Overwhelmed. Exhausted. Discouraged. There are 29 million refugees/asylum seekers as of 2018. Of those, 7,765 relocated to Cyprus where we serve. There are only a handful of organizations that help them. So many needs. So many stories. Not enough resources. Not enough hours. We can become easily overwhelmed by the work if we look at the sheer numbers of people in need. Even as I just thought of the ones that come to us, I could not see how we could help them all.

In contrast to our earthly culture of looking at statistics, methods, and results, God’s upside down Kingdom looks at the individual and the heart. We’ve heard the stories. He left the ninety-nine to find the one. Jesus sought out the one in the crowd who touched His hem. He stopped for the blind man that had been ignored his whole life. He did not focus on the sheer numbers of sick, of broken, of deceived. He saw the one and met that one right where she was at.

As I pondered this upside down concept, I remembered my Kurdish friend to whom I gave a flower. A simple purple flower. She held it up to her nose and repeatedly took the scent in. The smile on her face reached ear to ear. She told me her father’s house in Iraq had a field of those flowers. Smelling it took her back “home.” I could tell she was thinking of a happier time and place. With a tear in her eye, she thanked me for the flower and held it close to her heart. A simple flower. Not equipment, finances, or programs.

I had just stopped for one. Took time to meet her where she was. It did not change her circumstances or affect the other 29 million. For that one moment, that one person was touched by His love. We do not have to save the millions or change thousands of lives. We just need to seek out the one. We can all reach one and reaching one can make all the difference.