The Little Boy In Miami

Cat81 Radio — Show NotesThe Little Boy in Miami

A Lesson About Seeing the Forgotten

Host: Allan London
Co-hosts: Jaggy and Tedi
Cat81 Radio — South Florida

Years ago, while working off duty from the fire department for an ambulance company in downtown Miami, Allan and his coworker were dispatched on what appeared to be a routine transport.

They were sent to pick up an eight-year-old boy and transport him to the hospital for an examination on behalf of Child Protective Services.

But when they arrived, what they found was anything but routine.

The little boy was alone in a full-body cast.

His father wasn't home.

The home was a mess. There was virtually no food available to him. An old cereal box sat on the table, but even if there had been something inside it, this child—immobilized in a body cast—couldn't simply get up and feed himself.

For Allan and his coworker, this wasn't just another ambulance call.

It was a little boy who needed somebody to see him.

There are people all around us who are hurting quietly.

Some are physically trapped.

Others are trapped by loneliness, neglect, fear, poverty, grief, addiction, or circumstances nobody else can see.

It is easy to walk through life noticing what is obvious while overlooking the person who desperately needs someone to stop.

Jesus never lived that way.

“For I was hungry, and you gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink…”
— Matthew 25:35 (KJV)

Jesus teaches us that when we care for someone who is hungry, hurting, forgotten, or unable to care for themselves, our compassion has eternal significance.

• There are no routine calls when a human life is involved.

• Sometimes God places us somewhere because someone needs us at that exact moment.

• Compassion begins by noticing what others have overlooked.

• A person doesn't have to ask for help before we recognize that they need it.

• We may never know how much one act of kindness means to someone who feels forgotten.

Who is the “little boy in Miami” in your life today?

Who has God placed in front of you that everyone else seems to have overlooked?

You may not be able to fix everything that is wrong in their life.

But you can stop.

You can see them.

You can care.

And you can show them through your actions that God has not forgotten them.

Matthew 25:35–40 — What we do for the least of these, we do for Christ.

Luke 10:30–37 — The Good Samaritan stopped when others passed by.

James 2:15–17 — Faith must be accompanied by action.

Psalm 82:3 — Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy.

Proverbs 31:8–9 — Speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.

That ambulance call happened many years ago, but the image of that little boy remained.

Some calls end when you clear the hospital.

Others stay with you for the rest of your life.

And perhaps God allows some of them to stay because their lesson isn't finished.

Don't walk past the forgotten.

When God puts someone in your path who cannot help himself, be the person who stops.

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