By an Alliance worker serving in the Middle East
My husband, Bill,* and I had just finished our Monday morning prayer meeting at the community center. With our two-year-old, Amy, in tow we headed out to pick up our older kids from school.
With no time to return home, eating the sandwiches I had packed for lunch as we sat in traffic was the order of the day. The sun beat down on our car as we snacked, waiting at yet another light.
Lunch’s Decimated Remains
Amy finished and handed me the decimated remains of her sandwich—a big hunk of bread licked clean of peanut butter and jelly. Not feeling inclined to save this treasure, I rolled down my passenger window and tossed it out onto the street.
It’s biodegradable, I thought.
As I continued my conversation with Bill, out of the corner of my eye I saw a truck driver looking at me. I followed his gaze to the hunk of bread on the asphalt.
I was confident he wasn’t offended at my littering, as I’ve often seen people throw whole bags of trash out of their car in this country. As the light remained red, he inched his truck forward to get as close as he could to the next car’s bumper.
He glanced at me again and then at the bread. From one split second to the next, the truck driver opened his door, jumped out, grabbed the bread, and ducked back in his vehicle.
I sat watching the proceedings, stunned. “Did he just get out of his truck to grab the bread I tossed?” I asked my husband.
Believe it or not, he had.
Precious Treasure
Many people here ascribe great value to bread and refuse to throw it away. When it is stale or moldy, they won’t put it in the trash. Instead, they will place it in a bag and hang it off of the trash bin.
Sometimes shepherds herding their flocks through the neighborhoods will pick up the bag and feed its contents to their sheep. Sometimes it will just hang there, growing moldy.
I’ve seen low walls lined with rolls and pieces of dried out Arab pita—hard and green. No one is willing to treat bread as garbage here.
Bread of Life
When I witness this cultural quirk, I’m reminded of the One who lived here 2,000 years ago, who declared Himself the Bread of Life. “‘He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty’” (John 6:35).
We are offering this Bread to all those who are hungry, and we long for the day when they will treat Him as preciously as they treat their valuable rolls and pita bread. Please remember us this month whenever you eat bread.
Ask the Holy Spirit to move so that our friends understand that the Bread of Life is the One who will satisfy their hunger and longing.
*Names changed
Pray
Join the Alliance family in interceding for our workers in the Middle East and worldwide, who are taking the good news—in word and deed—to some of the least-reached regions of the world. Use the weekly Alliance Prayer Requests to assist you.