When Men Need Men

By Pastor Olinto
27 Jan 2010

You might have heard about, or watched, the movie “Black Hawk Down”. The movie tells a true story based on a top secret mission undertaken by the U.S. Army Special Forces to Mogadishu, Somalia in October of 1993. The enemy was the jihadist militia run by Somalian warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid.

To make a long story short, in order to stop the bloodshed, on orders from President Bill Clinton, U.S. Army Rangers and Delta Special Forces were sent in to capture General Aidid.

The assault was very successful; roughly 21 people were captured and loaded on trucks to start the journey back to the U.S. base for interrogations. As the commandos were trying to get out of the city, one of their recognizance and backup helicopters was shot down. With that crash everything changed. Other teams needed to be sent in to rescue the helicopter’s crew. In order to reach the crash site they needed to fight their way in house by house, street by street. A very emotional scene to watch, specially knowing that it actually took place.

What stands out for me as I remember this movie, is a particular scene in which the major-sergeant, is bringing back to base some of the wounded and dead soldiers. The army Land Rover is bloody showing a very graphic picture of what was happening inside the city as troops are trying to get out. The Major-sergeant asks the soldiers to reload the car with ammunition so that he can go back. The soldiers couldn’t believe it. He was lucky to be alive but wanted to go back. So they asked the sergeant. “Are you doing it for patriotism? To prove courage?”

“No! It’s no longer for the nation or to prove courage. I’m doing it for my brothers out there!”

In real life, it’s true, that as men we don’t like to admit that we need other men in our lives. We like to think we can do things on our own or by ourselves and always be triumphant without a fault. Of course, that macho attitude is very much ingrained in all us men. The great reality though, is that we do need men in our lives so that we can share and convey our own needs to one another.

In the book of Proverbs chapter 18 verse 24 it reads “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother”.

The text by itself is very clear and self-explanatory. Actually we can have a friend that can become closer than a biological brother. What the Scripture is teaching us here is that it’s possible to have a relationship developed with friends in such a way that it becomes stronger than the one we may experience within our own biological family. Can you imagine that?

Also in the book of Proverbs in chapter 17 verse 17 it says that “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity”.

Yes! We do need friends - good ones, so that we can stand together, especially in times of adversity.

The city of Macau is a very tough place to live without friends. It has proven unbearable to some. This is what this prayer breakfast is all about. We come to develop friendship – true friendships, so that we can count on each other, pray and support each other, and to help one another in times of adversity.

Like the major-sergeant said in the movie, it’s not for the country or to prove courage. It’s for our brothers.

Let us enjoy our times together and use them to forge great friendships. God Bless us all!