It wasne' me


It was an angry woman's voice on the phone which shouted at me: "I knew that you went there. I know it's you." Being a coward I put down the receiver. Embarrassingly, Olwen and another two lady missionaries overheard what she said.

Wrong number phone calls are frequent and usually of the type, "Could I speak to Cesar". That one showed up something that's boosted a particular demand in the Catholic Church over Easter: the need for confession and peace. A friend who's served a prison sentence for murder and was released a few years ago, still tries to work through what he says is his debt to society.

But much of missionary endeavour is spent in bettering the existence of the poor. It's intriguing that when they first saw Jesus they didn't say, "Behold the one who takes away poverty" but, "Behold the one who takes away the sin of the world".

Guilt and personal sin are more destructive than wretched financial hardship. Thankfully Easter is even better news than Christmas. And the woman didn't phone back.


Photo: Martha's husband, an evangelical pastor, was murdered
by drug-pushers. How can they possibly undo that sin?

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