One World, One Village

If our world were a village of 1,000 people, of these people:
• 60 persons would have half the income
• 500 would be hungry
• 600 would live in shantytowns
• 700 would be illiterate.

(New Internationalist, August 1990)

It's Better to Receive Than to Give

While in South Africa a missionary friend shared a story of team that had come to help them in one of the townships in the Cape Flats. They had been briefed and oriented and one thing they were explicitly told not to do was give money or items to the townspeople. The team did great and the trip was a success. There was a couple on the team that had a slightly different agenda however. When the team returned home the couple immediately made plans to return to South Africa and they did just that, but this time bearing gifts - lots of them. Even though the missionary family that had been living there, working in this community told them that under no circumstances were they to hand out gifts, they felt compelled in Christian charity to indiscriminately distribute thousands of dollars worth of items to community members. They had planned another day of gift giving so after the first day of mayhem the couple went to the pastor's home to strategize for the following day. As they stood there outside the pastor's home a gang approached the couple, the pastor and his wife were held at gunpoint and the gang demanded that the couple give them all of their valuables and the keys to their car. Christmas was over. The couple felt bad about the altercation, gave the pastor and his wife a couple thousand dollars to send the pastor's daughter to school and made arrangements to return to the States. The following day, when the pastor went to pay for school the gang was waiting for him, took the money and his car and now he and his wife have become prime targets for ongoing assaults and theft. The pastor and his wife were forced to leave their beloved township where they had spent so many years caring for the people. Consequently the service and care provided for the people suffered greatly all as the result of good intentions going so wrong.

Do it today

Interesting thing happened to me this last week. I attended a conference on leadership at my church. I have attended this conference every year for the last 9 years (except for last year becasue I was in the Dominican republic but I did listen to the talks later). This conference brings together some of the bests minds and examples in leadership to teach church pastors and anyone else who is in a leadership role about leadership. The teaching is always amazing and I walk away learning so much about leadership and challenged to step up and engage in Kingdom work in greater ways. Last week as each speaker came on stage to talk, many with ideas on leadership that were not common in the not so distant past, and probably new to many listening to the conference, I realized that the ideas were consistent with what the organization I work for believes. The vision cast in the conference was in line with the vision I have heard for years. Then I asked myself another question. What have we done with our vision? Have we responded in ways that maximized the potential of the vision or were we slow to initiate ideas of change to those around us. Did we wait for the rest of the world to catch up to our vision or were we leaders in educating others and blazing the trail to a better tomorrow? What idea, or vision, have you had in recent years? Have you acted on the idea or engaged in activities to fully bring that vision to fulfillment? If not what is holding you back?

Leaving South Africa

Goodbye South Africa.  It's been an amazing experience and after all that we've heard and seen we would want to do all that we can to support the work that is being done here.  We were very impressed with the collaborative efforts that are being made to help rectify the many injustices and deplorable conditions that so many South Africans are experiencing.  We would love to bring a group of concerned global citizens back here next year to see what we can do to further the work of the many non-government organizations and churches that are truly making strides in helping people turn truly hopeless situations into ones of hope.  If you are interested please let us know.  Together, we can make a difference. Contact Us Here

A Commitment to Get Involved

As we listened to Jodi Jacobsen's story, she tells us that this coming year in South Africa more girls will be raped then learn to read and write, an atrocity unimaginable.  For many, this means a death sentence.

Jodi works with women who have either chosen to prostitute themselves or are forced into a life of prostitution.  Several times a week she goes out with a small team of women who are compelled by the plight of women in Cape Town and shares about the hope that can only be found in a relationship with a God who deeply loves them.  The stories of women, addicted to drugs, desperate for money; women who are murdered or oftentimes left for dead were heartwrenching. And even more tragic is the cycle of tragedy that is perpetuated in the lives of the children of these women.

One of the great priveleges that we have as an organization is meeting incredibly dedicated people all over the world that have made great sacrifice to help those broken people who simply need to know God's love for them and given hope; hope that is eternal, hope that is present with them every day.  The commitment of people like Jodi who extend hope to others is why we do what we do; connecting people and challenging people to get engaged in the world.  How are you getting engaged in the world?

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day of both reflection and connection.  I know that that sounds corny, but as I think about what this day truly means I am confronted with the fact that even though I am deeply concerned about social justice in the world I have thought little about those who put their lives on the line, protecting our beloved country and the freedoms that we so often take for granted.

I just returned from a trip to South America where people's rights are regularly subverted.  I feel so blessed to be a part of a country that despite it's shortcomings and litigious inclinations has provided me with a sense of security and liberty that is unique to a very small percentage of the people in the world. 

Today as you connect with friends and family at parks, beaches and backyard barbecues, take time to reflect on the people who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms and in that moment consider the love of God who made the greatest sacrifice of all because He loves us and wants us to know true freedom - freedom from fear.

Living Your Dream

This morning I was listening to Erwin McManus (<a href="http://mosaic.org/podcast/">http://mosaic.org/podcast/</a>) and his message was about living your dream.  Surprisingly he wasn't challenging people to live their dream. He was asking, if you were to live your dream, would the world be a better place.  Our dreams affect each other - one person's dream might be another person's nightmare.  What is our motivation for wanting to live out our dream?  We see examples of people trying to live out their dream on reality TV all the time; people who want to be the next American Idol, the Biggest Loser or the ex-bachelor or ex-bachelorette because if they win, they will have "fulfilled their dream" and hopefully found the peace and joy that we are all pursuing. 

So back to the question:  If you were able to live out your dream, would the world be a better place?  If the answer is, "No" then maybe you should reconsider your dream and if the answer is, "Yes" but your actually not living your dream - why not? 

Living Life Intentionally

I am reading a book by Erwin McManus called “wide awake”.  There is a quote in the book I want to share with you.  It reads “You don’t get to choose your parents, your race, or your skin color; you don’t get to choose your language or economic condition when you were born into this world.  You don’t get any say about the beginning of your life journey, but you have a great deal to say about the destination of your journey and how that journey shapes you.”

 

Do you live life intentionally looking to make a better future or do you get stuck in the circumstances of your beginnings?

Connecting

Mother Teresa said, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. ” As a member of the global community we all have a part to play. Sometimes finding that part is no easy task but it is vital to our emotional, spiritual and even our physical health. Living life as our Creator intended us to live means giving up our agenda for His. But how do we know what He wants for us and from us?

Recently, on a flight back from Dallas, I talked with a young lady who was getting her master’s degree in a type of holistic psycho therapy for the terminal ill. It was quite a lively conversation to say the least. She was a delightful person. We didn’t connect on a lot of levels but we did agree that the joy, fulfillment and sense of purpose we have in life is directly related to our connection with the world around us.

Jesus was a great example for us as a, “connector”. He connected with people because of His love. He met people at their point of need and loved them right where they were. We often don’t connect with people because of our fear or because of apathy. I would contend that if we spent more time trying to, “connect” with people around us and make every effort to contribute to the world, the revelation of our life’s purpose would soon reveal itself to us. It’s when we love and give in increasing ways that we find joy, peace, purpose and fulfillment.

When Plans Change

A month ago my friend Ray, from Dallas called to invite me to go to Mexico with a group of volunteers. We were supposed to drive 16 hours from Dallas to Muzquiz, San Miguel, for a work project, but 2 days before I was to meet Ray in Dallas he called to say, “I can’t do the trip.” I was disappointed but honestly, after hearing about decapitations in Mexico, I got over it pretty quick.

Oftentimes life throws us a curve; plans change, people disappoint us, expectations fall short and we’re left wondering, “what happened?” How do we respond to all of the disappointment we encounter in life?

The second century Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius said, “Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained that you shall live.” I think that about says it all.

Living Wholistically

This morning I had coffee with a guy I met recently and we talked about what it means to live life wholistically. Most of us plod through life compartmentalizing everything. We have our home life, our work life, our life of extracurricular activities and in those, "compartments" we interact with people based on which compartment we happen to be in. We tend to try to live up to certain expectations but often struggle with the interconnectedness of it all. How do we connect it all? If I'm living for me than all I have is the now but if I'm living life as a contributer, a giver and a servant than in every circumstance I have purpose and opportunity.

Friends

 

For New Years this year instead of traveling into the city or going to some big event - it was a quiet, intimate time with close friends. So often I think about how blessed I am to have friends and family that are so supportive of the life that I've chosen to live. Waking up on January 1st I enjoyed the company of people I care deeply about. We shared our hopes and aspirations of this coming year, enjoyed a wonderful meal together, drank coffee and talked until the early afternoon. Losing weighto and getting out of debt are certainly goals I'm sure most of us have, but what is most important in the whole scheme of things... in life? Isn't it our friends and families and relationships that are yet to be developed?