I happen to believe you can learn a lot about a person by their surroundings. For example, you could sit down at my desk and learn several things you may or may not know about me. Such was my thought when I snapped this photo a few days ago.
First of all, you would learn that I love ordered chaos...translation: I know exactly what is in those piles and why it is there and no one better mess with it.
This is also a huge source of frustration for my family in our communal areas, but on my desk...the rule of law is, don't move anything.
But more deeply than this, I realized when I sat down a few days ago, that this little corner that I share with no one, is a microcosm of what is important to me.
First, this was a scrapbook desk. Preserving memories of our family is important, but I don't spend as much time on it as I could. So this has also become my study and writing desk.
This is where you get to my heart.
I started playing with a new app on my Kindle and this photo is the result. But here's what I want you to see:
The red rectangle surrounds some of my study books. If you know me, you know I delight in God's Word.
The black oval surrounds three different cards from Fair Trade products I have purchased. To see their faces is to remind myself to spend ethically. Also, something dear to me.
And the red arrow points to an index card with the name of the family we sponsor through A Heart for Korah. There are also two shells from South Africa on that card, one, that looks like Mt. Kilimanjaro. To know me is to know that the continent of Africa has a hold on me for some inexplicable reason.
So there you have it, a small window into my life.
Normally, I wait until I finish a book before I write a review of it...so this isn't a review, but a perfectly timed opportunity for me to bring to light something I just learned in a book. The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution taught me something about which I was unaware, having spent most of my last three years sequestered in my white-bred Western isolationist culture: There are Christians around the world that are systematically attacked at Christmas services each year.
Granted, I don't watch a lot of U.S. news because the corporate propaganda that calls itself "news" infuriates me, but why is no one in our churches calling attention to this? I'll have more about the book in a review when I've finished it, but for now, I simply wanted to ask believers around the world to pray for fellow believers around the world who will be persecuted in this season that should be filled with happiness, joy and wonder.
If you'd like the details, here's what author John L. Allen, Jr. has shared: "For the the record, 2012 marked the third consecutive year that Boko Haram launched a bloody wave of attacks on Christians during the Christmas season." (p. 59)
Boko Haram is a "jihadist militant organization founded by Mohammed Yusuf in 2001" in Nigeria. Lest we think too poorly of the Muslim community of Nigeria, they too have suffered losses when suicide bombers have been denied through gated entry points to churches. One such occurrence on Christmas Day 2011, during a "coordinated series of assaults...which left at least fifty people dead and hundreds injured," took place in "Madalla, a satellite town on the outskirts of the national capital, Abuja, where a bomb went off outside St. Theresa's Catholic church that killed forty-four and left an additional eighty people injured, including both Muslim bystanders and Catholics exiting the Christmas mass, which had just ended when the blast occurred." (pp. 56-57)
People of other faiths have recognized these acts as targeted persecution of Christians. "The Simon Wiesenthal Center, among the world's leading Jewish human rights organizations, urged the United States and the European Union to do more to protect embattled Christians around the globe: "As Jews, we recognize all too well when those who want to beat down a group add humiliation and contempt to their murderous violence" it said in a December 28 statement. "Picking Christmas Day to murder women and children on the steps of their church was calculated to intimidate all other Nigerian Christians.'" (p. 57) Yet, I do not ever recall hearing any mention of this among any local congregations, nor in any U.S. media to which I have access.
I'm not trying to be all "gloom and doom" at Christmastime. I simply see a lot of "concerned Christians" getting very excited (as they do every year) about Nativity scenes in public areas, Christian Christmas carols not being played in stores and the coup de grace, cashiers being forced to wish "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Maybe this year, instead of becoming incensed the next time someone unintentionally offends us...we could, instead...whisper a prayer of protection and God's Presence for our brothers and sisters around the world who risk their very lives by being Christians on Christmas Day.
Sort of puts all of the shopping and other nonsense in perspective, doesn't it?
After about 45 minutes, I was able to thaw out our vehicle enough for us to drive over to southeastern Indiana today for a great event. I already have the date saved for next year too...it was that good.
Community Fellowship Church hosts the annual event the first weekend in December. Much of their items come from a Festival Sales organization called Ten Thousand Villages. My new Bengal Nativity from Peru, the two bars of soap from India and my favorite purchase, the self-watering snail from Bangladesh (pictured in the pot in the photo above) are all from this organization that began in 1946.
But there were other ministries represented as well and one, Recyclo Craftz took time to tell us how she got started ministering to at-risk women in Zambia and how she barters with local tailors there for scraps of cloth for use in the projects.
My favorite table was run by Pezulu Arts. Although I didn't buy anything from them at this time, I hope to in the future. If I'd been shopping just for myself, I would have picked up either one of their hand painted spoon rests or salt and pepper shakers. The artistry was amazing.
Divine Chocolate was also available. I've purchased this brand from It's Only Fair before and it is delicious. Finding out they have a mail order website is probably a dangerous thing!
I found this hand sewn bookmark for a gift from Amani Ya Juu, which means "higher peace" in Swahili. It was made by women in Nairobi, Kenya. I also found another gift, that I can't picture here from Trade as One.
Now that I've been to the Expo, I wish I would have organized a shopping trip with some of my friends. I think that's a good goal for next year. If you want to know why buying Fair Trade is becoming so important to me, watch the video at the Expo's website http://fightinghopelessness.org/
If what I buy for myself or as gifts for others can make a difference in someone's life, why wouldn't I choose to do that? If buying less so that I can spend more, and in turn support an individual, helping them to live self-sufficiently, instead of lining the pockets of corporate greed and devastation...isn't it not only ethically right...but also morally imperative to do so when I have the option? Knowing that my $18 for an adorable Nativity helps an artisan in Peru eat and have a warm place to sleep, is a good thing. I can't say that about every purchase I make, especially one's made at large discount stores like Wal-Mart, Target and other chains...so I'm thankful for Community Fellowship Church making an opportunity like this one available and introducing me to organizations from whom I can now purchase throughout the year.
One of my favorite groups just added 12 more families that need sponsorship! A Heart for Korah has been dear to my own heart for several months now. I first mentioned them back in April of this year and their work has grown as has their heart for the people of Korah.
On this Giving Tuesday, wouldn't the best gift you could give be the one that literally brings life and hope to people who may have none? Read through the bios of the families and you will be amazed at how they have survived so much. For only $50 a month, you can help provide food, rent and possibly even an education to families that the world would like to just have us put away and forget. But they are not forgotten by a God who commands us all to give out of our abundance to those who have none.
Really? Trampling people underfoot on Black Friday and buying junk that won't make it to spring or saving the lives of a family? Is there even a doubt which reaps the greater reward?
Almost exactly two years ago, I had a specific mission given to me by the Holy Spirit to involve our family in some effort to raise awareness and money for the Horn of Africa which was then experiencing a devastating famine. Through the Spirit's leading, friends and family fasted for 24 hours and raised enough money to feed nine children for a year (roughly $1000). You can click on any post from mid-July through September of 2011 and it probably has something to do with our famine relief efforts.
The organization that we were led to turn over our fundraising dollars to was Kids Against Hunger. We also had seven of us assist in a food packing event. The CEO of the organization personally contacted me and provided encouragement throughout the entire process. It was an amazing experience for all of us. Over the last two years, I've seen status updates and photos of other families that have had similar opportunities to pack food and be blessed. Every so often Hands Against Hunger (their new name) has a specific push or marathon that will benefit a part of our world that is suffering greatly.
This coming weekend, HAH will attempt to pack one million meals that will, in turn, be shipped to Kenya and Sudan. They need over 3000 volunteers and $250,000 in donations to make this happen. I love that they dream big!
I am grateful to the family in our co-op that shared this information and to a God who reminded me that we need to pick up our serving game again. This is a wonderful place for families to serve together...how often does that happen? Children as young as two or three can help pack. By simply serving for two hours, you can pack enough food to feed a child for a year.
Came across this article today regarding Pat Robertson and a documentary about his fundraising efforts for the refugee people of Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. PLEASE know where the money you are giving is actually going...especially if the organization claims to be charitable...or Christian. No wonder our culture turns away from the gospel we proclaim, when self-promoting leaders cozy up to men committing human rights violations and oppression of their own people, in order to make a profit raping the land of its natural resources.
I have had no respect for Robertson for many years, but this truly makes me ill. I am certain his supporters could claim that this is all fabricated...but as Christians we are called to live above reproach, (a lifestyle that could leave no doubt as to Whom we serve)...in a manner that only glorifies God...not ourselves.
The folks over at A Heart for Korah posted a very eye-opening link on their Facebook page. It's called Global Rich List. It will ask you your location and then all you do is type in your annual income and it instantly evaluates your percentage of wealthiest people position. It also gives you the data in real number of people.
For instance, I put in our last year gross income and believe it or not, even with living 1.5 times below the poverty level for a family of 6 in the U.S., we were still in the top 1.10% of wealthiest people in the world.
Yikes!
That makes me about the 73.6 millionth richest person out of a world population of around 7 billion. Can you say the word shame? Not shame at what we have been blessed with...but my stupid whining at how little I have!
So I crunched a few numbers...just because I'm a little weird like that. Dale's had a lot of extra work this year, so our income has gone up considerably...still below poverty level, mind you. Yet, by my estimation we will have finished the year in the 0.51% or the 33.9 millionth richest person.
Oh yeah...you know I went further. I put in our income the last year that Dale worked in banking. Twice what we earned last year, but still only about $14,000 above poverty level for a family of 6. Here's the stats: 0.15% or about the 10 millionth richest person in the world. Can it be possible that that woman of five years ago actually thought she barely had enough to get by? Yes...double shame.
And then this is the last one...I promise...I put in $100,000. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a lot of money to me. But I know people that live in that pay range and even above. In fact, it's not that uncommon in the area where we live in Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati area. Here are the final figures. If you make $100,000 you are in the top 0.08% of the wealthiest people in the world! That also makes you about the 5 millionth richest person.
So here's the question that now has to be asked: If we are living as Red Letter Christians, and really, truly say we believe the teachings of Jesus...when He says, "From everyone who has been given much, much is required." (see Luke 12:48 in its context here)exactly to whom do we think He was talking? And what are we...myself at the forefront...going to do about it?
By the way...I lied when I said $100,000 was the last one. I want you to go over to Global Rich List right now and plug in your numbers. Then ask God what He wants you to do too.
I loveA Heart for Korah and the people they serve. Ethiopia is growing in my heart and amazing photos like the one above compound that Love even more. One of the great things about A Heart for Korah is that a pastor from a local church visits the families each month. He pays their rent and provides some food from the money that sponsors donate for a family of their choosing. There are always families to choose from on AHFK's web page dedicated to families in need.
The gift I received today was the beautiful picture of the man whom we partner with in his journey. [I actually don't like to use the word sponsor for myself. I believe God is the Sponsor, since He gives us the means to partner with the Sendeks for this leg of the Journey.] I describe the photo as beautiful, simply because of the smile that has transformed his face. Wow! What an AMAZING God we serve!
Original photo received of the Sendeks in April 2013
Whenever there are photos or updates to share, AHFK is very quick to do so...and for that, I am grateful.
To learn more about Korah and its people, read my previous post or to discover how you can help provide rent, food and more for the desperately poor for as little as $40 per month, visit one of the links to AHFK above or go to their Facebook Page
In my continued desire to Publicize What God is Doing, today's highlighted ministry is Christian Missionary Fellowship International. I am not familiar with this organization, but a quick perusal of their website indicates that they are active all over the world, sponsoring children, planting churches, advocating for the urban poor and providing basic necessities combined with teaching God's Love for each and every human being they encounter.
Brian Houser, one of CMFI's missionaries to Burkina Faso, was one of the speakers at our Missions' Day "round table" a few weeks ago. (Click here for link to video access to view the service) Brian talked of God's provision and encouragement even as his wife, Tabitha, battled meningitis while in Africa. But they are just one family out of what appears from the website, to be dozens all over the world serving through CMFI.
I counted 14 countries where CMFI is active, but the first one I clicked on is the place that is growing in my heart, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. CMFI is involved in serving the urban poor, including the disproportionate number of lepers that live in this capital city of Ethiopia. One thing I noticed quickly from the website is the large number of missionaries that appeared to be twenty- to thirty-somethings...yet again, confirming that the Millennials are a generation that will fight for a cause...no matter the cost. Praise God...His Spirit is alive and active and His children are obeying His call!
Once again, I will repeat...do your own research and if this is a place you feel the Holy Spirit leading you to give or to serve...don't question the feeling...or the wisdom...or even the practicality of it...just do it, and you will be blessed!
Today at First Church of Christ, we had our annual Missions Fair. This was the first one I've attended and from now on...I do not want to miss any. My kids just shook their heads and smiled when I leaned over during the pre-service video of a multi-lingual rendition of "How Great is Our God" and said, "I'm already teary!" That was just the start!
Then, instead of a sermon, six people who serve all over the world were interviewed about the different lessons we learn for John 3:16, "For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him would not die but would have eternal life."
God's Love is incarnational
God's Love is sacrificial
God's Love is missional
God's Love is personal
The six speakers represented the mission fields of Northern Kentucky; Papua New Guinea; Burkina Faso, Africa; a worldwide church planter; Niger, Africa and mid-India. To say I was blessed to listen to what they had to share was an understatement. But the best part of the day was going to the actual "fair" after the worship service. There, in our gymnasium, were dozens of organizations and representatives from around the world. I picked up lots of literature and as I read through it, I plan to share with you any websites, Facebook pages, etc. that can promote the wonderful work that is being done all over the globe in the name of God's Love.
Two quick stories about people I spoke with:
It was fun to introduce myself to two people from Mountain Mission School in Grundy, Virginia, where our oldest, Abbey, is currently staying with the Mayer family that live and work there.
And, literally getting goosebumps when one of the men told me that his organization may soon be planting churches in North Korea! I am teary at just the thought. You could tell he was busting at the seams to share this with me. I have watched several documentaries and follow the news of North Korea often (link to my previous blogpost here) and have been amazed at the black hole (for lack of a better phrase) that is North Korea. I'm not naming the organization just now out of respect for what seemed to be a discreet conversation.
Our God is alive, active and moving and I hope over the next few weeks to share with you what I learn about the people who are at the forefront of increasing His Kingdom one toehold at a time.
Sometimes I am absolutely blown away at what God's Spirit does in my life and in our world. Increasingly, as the years have passed, I have become so thankful for the blessing of living in a time when the Earth has become so small. One of my greatest joys is when I check the stats on this blog and see how far God's story as He live it in my life is carried to places I may never go...to people I may never meet.
And just last week, I shared how our family had begun sponsorship of a family in Korah, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I wrote in that post, what at the time seemed like an off-handed remark, "By the Spirit's leading and His provision, [the Sendeks] are the newest members of our family. We still have our long distance son, Lazarus, in Zimbabwe, through World Vision. It seems we're making our way around Africa...and since I may never get there to visit, I am thrilled!"
When I met a friend a few days later, I made the comment that I know from past experience when I obey God without hesitation, I know He will give me even more opportunities to obey Him.
Then late last night, I had a new friend request on Facebook. This is a young man I have never met, with whom I have no mutual friends, and I have absolutely no way of knowing how he came across my name on Facebook. Immediately, the warning bells went off that I need to be cautious and guard my privacy and who knows what this person could be up to. I thought about getting the opinion of others I know and trust, and as God's Spirit has been doing more and more...I felt Him whisper, "Don't talk to others Angela...just talk to ME about it." So I did.
Turns out, what do I have to fear from someone half a world away? Oh yeah...did I mention that he lives in The Gambia in the west of Africa...a country my children and I have prayed for?
And what's the worst that could happen? There are measures on Facebook that can always be taken if anything makes me uncomfortable. But here's what the Holy Spirit impressed upon me as to why I should go ahead and accept the request...Facebook (& to a lesser degree Twitter) have become a worldwide platform for me to share this amazing God with anyone that will take the time to stop and read it. Who am I to question how He spreads His Word? Knowing my affinity for anything that has to do with Africa and her people, how could I not accept such an outrageous opportunity to speak the Love of Jesus into another soul?
When I clicked "accept"...I have to admit I giggled a little!
I will warn you up front, this book is not for the feint of heart. It is raw and full of ugly truths about what goes on right under our noses in this evil world. But if, like the author, the "pursuit of the American Dream (is) eating (you) alive," and you long to know that "There's a way to live both responsibly and passionately. Just because we're taught to 'find a job, make a living, buy a house, create a family, and amass retirement funds' doesn't mean we have to follow that model..." then you need to pick up a copy of this book and read it.
I won't tell you all about the author's story, because that's what the book does far better than I could summarize. I will tell you though that this woman has seen and experienced evil firsthand in the African country of Sudan...specifically, the region known as Darfur.
If you've been anywhere near a TV set or any other news media outlet over the last ten years, then you've probably heard of Darfur. Like me, you may not fully comprehend what has happened and continues to happen there. About a year and a half ago, I saw the documentary The Devil Came on Horseback and wrote a blog post about it. For the first time, I understood a little better the horrible genocide that was taking place there. I confess, it has not been ever-present in my mind, but Kimberly Smith has walked beside, held the hands of and stared into the hopeless eyes of those who can never escape the reality of what took place.
To this day, Smith and her ministry Make Way Partners fight to protect orphans from being taken into slavery, eaten by wild dogs and hyenas or forced to serve as child soldiers in armies that have been bitterly fighting over this region for five decades!
Do you need to know that one person can be used by God to make a difference? Here are more great quotes from the book:
"The following is His story, as lived through me to this point." "But who of us wants to give up our notion of what we think our lives should look like so that we are available for Him to use?" "...these women (in Darfur) shared whatever they had with each other. If one had a pair of shoes and another did not, when the one without shoes had to walk a long way, the one with shoes would share whatever she possessed." "I wanted others to see there was something more important than going to church and coming home to a clean and orderly home."
But unfortunately, when Smith shared her eyewitness accounts of what was taking place, most American Christians scoffed, laughed, and turned away from any prospect of assisting the cause of saving even one life. When asked by one organization (I believe it was Voice of the Martyrs) to do a "death census" of how many children would attend school and then disappear...often for unknown reasons...Smith was astounded at the results. In a nine month period, 270 children were never heard from again. They had either been kidnapped or killed by soldiers, had been eaten by the wild dogs and hyenas, or fallen out of the trees where they sought refuge to sleep and plummeted to their deaths. Orphans sleep in the "bush" trying to avoid detection from the Janjaweed who have massacred countless people in villages around the Darfur region.
I have to confess that this book challenged my American Christian foundation. I know that God never promised us that when we served Him, it would be a cakewalk. But the "prosperity gospel" is so ingrained in American church teaching that coming face-to-face with suffering because you are serving God was deeply unsettling to me.
"I knew the biggest reason for my anger was that my spoiled life in America had taught me that I was not supposed to suffer. I wasn't supposed to have a sore back, a dry mouth, or an empty belly. At home, if something hurt, I took a pill."
I get it...I have no concept of what true suffering is! Shame on me...shame on all of us!
"My fear was a good thing; it drove me to ask God for patience with my ignorance, mercy for my arrogance, and grace for courage and insight." "When I dared to look closely at how Jesus spent His time on earth--and the fact that he called me to follow Him--I began to face the fact that most of what I'd been living for--comfort, status, even good things like church buildings or who won the next presidential election--didn't really matter. The only life that matters was one that beat from the same rhythm as His." "Those of us who wake up longing to know more than the rote answers our culture gives us--who long to recapture that dream God first held as he formed us in His hands--will indeed risk all to live that dream, be that dream."
3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded,
And the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 The mind of the hasty will discern the truth,
And the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak clearly.
5 No longer will the fool be called noble,
Or the rogue be spoken of as generous.
6 For a fool speaks nonsense,
And his heart inclines toward wickedness:
To practice ungodliness and to speak error against the LORD,
To keep the hungry person unsatisfied
And to withhold drink from the thirsty.
7 As for a rogue, his weapons are evil;
He devises wicked schemes
To destroy the afflicted with slander,
Even though the needy one speaks what is right.
8 But the noble man devises noble plans;
And by noble plans he stands." (Isaiah 32:1-8)
Like me, are you tired of listening to the rogue and the fool? Are you exhausted...like the parched land of verse 2...from listening to all the rhetoric that is telling us what's wrong with the world?
From where I'm sitting, it seems like a lot of the people that are getting blamed happen to be unable to speak for themselves. We're told that sending aid to impoverished countries or supporting policies and programs that aid and assist the destitute are what are causing all of the economic ills of our society.
Mostly what I hear the fools saying is "nonsense" and "wickedness" (verse 6). And if their remedy for the economic crisis has anything to do with hording our own wealth and spending it only on ourselves so it can "trickle down" then my prayer is that as the Body of Christ...we choose not to "practice ungodliness and to speak error against the LORD." These will only keep the "hungry person unsatisfied" and will "withhold drink from the thirsty." (verse 6)
How else can we explain ourselves when our nation throws away copious amounts of food and we buy bottled water by the boatload...yet just a short plane ride away (or maybe even in our own backyard), there are people who have no food and have to literally drink from a cesspool? Can we even come up with a reasonable excuse anymore?
There are times that I absolutely abhor media and technology. Yet, it has made our world so much smaller that I can no longer neglect the outcry of the poor.
When people in Manilla must make a city in the midst of a cemetery and lepers are forced to live in a garbage dump, how can we stand before our Messiah, who left us with the command of loving and serving "the least of these" in His Name, and explain away our apathy?
Are you ready for something more than being told that the rogue is "generous" (verse 5) while behind our backs he is enslaving generations of impoverished families? I pray that you are. But where do we start? How can one person make a difference?
First of all, remember that you are not one person. The Spirit of the Almighty, the Creator of the universe lives inside of you if you recognize Him as Lord of your life. And when that happens, there is no limit to what you can do. (Ephesians 3:20)
And when we allow Him to "reign righteously" (verse 1) in our hearts and let His 'just rule' (verse 1) be our plumb line by which we measure all things and through which we filter all the noise of this world...
"Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded,
And the ears of those who hear will listen.
The mind of the hasty will discern the truth,
And the stammerers will hasten to speak clearly." (verses 3-4)
To me that sounds better than any "noble plan" that I could devise, but by HIS 'noble plans...I will stand!' (verse 8)
Never heard of it? Neither had I. In fact, you probably never would unless you intentionally researched the place like I have for the last few weeks.
You see, it all started with a harmless Facebook post by a woman I went to church with when we lived in Indy. It seems she has a friend that has adopted five children from Ethiopia, in addition to the three they already had. In December 2012, Tisha Alexander travelled to Korah while in Ethiopia to bring home the three boys that were joining their growing family.
What Tisha saw broke her to the point that she knew, with God's help, she had to do something...and A Heart for Korah was born. Julie's "harmless" Facebook post was a request to help A Heart for Korah receive 1000 likes because a generous donation of $2 per "like" would be given to the organization up to $2000. Praise God, they received their desired number of likes...and then some. When I clicked on the link (which you can do also by going to their Facebook page), I didn't know what to expect, other than I knew Addis Ababa was the capital of Ethiopia.
What I was not prepared for was the desperate circumstances in which over 120,000 people live.
Korah...as it turns out...is a dump. Yes, you read that correctly...a garbage dump. It's not only a dump where people pick through it for food to eat and items they can sell, but the "lucky" ones live around the outskirts of the dump. The unlucky ones live on the dump.
As I read more and more about this place, I knew I wanted to do something to help. A Heart for Korah is already doing something...through sponsorship of families. Yes, the entire family is sponsored. They always have on their blog a list of families that need sponsorship (click here for more information). For only $40 per month, $35 goes to the family for food and rent or other specified needs, and $5 goes to the pastor that visits them regularly. The pastor is the one that also pays their rent and buys their food for them with the funds from sponsors.
It takes me awhile to mull over things and to ask God's Spirit what He would have me do. So flash forward about two to three weeks and here's what happened: We received some unexpected, "free" money. Immediately, I started planning for the purchase of some patio furniture I've been wanting...but then...the full weight of all I had been reading and processing fell upon me with this thought from the Holy Spirit:
Angela...how can you even think about buying new patio furniture when there are people in this world that actually have to pay rent to live in a dump.
Anger, grief and plain disbelief welled up in me as I became infuriated that I live in a world where we in the U.S. have so much...too much...and half a world away, by only an accident of geographical birth...people...children...have to pick through trash to be fed. I remembered how many times (too many to count), when I or my children have expressed discontentment I have said aloud, "Well, at least we don't live on a garbage heap, picking through it for our food." And here I was, confronted with the faces of people that have to do exactly that. They were no longer faceless "them"...they were smiling, beautiful faces, each with lives and a story to tell.
So I went to the internet again, to do more research outside of A Heart for Korah's information and I came across innumerable photos, posts and blogs about Korah. It seems that slowly...but surely...God is shining light in this very, very dark place. One of the best posts I read was from a woman that visited there in 2010. Please take the time to read it. She admits that the experience was too overwhelming to convey her emotions, but just the description of what she encountered is enough. Kuwaitcitygal.blogspot.com
How come we haven't heard of this Gehenna (see link to Kuwait City Gal above)...this Hell on earth...before? Because darkness hides. How come God's Church is not rising up to storm the gates of this Hell and so many others like it? That is a more complicated answer, I'm sure.
Or is it?
I am not charged in God's Word with trying to find out the why. I am charged to be faithful with my what.
So Holy Spirit asked me, What are you going to do about it?
Truly, the thing that infuriates me the most is that someone actually has to pay rent to live in Korah. God help us right the world of such excruciatingly horrible wrongs.
When confronted with the knowledge of something downright awful that I previously had never known before, time and time again the Spirit brings my heart and mind back to James 4:17, "Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin." (emphasis mine) I can no longer chastise my discontent children with an admonishment about perspective poverty, when there are names and faces that I turn a blind eye to, can I? Can you?
Meet Yalew Sendek and his son Tesfaw. By the Spirit's leading and His provision, they are the newest members of our family. We still have our long distance son, Lazarus, in Zimbabwe, through World Vision. It seems we're making our way around Africa...and since I may never get to visit there myself, I am thrilled!
I have a "full disclosure confession": right after contacting Tish to confirm which family we would sponsor, I took the kids out to lunch. I don't know why...other than dining out has been one of our family's favorite things to do. The bonding over food and conversation has always been precious to me. But I confess, that I had that "tug" that I shouldn't be spending the money on dining out...and I ignored it. When I saw the total and realized we'd just spent more than one month's support for a family on one sit down lunch...I was disappointed in myself and that's putting it mildly...mental nausea is probably a better description. I know I'm still a work in progress and I won't be perfected until I stand before Jesus...but it is time for me to get this right! Someone's very life may depend upon it.
For another ministry opportunity for the people of Korah, here is a short documentary from MissionEthiopia.com
I'll warn you right up front that if you have delicate sensibilities, you will be offended. But yes, I'm telling you that you should still watch this movie.
This rated-R biopic starring Gerard Butler is based on the real life story of Sam Childers, a former drug dealer who has led a team of people that have saved and cared for thousands of children, mostly orphans, in southern Sudan. This is the area of East Africa that has been haunted and terrorized by Joseph Koni and the LRA for several decades. You don't have to research very long on the internet to find a list of atrocities perpetrated by Koni and his army.
Yes, there are prolific F-bombs and even some mild sexual content (no bare body parts!) but if you've ever wondered if God can use you...watch this movie and you will no longer doubt. This man is far from perfect, but he's a sinner saved by grace just like we all are. The movie is raw and difficult to watch at times because of this flawed human being...but that's exactly why you should watch it. You see, just because he was dunked in a baptistry one time, he didn't come up out of the water and never fail again. The movie doesn't gloss over Childer's failings and for a person that doesn't like it when I fail...it's tough to watch someone else who messes up too.
But I'm glad I did watch the movie. It's a reminder that God can take anyone...and I mean anyone...and transform their journey into something beautiful...a journey that goes from destroying lives to saving them.
If you'd like to know more about Sam Childers, you can check out his website at MachineGunPreacher.org
No...I've not gone off the deep end. Rather, God is giving me peace about the things I've always longed to do, the places I've always wanted to visit, the hobbies and projects I've always wanted to finish and yes...even the dreams I've always dreamed but never seen fulfilled.
We all have them don't we? Whether as kids we dreamed of being a fireman, a cowboy, a princess or a movie star...we all have at least one dream...and probably many, many more that we gave up on too long ago to recall. But what if you didn't have to give it up? What if you knew that someday, somewhere, somehow...the hopes, dreams, plans, goals that you'd long ago set aside could amazingly be dusted off and actually see the light of day? Wouldn't that be worth every single sacrifice or abandoned hope you'd made along the way? Maybe the more appropriate question is: Doesn't that sound like Heaven?
Randy Alcorn thinks so...and his book, entitled just that, Heaven, is a scripturally supported work that challenges us to hope for the day (or rather, the eternity) on which we'll see our God-given dreams fulfilled. After all, we're told that every "good and perfect thing" is a gift from the Father, (see James 1:17) so isn't it safe to assume that these hopes and dreams came from Him? I mean, is there truly anything wrong with dreaming of travel to Africa, Australia or Asia? Isn't it good to want to run a marathon? Isn't there good to be found in the dream of singing praise, glory and honor to our Savior? Isn't it more than just good to want to have perfect relationships where there is no bias, no angst, no miscommunication, no doubt, no guilt and no pain? So if God is the giver of all good things, why would those dreams end just because this life under the Curse ends? Thanks to Alcorn, I'm realizing for the first time that they won't!
So yes, I am finding "The Joy of Unfulfilled Dreams". God is releasing me from the regret of missed opportunities. He's weeding out the bitterness that results from lost hopes. He's healing the hurt and insecurity of not having the resources to do all that I want to do for Him. He's helping me get beyond the questioning of "Where did I go wrong?" and "At what turn did I miss His leading?" He's showing me that someday there will be a New Earth and the sights, sounds, cultures and pleasures I've longed to enjoy now...are just being delayed for 40 or so (or fewer!) years...and I'm becoming okay with that.
But He's also opening my heart and mind wider to another realization: Thereis ONE thing I'll never again be able to do once I've shed this decaying form that is just a shadow of the perfected me yet to come...I'll never again have the opportunity to bring more people into His Kingdom along with me. Maybe that's why Jesus said over and over again that the "time is now" and that "the Kingdom of God is at hand". (see Mark 1:15 and (Matthew 4:17) He knew better than anyone that short-term sacrifice is long-term gain...like eternity-type long-term!
Do I still long to see the Australian Outback, the Great Wall of China, and just to step foot on Africa...anywhere in Africa? Absolutely! But knowing that someday I will not only see them...but I'll see the renewed, perfected, non-decaying versions of them, makes it a less bitter pill to swallow. The cool thing? Because I'm willing to make the sacrifices in the here and now of giving to the needy when we don't have enough, spending time with single moms and their kids when no one else wants to or doing without the fancy vacations, fancy food, fancy clothes, fancy cars, fancy "whatever" so that even more people I know (or have yet to meet) will be able to go see all of those things with me...THAT, my Friend...is "The Joy of Fulfilled Dreams!"
About ten years ago I first heard of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda. What struck me at the time was how would I, as a parent, feel if my son (then 3) would some day be taken from our home and forced to kill, maime, rape and destroy thousands of lives all for a warlord (Joseph Kony) who was doing it for no other reason than to retain his own power?
Over the years, I've heard bits and pieces of information about this evil man and his reign of terror but because I live in white, middle-class suburban United States could largely put it out of my mind. But every now and then, when my children were being selfish or thought their lives were awful because I wouldn't let them have the latest electronics item or spend countless hours playing on media or I'd asked them to do more than they deemed to be the "fair" amount of work, I have tried to put their "plight" in perspective by asking them to consider their troubles in light of millions of children around the world...including the child soldiers of the LRA.
Now, one of my children has brought to my attention a grass-roots campaign whose aim is for 2012 to be the year that Joseph Kony is arrested and brought to justice. Did you even know that he is number 1 on the International Criminal Court's most wanted list? He was the first person to be indicted by the International Criminal Court because his heinous crimes surpassed those of any other person...including Osama Bin Laden or Muammar Gaddafi. Because Kony's crimes are not seen as a security or economic threat to the U.S. though, nothing has been done to stop him...until now.
Take 30 minutes to watch this video please, then actually do something about it: write your congressmen, go on the website and contact the 20/12 leaders that this movement is targeting, get the word out on Twitter, Facebook, your blog, your church...everywhere. There is no reason this can't end...and soon. We no longer live in a world where we can say that what happens in Africa doesn't affect us.
Actually, stop and allow yourself to process that thought. I've said this many times on this blog and in many ways but there is one perspective I have not yet thrown out here for your consideration because I didn't want to sound too cynical. But whether it's famine relief or a warlord's 26-year reign of terror, what if within the next 3-5 years our nation would experience total economic collapse and the roles were reversed? What if someone akin to a Joseph Kony arose out of the ashes and began his evil power-hungry warmongering in your own backyard? Would we want the nations in Europe, Africa and Asia to see it as "our problem" and that it doesn't affect their "national security" or a possibility of "financial instability" to their homeland? Our country is not sitting on a pile of oil either...who would come to our aid merely out of the goodness of their hearts?
There's a lot of buzz going around on Facebook about Kirk Cameron's new movie too, called Monumental. Honestly, I don't know a lot about it other than it's something to do with how the U.S. has lost it's Christian roots and we need to get back to them. I agree. But I also recognize that the U.S. is a kingdom of this world and it is not my eternal home. Just stop and consider for a moment, what would be the most effective use of your Christian time and energy...rallying around a movie that tells Christians in the U.S. how we need to get back to our Christian heritage...or living out our Christian faith and values by contributing toward the relief of famine and war in Africa that will actually pass on that Christian heritage and values to the next generation that is closely examining us?
taught me something about which I was unaware, having spent most of my last three years sequestered in my white-bred Western isolationist culture: There are Christians around the world that are systematically attacked at Christmas services each year.
