While in Colombia our group did a sketch that illustrated the creation and fall as well as Christ's redeeming love. This is all done to a sound clip, very beautiful. Very powerful.
After one of the services an excited young Colombian man approached me with a notepad. He spoke broken english; but between his broken english and my broken spanish he was able to ask where we found the sound clip and if he could find it as well.
I am amazed by the power of drama and sound to capture the heart and plant the seeds of the gospel. God has truly given great gifts to his people in order to spread his kingdom. And apparently he has also provided them with a lucritive business opportunity.
I went to the youth pastor who was leading our group to ask him how our passionate brother in Christ could procure this gospel tool. "Oh well you just have to go to the website of a well known short term missions group and purchase it for $180" So I had to go back to this guy and watch his heart drop as I told him that this wonderful tool of the gospel that he was so willing to take to anyone within his reach would cost him fifty to seventy percent of his monthly income. He wrote down the information; but not quite as excitedly as he had previously been.
Ok I'm not exploring all the options here to be quite honest. I'll email said short term missions group and see if they could cut this guy a break. We'll come back to this.
Seeing Jesus in Columbia.
It's been a week now that I've resided in Bogota, Colombia. I'm not sure what I expected to find; but I'm sure what I found wasn't what I would have expected. There are two aspects of this trip that stick out in my mind (well besides traveling as a loud obnoxious American in a big tourist group). Maybe it would be better to say there are two people who stick out in my mind.
The first man is Steve Bartel. Steve has been ministering to street kids in Colombia for about 25 years now. They are currently building a second 4,000 square foot home to house another family of street kids. He also has a vision for about 33 more homes on their 40 acres of mountainous land. He has quite an amazing vision. It is not this vision however that grabbed my heart so much, it was his love.
The love in this man was spectacular, his humility was genuine. When he talked about any of their projects or visions it was entirely through the lens of compassion for hurting people who needed Jesus. I apologize I can't articulate any better what I experienced in meeting this man other than this. There are certain people I have run into whose heart is that of Jesus and it seeps out of their pores. It was evident to me that this man was a friend, a close friend, of Jesus.
The second individual was Lillian Griffin. Amazing singer, faithful servant of God, and a Buckeye fan to boot. Her and her boyfriend Leo Morales (probably the most accomplished guitarist that I've had a chance to talk to) ministered to our group with word and song. It wasn't, however, till after the rest had left that I was blessed richly. I stayed up an hour and a half or so after the rest left, to talk with Leo and Lillian. Once again I saw Jesus and his heart in both of them. They encouraged me more than I have been in a long time. Every word they spoke gave me more courage as they talked of ministering to the poor both in Colombia and in the States.
So what to I take away from this trip. The visions of our heart take courage, lots of courage; but we have to start somewhere, we have to do something. Those around us need to see a glimpse of the kingdom (christians and non) in action, I myself am starving for it. I'm still spending to much time looking for it. Sometimes we don't have the option of following the obvious leader who can show us the way. No, I take that back, I do have an obvious leader who walked this earth for 33 years. I guess it's just hard to follow an example I haven't seen modeled significantly by myself or those around me. May our Jesus give us courage to chase what we have not attained. And may He give us the continual reminder that we have not yet attained it.
Dios Te Bendiga
Hace todo en Amor a Jesus.
We Are Rich
Half the world — nearly three billion people — live on less than two dollars a day.
More than 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where income differentials are widening.
The poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts for 5 percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income.
Around 27-28 percent of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted. The two regions that account for the bulk of the deficit are South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
If current trends continue, the Millennium Development Goals target of halving the proportion of underweight children will be missed by 30 million children, largely because of slow progress in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Based on enrolment data, about 72 million children of primary school age in the developing world were not in school in 2005; 57 per cent of them were girls. And these are regarded as optimisitic numbers.
Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.
Infectious diseases continue to blight the lives of the poor across the world. An estimated 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, with 3 million deaths in 2004. Every year there are 350–500 million cases of malaria, with 1 million fatalities: Africa accounts for 90 percent of malarial deaths and African children account for over 80 percent of malaria victims worldwide.
According to UNICEF, 26,500-30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”
(information taken directly from http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Facts.asp)
It's not that we don't care; it's that we don't see, and so we don't do. Only when issues become faces are our hearts filled with compassion.
The above photo is of a Sudanese Child crawling towards a refugee camp. He was only a mile away. The photographer did nothing to help the child. Overrun with remorse he killed himself two months later.
Jesus have mercy on us not only for the things we have done, but also for the things we haven't done.
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