Testimonial

Love Thy Neighbor: A testimony from Andrea Herath

It was the weekend after Thanksgiving, 2011.  Our church announced they would be showing a documentary called “58” based off the premise and verses of Isaiah 58.  The documentary highlighted the adverse effects of extreme poverty and what we western Christians are doing about it (or moreover, what we are NOT doing about it).  My heart was convicted beyond anything I had ever experienced.  I stayed up the majority of the night crying and asking God to teach me, show me and use me.  I had never felt such pain,compassion and conviction.  I was so upset that other people’s lives were enslaved due to an amount that I could (if I had to) come up with in 5 minutes from family and friends alike.

IMG_1225And so that night, I really felt like God did teach me and show me and wanted to use me.  When I shared with my husband the following day what the Lord placed on my heart, he encouraged me to take it a step further.  Was I willing to work (“get a job”) to give?  At the time I was a full-time stay-at-home mom, but both of our children were in school during the day.Within weeks, I began nannying for a family that offered me the exact hours and days that I needed to be able to not only give the amount the Lord had placed on my heart, but also still be a caring wife to my husband and a caring mom to my kids.   God is good.

I knew I wanted to give to an organization that was bringing life and hope to people in extreme poverty.  A few months later, Wells4Wellness was birthed and I knew I could trust the non-profit because it was being run by none other than my own mother-in-law.  I don’t feel like I’m doing some amazing thing, I’m only doing what I would hope someone would do for me if I was in a tough situation.  As Christians we only have two “commandments” stated by Jesus himself in Matthew 22:37-40:  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

God showed me that loving my neighbor, even if they are 5,000 miles away in another country, is doing this right now.  I hope and pray He shows you what YOU can be doing to “love your neighbors.”