What we can do

What we can do

How Can I Help? This is the question that many American Christians ask today. The emphasis is not on help but on I. In other words, what can “I” do about it? There are many issues, and when we really start thinking about all the things that need to be done, it can be overwhelming. In our world these issues are not small either, they are enormous it seems. There seems to be injustice everywhere. Injustice is when something is being done to a person they don’t deserve, it is assault on innocence.

I just got back from Africa and the issues there range from poverty, starvation, malnutrition to sex slavery and trade, abuse in every form, and corruption runs rampant through the continent. It is incredible however to see the Christian church alive and well there, and they are literally changing their world. You don’t have to go to Cambodia to find these types of issues. America has its own problems with foster kids, and prison recidivism rates, as well as homelessness and a plethora of abuses.

We all know how overwhelming it can be. We are in good company however. Gideon said, “what can I do?”, Moses said, “what can I do?” Esther said, “What can I do?” The truth is we can’t do everything, and we can’t change the world over night, but we can do something. One thing we can’t do, one thing we can never, ever be guilty of as the church, is doing nothing!

What can we do? What did God say to Moses? He said, “What do you have in your hand?” Moses had the equipment of his occupation, his staff. God is not asking us to do what we can’t He is asking us to do what we can. We have the equipment to do what He wants; we have the ability, skill, and talent. What we can do, is within our reach, it is no further than our next decision.

What can we do? Take responsibility. Realize, the issues that surround us everyday, whether locally, regionally, nationally, or globally are not going away, we can not hide from it, we must stand up and move out. There is a scripture in psalms 119:68 “you are good, and you do good; teach me your statutes.” David basically encapsulates the character of God in one simple statement, and then says, “Teach me how to be like you.” We’ve done well as the church at the first part, being good. We learn about how to grow and develop as a Christian and How to be spiritual, or at least appear that way. We need to begin to practice the second part, doing good. What worked in Cambodia and what is working for us right here in the metro of OKC, is coupling the two characteristics of God. Being good, and doing good. It is living the mission of Christianity, by being Christ to the world. We are spreading the message of Jesus, and we are doing works of kindness like He did, and these two things brought together, will change our world. What can we do? Not everything and we can’t change the world over night, but what the church must not ever be caught doing is nothing. Jesus did something and so can we. Lets tear down old thinking and limitations and then transform our minds, and actions to be that of Christ, and let the world know that in our churches the least of these are being effected and changed, because we are being and doing, what Jesus led us to do.

And the journey Begins…

Last Sunday night we had our last real meeting in preparation for our trip to Africa. Everyone is excited, but a little nervous. Its a big deal to arrange your schedule, get your family settled, make sure everything is taken care of while you are gone. Just packing and making sure you are taking everything you need is very tedious.

The Greatest challenge is to prepare yourself for cultural differences. Things are very different there than here, and it takes some adjusting. Thats why we train our people to have an attitude of learning, and not go in with all the answers but with some questions.

We are keeping our eye on the goal….”bringing hope to the forgotten children.” Whether it is the orphans in Uganda, or the children whose families were ravaged by genocide in Rwanda, it is our goal to bring hope to them.  In Rwanda we are bringing hope through medical clinics for rural area communities, and teaching and training spiritual leaders.  In Uganda we will be building an educational facility for the Watoto village.  In Ethiopia we will be rescuing girls from human trafficking and placing them with a ministry that can provide so much for them.

Most importantly we are taking the love of Jesus to people who so desperately need it.  Love in word, and action.  It is our goal to address injustice and make changes.  We will do what we can, and i believe if everyone would do that consistantly we will have real change in our world.

I am looking forward to connecting with the families and friends that we have and the ones we are going to meet.  Be watching this blog for day to day information and pictures as we go through this journey.

David

Do I want to wait in the emergency room for a year and a half?

Well, this seems to be one of the more peculiar years in a presidential race history.  I find it all very interesting, and hope everything turns out in the best interest of our country.  I have no desire through this blog to endorse a candidate or try to persuade anyone based on my own political passions.  I just had a thought the other day that was worth voicing.

I’m sure you have heard about the FEMA Trailer fiasco on the southern coast.  After Hurricane Catrina and all the damage, one of the solutions was to house people in trailers so they could come back home and pull their lives back together.  So many were just leaving and staying gone, which would have been my course of action.  Seeing that nothing major has changed has only solidified my position on that.  By the way, when it happened we opened our facility and took several families from new orleans in for about six months, so we have some first hand experience with the situation.

First we all know how long it took for help to come in the first place, which is rather frightening for everyone in the united states.  Do I believe the slow response was racially motivated? No.  Do I believe it was all Gearge Bushes Fault?  No.  I believe it was poor planning on the Mayor, Govener and federal Government part, of which our president is a part.  Not to mention the local corruption.

The bottom line is that is what beuracracy gets us.  Slow response times, bad decisions, complicated issues.  There is nothing simple about it.

Now, back to the trailers.  These trailers were mass produced to house as many people as they could while things are being rebuilt.  A year and half ago, a report came out, where many of the people in these trailers were complaining that they and their children were getting sick, and having headaches, and they thought it was because of the trailers.  Now that sounds far fetched, and I can see someone saying, “no, how could it be the trailers?’  but recently a year and half later, they send a specialist in and find that the way the trailer were made, and i cant remember at the moment what element it was that caused the problem but something in the construction of those trailers was making people sick, and “now, we have to get all these people out of the trailers and get them another place to stay.”  35,000 trailers by the way.

So what’s my point exactly?  And how does it relate to the election or politics.  Here is how, we need to know the policies of the people running.  We are naive when we think the President, and I mean any president, is making all the decisions, and influencing all the policy.  There are three branches of Government, and they all inform our lives.

So we need to know what the candidates think about specific things and do we agree?  So, still, how does that relate to this.  We have big government candidates.  People who want to socialize health care, which a little research of nations who have it will enlighten us to the enormous problems with it.  My point is, do we want the system that took so long to respond to Katrina, and then took so long to respond to their own mistake, with the trailers, and still have not created a good solution in New Orleans and the coast, do we want that system to be our health care system.

Do I believe that everyone should have health care available to them?  Yes.  Do I believe that the corruption in the health care system, and the insurance companies, and the legal system should be addressed and dealt with because of their appearent unholy allience held together by greed?  Yes.

I believe there are ways to deal with this and I believe that everyone should have access to health care, and there are ways for the govt to help make that happen.

Lets be honest with ourselves however and look at the operations of many things the government takes on versus the private sector and as far as being successful is concerned there is no comparison.  Lets be careful that in our compassion we come up with the best solutions, and beuricratic, govermnet controlled, government being the answer to all lives problems, has never, will never, and can never work effectively.

Just some thoughts I’m having.  There is something to like and something to hate with every candidate, thats why we should base our decisions on principles, values, and Record.  Things that are fact, and final.  What people say can and will change in the course of political battle, that is the nature of the beast.

I have interest in what the candidates think about injustice, and how they propose to change things, and so far, I haven’t heard anything new, or anything at all.  We need to help others and we need to provide for those who need provisions, while empowering them to learn to provide for themselves.  There are organizations that can do this, and are, but where do our candidates stand really?

So Just think Long and hard, not with the passion of personality, or the enflamed partisan view point, but with our brains and our hearts, and in my case much prayer, research and consideration, and remember there is more to vote for than the president.  Lets make the goverment take responsabillity but not be our answer for everything.

David