Because of love, Jesus set aside the glories of heaven to come to earth, to live among the people he created, and to die for their sins. What a glorious gift to celebrate this Advent season! And now, he calls each one who follows him to carry out this mission of love to those around us.

Look at how Jesus engaged with people during his time on earth. He not only listened to their words, he heard their hearts. He looked beyond their status and reputation. He acted out of compassion. He spoke truth. He valued and loved people—enough to sacrifice Himself so that every person could have eternal life.

Nanda, from Myanmar, reflects Jesus’ heart for people—lost, hopeless, forgotten, rejected, broken people. Nanda said, “When I became a child of God, I experienced His wonderful love and I was so eager to share it with others.”

Even though his family rejected him because of Jesus, it only reinforced his belief that they needed Jesus too. “I felt myself to be appointed as a witness to my people,” Nanda said.

He’s now training disciple-makers and leading them in outreach with the Good News of Jesus. He sees people who have no hope and he’s quick to point them to Jesus. When he met a man rejected by his community because of his alcoholism, Nanda said, “As a servant of God, I knew that he was so precious before God.” Every time the man asked for money to drink, Nanda prayed for him. And the Holy Spirit’s amazing work of transformation in this alcoholic’s life opened the eyes of his community to God’s power.

At times, Nanda faced criticism from others—including other Christians—for reaching out and embracing those with spiritual needs. But he responds, “People around me sometimes say that the Burmese people are not worthy to go to heaven. But God’s love is for all people. As we are working for God, we are to see what’s on the heart of God—and people are so precious in His sight.”

As a disciple of Jesus, Nanda lives out Christ’s mission of loving others. He has developed the same heart for people that His Savior has.              

–B Gerhart, Global Disciples