by Amos Smith
According to the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority there are an estimated four to six million live landmines in Cambodia today—a country with a population of eight million.
Every day families tilling the land have the persistent horrific fear they’ll hear an explosion. Then their daughter, mother, or husband will come back soaked in blood, missing a foot, a leg, an arm.
Yes, there are organizations like Church World Service addressing the problem. Yet, in general we don’t hear about it. It doesn’t make the news.
The prophet Jeremiah exclaims: “Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the needy, then it was well. Is not this to know me? says the Lord” (Jeremiah 22:15-16, ESV). What would Jeremiah say about our current state of affairs, where six million landmines are left to terrorize civilians in Cambodia?
The Bible reminds us that kindness counts above all else. This is the mark of our humanity—kindness to the poor, to the sick, to the homeless, to the AIDS victim, to the dying. Kindness reflects the spirit of the prophets. Kindness redeems our humanity.