No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:13 (NRSV)
You may have seen that two Americans have been flown from Africa to a special unit at Emory University in Atlanta to be treated for the deadly Ebola virus. The current outbreak is the worst ever, spreading to several countries and resulting in nearly a thousand deaths. I remember reading about Ebola in the book The Hot Zone back in 1992 and shuddering at the prospect of a disease without a cure which kills a high percentage of those infected.
There is hope that both of the Americans will survive, but others treating the poor souls who contract the illness in countries with little in the way of medical infrastructure have succumbed. One, Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan had emigrated to the United States but returned to Sierra Leone to offer his medical assistance. It's estimated that his intervention saved a hundred lives before he succumbed. After his death a prayer service was held in Maryland which involved both Muslim and Christian prayers. Many of the medical personal responding to the Ebola outbreak are members of faith communities and the two at Emory are Christians.
I really do think they are heroes, putting their lives at risk in a selfless manner which is a true reflection of Jesus' statement about love. It makes me wonder how deep my faith is. What would I be willing to do and what risks would I be willing to take on behalf of others. Let's keep these workers in our prayers and also pray that the international community will respond to this latest outbreak all the resources necessary to fight it.
Have you been following this story? Where you aware that many of the frontline responders were people of faith?
Take a peek at my recent Groundling blog posting called Blue/Green Commute http://groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.ca/2014/08/bluegreen-commute.html
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