Where has the time gone? Soon this team will come together and jump the pond to make an impact on children with desperate need. The reality is that these 35 people will have their hearts and minds changed so much, that it may just rock eternity! The proverbial pebble in the pond.
It sure is easy to get comfortable with all of our “stuff” here at home.. for me, it was “oh no, the artwork does not match the sofa”.. as soon as those words left my mouth years ago(after our first mission trip) I realized exactly what I had said. I realized that it was “normal” for me to think that way. I have since adjusted my thinking, but often fall back into those old habits.
This trip will be life changing, as we are working with the Children of Swaziland. The average age there-19, the life expectancy-late 30s. Aids has and continues to take its toll. The media should be broadcasting from there everyday-as there is a generation missing. They have the highest per-capita Aids outbreak of any nation on the planet. Yet we find ourselves enamored with “The Stars”. I appreciated Michael Jacksons music, I watched Farah Fawcet, and loved it when Billy Mays shouted at me to buy his new product, but I am saddened that (I am guilty here, not judging anyone else but myself) we fall at the feet of Hollywood, and my blinders seem to creep in that much more from the peripheral of what is really important and happening all around us. It is so easy for me to sit on the sidelines and watch life go by…do you ever feel this way?
Today is such a precious gift-what if we could change the world? One person at a time? I recently read a great book called “Servolution” what an amazing way to connect with people at home, in our region, and around the world and truly be His hands and feet. As you ponder the injustice in the world, it is easy to become overwhelmed…”there are so many problems, what can I possibly do?”… you CAN change it one person at a time.. maybe the widow down the street that just needs someone to visit with, maybe it’s a handful of teenagers that need a good role model, perhaps it’s breathing life into a community ½ way around the world by sponsoring a child. It doesn’t matter what…it matters that you do. I have heard a lot of great sermons, but only met a few… how about you help me, and I will help you to be a “walking sermon”… and when I fail(and OH YES, I will fail) you can help dust me off and point me back in the right direction, and I will do the same for you!
I have discovered all kinds of poverty. There is “stuff(financial)” poverty, there is “starvation” type poverty, but we suffer from what may be the biggest poverty of all… “Relationship” Poverty. The garage door goes up, the garage door goes down, and we hide in our cocoons until the next day. What will it take to get back to block parties, card parties, neighborhood barbecues, and nurturing relationships right here at home… We have A LOT to learn from “The Third World”… we are NOT rich by any standard.
We leave soon, and will update this blog as regularly as possible with pictures and stories from the huts and homes of
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