I remember her picture. It was one of many showing those arrested the day before, a collection of expressions – anger, defiance disdain, apathy, clueless, disoriented, even comical. But the look in her picture was different. Intense sadness. Elena had been arrested for walking along a restricted highway.
Since then I’ve seen another picture. An earlier one of Elena, a beautiful Russian girl, and her husband, Constantine. It’s one of those young couple pictures. They’re standing, arms wrapped around each other, faces touching as they look into the camera. But there’s that look again.
An old saying goes, “It takes one to know one.” An alcoholic can see how people act, how they talk, how they live their lives…and without ever seeing them pick up a drink, knows there’s a problem. It’s one of those “been there, done that” things. Those who have survived what life has thrown at them (and often what they have thrown at themselves) are more tuned in to seeing the warning signs in others.
That’s also true for those who know depression, the kind that overwhelms the soul, bends reality, and paints life as a hopeless failure. They can spot the charade that life is good; the lies to convince anyone listening that everything is under control; the empty belief that “I can handle this”. They move past the façade and find the loneliness, the withdrawal from family and friends, the refusal to talk about problems, the appearance of independence masking a desire to just run away. And then…there’s that look.
In 2005, Constantine died of a drug overdose, leaving Elena with a financial nightmare. There was a secret loan, family assets lost and missing. The problems were too much. One year later she had no car and no electricity in her house. Elena decided to return to Russia, but passport problems kept her from boarding the plane. Desperate, she walked the 25 miles home and soon began to wander along major highways, bundled up in dark clothes, carrying two dark suitcases, and going nowhere.
Elena was picked up twice by police officers wanting to help. She was offered rides home, even at the jail. But she declined. A friend asked to help sort out the financial problems, but she refused. Then at 1:30 a.m. on November 14, 2006, Elena died. She was hit by a truck. In her dark clothes and holding those two suitcases, she had been standing…just standing…in the middle of a highway. Elena was 26.
When I learned of Elena’s story, my first thought was an angry one. Why wasn’t more done to help her? I remembered the criteria by which Jesus will separate those who will be with Him forever and those who will have eternal punishment – honoring Christ by reaching out to others. (Matthew 25:31-46) But the fact is that people did reach out to Elena. Maybe more could have been done. I don’t know. But they did try. And for those who tried, even with this tragic result, they deserve thanks, not judgment.
There are many in the world who are hurting and in desperate need. And there are men, women, and children who dare to reach out to them. Whether or not we observe the U.S. day of Thanksgiving, we should make the opportunity to thank them. They work alone and through ministries. They have prayer networks and give counseling, provide food, clothing and shelter, build and repair homes, meet medical, dental and legal needs, and as they do, they reach out and share Jesus.
And ask God what He wants you to do, because, dear friend, He wants you to do something. If you’re not a part of a ministry, find one you believe in, one that has helped you, someone in your family or a friend, a ministry that has brought God’s light to you in a dark moment. Get involved. It may be hands on. It may be in daily prayer and encouragement. It may be in helping manage a ministry. And it may even be in contributing, dare I say it, money. It takes God’s money to carry out such work, too, you know.
But this isn’t about giving money. People get too hung up on that anyway. Someone once told me he didn’t contribute to Ciloa because anything less than $100 would make him feel bad and he just didn’t have it. Shoot, if everyone who reads the Note were led to give $12 a year we’d rise and call them blessed. I just don’t get the deal with money at all. But this isn’t about money. It’s about ministry.
It’s about reaching out to others and by doing so, reaching out to Jesus Himself. And it’s about thanking all those people all over the world who do reach out. I hear from literally hundreds each week. They work with people like Elena every day and sometimes, despite their best efforts, they don’t get through and their Elena dies. It has happened in their ministries. It has happened in ours. And it will happen again. So remember these saints. This year, this week, thank them…and thank God He has graced your life with these devoted people. To all of our friends who show they love one another…
Take care and be God’s,
Chuck Graham
Ciloa … Encouraging one another as long as it is called Today! Ciloa is a registered trademark of Ciloa, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. A Note of Encouragement is a copyright interest held by Ciloa, Inc.
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