Wherever, Whenever, However

Jesus told a story about a man left for dead on the side of the road. Religious leaders — people with good theology and busy calendars — walked past. Then came the Samaritan. The outsider. The unlikely one.

He didn’t hold a committee meeting. He didn’t ask if the man deserved help, or whether helping him might create dependency, or whether there was a better organization equipped to handle roadside victims. He just helped. Wherever he was. Right then. With whatever he had.

That story is the entire mission statement of Widows Oil Ministry. Loving our neighbor like Jesus — wherever, whenever, however he asks us to. The “wherever” means we go to where the need is, not where it’s convenient. The “whenever” means today, not after the next planning cycle. The “however” means whatever shape love needs to take in this particular moment — food, furniture, a bus ticket, a winter coat, a listening ear.

This is not complicated. It is just costly — in time, in treasure, in the willingness to see the person on the side of the road and choose not to walk past.

Who is on the side of your road today?