangs who had been released from prison in the States. They threatened us when we did our food distributions. They often blocked the road, and many times they came to our gate and threatened our lives. This was the real test of “being kind to our enemies.” And when we met with ten of the worst men, the Lord spoke to us to “hire them, give them food and a job, and be kind to them.” We did. Now, every day, we pray that God will get a hold of their hearts and let them come to Jesus. It’s easy to be kind to those who are kind to you, but it’s hard to be kind to those who talk bad about you, who are jealous of you, who hate you… But “one kind word” or “one single prayer” can make your enemy your friend. And oh yes, those “bad guys,” they have become our “protective angels.”

“Be kind to your enemies…” God will bless you for it. Sherry