“I could never love a cross-eyed child.”
“You’re homely.”
“What ya looking at?”
“She’s got an evil eye.”

Words from my childhood. Words spoken by my father, classmates, family members. Sentences that, word by word, built a prison of hurt and shame.

When the doctor pulled me from my mother’s womb, the forceps severed a muscle that controlled my left eye, leaving me cross-eyed. Though surgery corrected much of the damage, an over correction of about eight percent remained. People couldn’t tell where I was looking since my eyes looked in slightly different directions. I felt cursed. I questioned God. “Why did You make me ugly?” “Am I unlovable?” It was a lonely cell.

Then I met Jesus. His words brought life and beauty to my soul. Through Jeremiah, He said to me, “I have loved you with an everlasting love . . . Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt.” As the truth of His love washed over me, God handed me the keys to my prison, and I began to heal. I realized I had my Father’s eyes—eyes full of compassion, eyes that saw the good in things. Even if sin marred my outer appearance, I was created in His image. His Word rescued me!

In this issue of Adventist Frontiers, you will read many stories of the rescued. Hallelujah! What a God we serve! His hand is not shortened to save, even in the darkest of situations. As you read these stories, remember that they are yours. You helped create them. God used the missionaries to bring His Word to the people. God used you to pray for and financially support the missionaries so they could go. And God used AFM to unite your willingness with divine opportunity to reach the unreached.

Time is short. Who knows how much longer God will keep the doors open? But for now, there is a massive rescue effort underway. Join us!

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