🌍 LORD, HOW CAN I HELP?

Sometimes One Simple Prayer Can Change the Direction of a Life

An opportunity is defined as:

“A set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.”

I was thinking earlier today about opportunities.

Not business opportunities.

Not investment opportunities.

Not opportunities for advancement, recognition, or personal success.

I was thinking about the extraordinary opportunities God has given me over the years to meet people around this world.

Children.

Teenagers.

Mothers.

Fathers.

Families.

Pastors.

Believers.

Unbelievers.

People whose names I still remember—and others whose names I have forgotten but whose faces somehow remain tucked away in my memory.

I've met people in Africa, Italy, Korea, Switzerland, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, and the Philippines.

Different countries.

Different cultures.

Different languages.

Different foods.

Different customs.

Different economic circumstances.

Different ways of looking at life.

Yet each one—

UNIQUELY DIFFERENT, SPECIAL, AND PRECIOUS.

And for God to give me the responsibility and opportunity to share Jesus Christ with some of them?

Well...

THAT'S THE CHERRY ON TOP OF THE CONE.

✈️ TRAVEL CHANGES THE WAY YOU SEE THE WORLD

If you've traveled extensively outside the United States, you probably understand what I'm talking about.

There's something about actually standing somewhere that photographs, television programs, documentaries, and social media cannot completely reproduce.

You smell the food.

You hear the language.

You walk the streets.

You meet the people.

You sit inside their homes.

You watch children play.

You see families living ordinary lives.

And suddenly that place isn't merely a colored section on a map anymore.

IT HAS FACES.

That's important.

Because sometimes distance allows us to think about people as statistics.

Millions live here.

Millions earn this much.

Thousands were affected by this disaster.

So many children live below this economic threshold.

Those numbers matter.

But numbers don't hug you.

Statistics don't smile at you.

Percentages don't sit beside you and tell you about their family.

PEOPLE DO.

🇺🇸 THE REST OF THE WORLD ISN'T AMERICA

I believe this is something many Americans understandably have difficulty appreciating.

The overwhelming majority of our readers may never have traveled extensively outside the United States.

Their frame of reference is naturally the world they know.

The grocery store they visit.

The roads they drive.

The schools their children attend.

The hospitals available to them.

The wages people earn.

The homes people live in.

The utilities they expect to work.

The opportunities available around them.

Without realizing it, we can begin imagining that most of the world functions more or less the same way.

IT DOESN'T.

That doesn't mean America is perfect.

Far from it.

Americans struggle.

American families hurt.

Americans experience poverty, homelessness, illness, unemployment, hunger, broken homes, addiction, loneliness, and tremendous hardship.

Suffering isn't restricted by national borders.

But circumstances, infrastructure, wages, public services, transportation, educational opportunities, health care access, and everyday expectations can look dramatically different from one country—and sometimes one community—to another.

Travel has a way of teaching you that.

👧 THEN YOU MEET THE CHILDREN

Children have always had a special way of cutting through cultural differences.

They play.

They laugh.

They tease one another.

They become curious about visitors.

Sometimes they are shy for about thirty seconds—and then suddenly you have a new best friend.

They may speak another language.

They may live thousands of miles from where you were born.

Their home may look nothing like yours.

Their school may look nothing like the school you attended.

But look into their eyes long enough and something becomes unmistakable:

THAT CHILD MATTERS.

Not because they're Filipino.

Not because they're African.

Not because they're European.

Not because they're Asian.

Not because they're American.

Because they are a human being created by God.

Jesus said:

“Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” — Mark 10:14

Every child deserves to know that somebody sees them.

That somebody cares.

And most importantly—

that God knows their name.

❤️ SOMETIMES MINISTRY BEGINS WITH SEEING PEOPLE

We can become so busy trying to change the world that we stop seeing the person standing directly in front of us.

Jesus didn't.

He saw individuals.

He saw Zacchaeus in the tree.

He saw blind Bartimaeus beside the road.

He saw the woman at the well.

He saw the widow.

He saw the leper.

He saw children.

He saw the rejected.

He saw people others walked past.

And sometimes I think genuine ministry begins right there:

SEEING PEOPLE.

Not projects.

Not numbers.

Not fundraising targets.

People.

🌏 “BUT PASTOR, I'VE NEVER BEEN OVERSEAS.”

That's all right.

You don't have to possess a passport to care about somebody on the other side of the world.

You don't have to board an airplane tonight.

You don't have to sell everything you own and become a missionary.

You don't have to know how to solve global poverty.

You don't have to understand every culture.

And you certainly don't have to figure out God's entire plan for your life before going to sleep tonight.

I'm asking you to do something much simpler.

Something almost anybody reading this can do.

Before you lay your head down tonight—

PRAY ONE PRAYER.

Just four words:

“LORD, HOW CAN I HELP?”

That's it.

Yep. That's it.

🙏 “LORD, HOW CAN I HELP?”

Don't tell God what the answer has to be.

Don't give Him a list of conditions.

Don't say:

“Lord, how can I help—as long as it doesn't cost anything?”

Or:

“Lord, how can I help—as long as I don't have to leave my comfort zone?”

Or:

“Lord, how can I help—as long as You don't ask me to talk to anybody?”

Just ask:

“LORD, HOW CAN I HELP?”

And mean it.

Then leave the rest to Him.

⚠️ BUT BE READY FOR THE ANSWER

That's the part we sometimes forget about prayer.

We like asking.

But God may answer.

Perhaps He'll put someone on your heart.

Perhaps He'll show you a struggling family nearby.

Perhaps He'll lead you to sponsor a student.

Perhaps He'll ask you to support a missionary.

Perhaps He'll lead you to volunteer.

Perhaps He'll tell you to encourage somebody.

Perhaps He'll ask you to give.

Perhaps He'll tell you to forgive someone.

Perhaps He'll tell you to visit somebody.

Perhaps He'll ask you to pray regularly for a country you've never visited.

Perhaps He'll eventually put a passport in your hand and say:

“GO.”

I don't know.

And neither do you.

That's what makes the prayer so exciting.

👣 GOD MAY ALREADY HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY WAITING FOR YOU

Remember our definition:

An opportunity is a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.

Maybe somewhere tonight the circumstances are already coming together.

You simply haven't seen them yet.

Maybe somebody needs exactly what God has placed in your hand.

Maybe a child needs encouragement.

Maybe a missionary needs support.

Maybe a neighbor needs groceries.

Maybe somebody at work needs to hear about Jesus.

Maybe a lonely person needs ten minutes of your time.

Maybe a ministry needs something you know how to do.

Maybe God isn't asking you to change the entire world.

MAYBE HE'S ASKING YOU TO CHANGE SOMEBODY'S WORLD.

There's a difference.

✝️ THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY I'VE EVER BEEN GIVEN

Of all the places I've traveled...

Of all the people I've met...

Of all the things I've experienced...

There is one privilege I value above so many others:

TELLING SOMEONE ABOUT JESUS CHRIST.

To look into another person's eyes and tell them:

Jesus loves you.

Jesus died for you.

Jesus saves.

There is hope.

There is forgiveness.

There is eternal life through Him.

What an opportunity.

Paul asked:

“And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” — Romans 10:14–15

Somebody goes.

Somebody sends.

Somebody gives.

Somebody prays.

Somebody shares.

Somebody encourages.

Different assignments.

Same Gospel.

🇵🇭 THIS IS WHY WE'RE GOING

As Pilgrim Outreach Ministries International prepares for the next phase of our missionary work in the Philippines and Asia beginning in October 2026, this is what remains in my heart.

People.

Not statistics.

PEOPLE.

Children we haven't met yet.

Families we don't know yet.

Communities we haven't visited yet.

Hands we haven't shaken yet.

Prayers we haven't prayed yet.

And souls who still need to hear about Jesus Christ.

We don't know everything awaiting us.

But God does.

And that's enough.

🌙 BEFORE YOU GO TO SLEEP TONIGHT...

Would you do something for me?

Better yet—

do it for the Lord.

Before your head touches the pillow, shut everything else out for a moment.

Forget about tomorrow's schedule.

Forget about your phone.

Forget about the news.

Forget about politics.

Forget about everything demanding your attention.

And sincerely pray:

“LORD, HOW CAN I HELP?”

Four words.

One prayer.

No promises about what His answer will be.

Just an open heart.

Then listen.

And when He answers—

BE READY.

Because the opportunity God gives you may look small to everybody else.

But to the person on the receiving end—

it might mean everything.

🙏 LET US PRAY

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for every person You have allowed us to meet throughout this journey of life.

Thank You for different nations, cultures, languages, communities, and people.

Thank You for reminding us that although our circumstances may be different, every person is precious in Your sight.

Forgive us when we become so consumed with our own world that we forget the people beyond it.