Today as I walked around downtown Rochester, MN, I silently prayed…”God, what do you want most for the people who I meet and will walk alongside in my time here on earth?” I listened and watched. Most people I saw were focused on getting where they needed to be this morning. A few were engaged in conversation with another that was nearby, some laughed, but most were alone in their thoughts. Ironically, two questions jumped to my mind that I longed to ask each person that passed by…
1) Do you know how wonderful and important you are?
2) Do you know there is someone who loves you more than anyone on this earth can?
I think that’s why I am so moved by the example of a woman who lived an extraordinary life of helping others no matter what the cost to herself. Here name was Irena Sendler.
During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an ‘ulterior motive’ … She KNEW what the Nazi’s plans were for the Jews, (she was German.)
Irena decided to smuggle infants out in the bottom of the toolbox she carried. In the back of her truck she had variety a burlap sacks for larger kids. She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers, of 
course, wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.
Over the course of a few years, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She eventually was caught and the Nazi’s broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and hid them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she made every effort to locate any parents that may have survived and reunite the children with their families.
For the vast majority, there was no family left. She helped these parentless children to by getting them into foster care families or being adopted by those who cared.
In 2007, Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected. But what she did for everyone of those children gave them hope. In May 2008, she passed away.
You many never find yourself in a situation quite like Irena, but you can always ask… Where will you make a difference and bring hope to others today?
Serving faithfully,
Pastor John
