The sound of my cell phone buzzing on the nightstand startled me awake. Sleepily, I peered at it and saw I had a new message. The text was from a Nepali Christian man I had met about a month before: “Can you please come to the hospital. My wife has had our baby, but she is losing a lot of blood. I have to buy more blood for her. Can you loan me $200? I will pay you back in two weeks.”

I was immediately suspicious, but I talked it over with Tonya, and we decided to loan him the money and not worry about whether we got it back. Investing in the relationship seemed more important. I drove over to the hospital and gave the guy the money. I prayed with him, his wife, and their new baby boy. The man thanked me and promised to pay me back as soon as he got his next paycheck.

A month or so later, the local Adventist pastor of the church the man had been attending called me to ask if I had heard from him. I told him I hadn’t. He then shared with me that the man had borrowed nearly $2,000 from various people in his congregation, telling them his wife needed blood, and then he had disappeared. The people who had loaned the money were feeling betrayed.

I later talked with one of the church members who had personally loaned the man about $800. He was very upset and couldn’t understand why God had allowed him to be taken in by the man. He said he felt like leaving the church altogether because he didn’t think he could trust anyone ever again. I told him I understood how he felt. I wasn’t feeling great either about having given money to the guy. I prayed with the church member, and then I felt impressed to add, “Brother, please never forget how it felt to be lied to and betrayed by another brother in Christ. I hope this incident will help you grow in your faith and always remember to be completely honest with everyone.”

Satan and his angels would like us to become discouraged when people treat us badly so we will become hardened and less open to helping each other. We have all had our trust betrayed at some time in our lives, maybe even by someone close to us. I pray that God will help us move past the hurt and broken trust to be able to reach out sincerely and generously to everyone who still needs our help.

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