"My little girl was sexually assaulted, but I stayed..."

His little girl was sexually assaulted...
In a place that was not his home...
But it was his harvest (Matt. 9:37-38)... 
and he stayed.
What would you do?

Your choices:
1) You seek revenge
2) You  pack up and go home
3) You stay...you forgive...and you love with the love of Christ that turns your right mind into one that can only be defined as crazy by the surrounding world (2 Corinthians 5:13-15).

Honestly, who in their right mind would choose to stay in a village where sexual assault and rape are accepted as the norm? What pathetic human beings would cling to a HOPE that states a beautiful Light will shine through in the midst of constant hardships (Hebrews 11:36-38; Matt. 5:14-16)? And who with all their educational training would actually grasp for a HOPE that isn't even fully realized in this lifetime (Hebrews 11:39-40)? 

What crazy humans would not only hold onto that HOPE, but REJOICE in it despite all the sufferings?  And no, I don't mean the majority of our North American, middle class sufferings... I mean the real, down to the core, your-daughter-being-raped type of sufferings (Romans 5:3-5).

I'll tell you:
a crazy family who I met in the remote Amazon jungle would.

In Canada, we will read verses like 2 Timothy 3:12 while sipping our $3.00 latte and discuss our life insurance plans, our ongoing renovations, and how our broken down material possessions are causing such a headache. But in a rural village in the Amazon jungle, a man and a woman read the previous verses and others like Luke 14:26-28;34 and took them to heart: loving Jesus so much more than their two young daughters; and each other. A couple who were convinced that a dark village must hear the Good News at all costs (Romans 8:1-4). A couple with whom my wife and I cried with... not knowing what to do other than to be there in that moment, where the Spirit was real, active, moving in a way that no Friday night worship service in all its grandeur and flashing lights could ever produce.

In Canada, we will quote, 'our first priority and ministry is to our family and household'. Yes, true... to an extent. But it's not the full Truth. The full Truth is that our FIRST priority is to love Jesus with all our heart, mind, and soul (Luke 10:27). To love others more than ourselves; to do all we can to spread the Good News to the remaining 2000 villages/tribes that haven't heard of the Christ (and again, let them decide to accept or reject...but they must at least hear it).

Our FIRST priority is to count the cost before even committing to Jesus in the first place (read Luke 14 again, especially verse 28). 

Our FIRST priority is to glorify our Lord Jesus. Period. 

Before getting married, before having children, the question must be asked, "Will I continue to love Jesus more than the family God will give me?" This question (and others), cannot be taken lightly...