Poland on $300, including the cost of air travel.  How’d I do it?  After accumulating frequent flyer mileage ever since Randi and I first moved to California, I finally cashed them in to go see a friend of ours who’s getting married later this summer.  I do not know what Randi and I would have done without Joanna’s help during the first year that we had Rachel.  She made the impossible possible, and I love her dearly for it.

 

The one thing that I did not want to do while in Poland was to visit a concentration camp.  Yet with the remains of a camp just on the outskirts of the small village I was visiting, I knew I had to go.  The holocaust is personal for me.  Everyone knows of the six million Jews butchered during WWII.  However, few know that before the Jews were murdered, Hitler went after people with disabilities.  That’s right.  If I had lived in Europe in the late 30s/early 40s, chances are, my ashes would have found their way to the bottom of one of Hitler’s stoves.

 

I hate bigotry of any kind.  Whether it’s against Jews, those of us who are disabled, or people with different skin tones, it has no place in the heart of anyone who names Jesus Christ as their lord.

 

Let me take this in an unexpected direction.  I have heard it said by many that they hope Hitler gets his due, that they hope he burns in hell for the atrocities that he’s committed.  Me?  I hope to see the guy in heaven.  Why?  As hideous as Hitler lived his life, if the blood of Jesus Christ isn’t red enough to atone for Hitler’s sins, then it’s not red enough to atone for my sins.  If there isn’t room at the foot of the cross for Hitler, then there isn’t room at the cross for me.

 

I do not know what happened to Hitler, but I do know this:  We have a message that the world desperately needs to hear.  Let’s share it.

 

 

Steve Chance is the founder and director of Golden Clay Ministries, a not-for-profit organization committed to bringing people to Jesus Christ through preaching, writing, and providing financial assistance for orphans in third world countries.  All donations are welcomed.  www.goldenclay.org