and it's awesome! and i have more internet access than i probably should. but i guess that's really good for you all. so here's what's going to happen. i'm going to put up some pictures, with some captions, and talk a little bit about a combination of nothing and everything.
best sunset ever, in seattle.
the view from my room, which is on a balcony. this house is so colorful! and the plants are lovely, and it helps that it rains a lot, so i can open my door and see and smell it.
i wear my TOMS in guatemala. and they are still amazingly comfortable, and perfectly suited for the environment here. i definitely believe in this cause.
i know this isn't a large, or satisfying amount of pictures, but they will come. if you have patience.
so back to nothing/everything. it's nothing because it's just a bunch of thoughts, and i don't really know what to do about it. it's everything because... well, it is.
so i'm the only person here who loves Jesus. and i'm disgusted by it. not by everyone else, but by Christians. what the heck? are we really so disillusioned by our distorted views of mission trips that we think people in developing countries only need houses built and bibles passed out? well that's wrong. it's just plain wrong.
people need wheelchairs and and hope and jobs and money and ways to expand their businesses and encouragement and fun and safety and friends and cell phones and the God that loves and cares for them and has a plan for their life just like He does ours.
sometimes people don't need bigger or nicer houses or a book they can barely read or an education that they won't use while they take care of their farms or electricity or different clothes or hygiene products or the false God that cares about them when we're around to teach and bless them, but mysteriously disappears when we leave that we sometimes bring with us when we give them these things.
and the people i'm with right now almost get it. i say almost because they are giving these people EXACTLY what their physical needs require, they know they are some of the smartest people in the world and they're going to take advantage of every last ounce of their intelligence, but they lack the ability to give spiritually. understandable. they are smart, their using their education for other people's needs, not theirs (albeit, they are feeding their pride). why don't we do that? why don't we go to college to get jobs for other people and not ourselves? why are we content to go on week long mission trips only to talk, talk, talk about Jesus, and leave, when we don't actually do what He says, and take care of the orphans and widows?
derek prince made a great point in his book, secrets of a prayer warrior. if the rapture happened today, would the world miss us?
...i don't think so. but i don't know how to mobilize people either
people need wheelchairs and and hope and jobs and money and ways to expand their businesses and encouragement and fun and safety and friends and cell phones and the God that loves and cares for them and has a plan for their life just like He does ours.
sometimes people don't need bigger or nicer houses or a book they can barely read or an education that they won't use while they take care of their farms or electricity or different clothes or hygiene products or the false God that cares about them when we're around to teach and bless them, but mysteriously disappears when we leave that we sometimes bring with us when we give them these things.
and the people i'm with right now almost get it. i say almost because they are giving these people EXACTLY what their physical needs require, they know they are some of the smartest people in the world and they're going to take advantage of every last ounce of their intelligence, but they lack the ability to give spiritually. understandable. they are smart, their using their education for other people's needs, not theirs (albeit, they are feeding their pride). why don't we do that? why don't we go to college to get jobs for other people and not ourselves? why are we content to go on week long mission trips only to talk, talk, talk about Jesus, and leave, when we don't actually do what He says, and take care of the orphans and widows?
derek prince made a great point in his book, secrets of a prayer warrior. if the rapture happened today, would the world miss us?
...i don't think so. but i don't know how to mobilize people either
you should read "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger." we read it when i was in Ghana last summer. i have it. you can borrow it when you get back to modesto, if you'd like. (it's written in though... cause i don't think there's any other way to read a book. =) )
ReplyDeleteof course there isn't. and yes please!
ReplyDelete"why don't we go to college to get jobs for other people and not ourselves? why are we content to go on week long mission trips only to talk, talk, talk about Jesus, and leave, when we don't actually do what He says, and take care of the orphans and widows?"
ReplyDeleteFavorite part. Shoot...makes me remember why I am in college. God's Glory. That is the aim.