Today I’m going to borrow from two forum posts by one of our members, Christine.  I think both are moving and relevant to the message we are trying to convey.  Before I dive into that, an update on our carepoint:  We have chosen a carepoint – Ludlati – which you can see starting at 4:10 through 8:50 in the “Part 1” video from Monday’s post.  Opportunities to connect with our community there – financially and personally will follow shortly.  More pictures and video from Ludlati will be posted by this weekend.

The first borrowed content is an excerpt from a devotional by Oswald Chambers (I especially like the last two sentences of the first paragraph – very Pascal-ish, so this will substitute for the weekly Pensee):

Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.  James 4:8
 
It is essential to give people a chance of acting on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual, you cannot
act for him, it must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message ought always to lead a man to act. The paralysis of refusing
to act leaves a man exactly where he was before; when once he acts, he is never the same. It is the foolishness of it that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Immediately I precipitate myself over into an act, that second I live; all the rest is existence. The moments when I truly live are the moments when I act with my whole will.

Never allow a truth of God that is brought home to your soul to pass without acting on it… The feeblest saint who transacts business
with Jesus Christ is emancipated the second he acts; all the almighty power of God is on his behalf…

The second post I’m borrowing from describes a short-term mission trip:

My daughter and I traveled to the DR in the summer of 2008 with Windsor Road Christian Church and GO Ministries. Here is the letter we wrote upon our return. The trip didn’t turn out exactly as planned…

It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. Psalm 119:71

For me, Psalm 119 polishes off this post perfectly.  What I take from this is that we spend too much time fighting, praying, and believing for our comfort, peace, prosperity…  All good things… all things that are ours through God’s promises… but just not where I see God telling us to focus in most of His Word.  Those things are His job.  The emphasis for us is on taking action.  Taking action in ways that are uncomfortable and that require sacrifice, discomfort, and risk.  Accepting that we have a cross to bear, that the world will hate us because it hated Him first.  And knowing that somehow, in His plan, we will grow and benefit from that.  Refusing affliction denies us the ability to learn from Him (I know you may not like that but don’t blame me – I didn’t say it – He did (see Psalm 119 above)).  I believe that there are incredible, wonderful promises of what we receive as God’s kids.  But we somtimes become so focused on “what’s in it for me” that we spend our time and effort pursuing benefits for us rather than DOING what we are told to do.

He’ll do His part.  I don’t have to (and I can’t) make him do His part, and that’s not my job anyway.  I just need to do my part (which means DO what His Word tells us to DO) and rest in the comfort that He is Omnipotent God of the Universe, and He loves me with a love that I cannot comprehend.  Maybe I’m nuts, but given those parameters, somehow I think He’ll uphold His end of the bargain. 

I came home from Swaziland late last week.  I appreciate your messages, prayers and those who supported my family while I was gone.  Thanks so much to you all.  It was great to return home from the Swaziland trip, and feel extremely blessed to be a husband and father that receives warm, exuberant hugs, peels of vocal excitement and sighs of relief at my return.  The last few days of rest were used to recover from jet lag, share African gifts with my family, record additional thoughts in my journal, and put together some pictures and video to share with everyone.  Over the coming weeks, I can share many more experiences and thoughts from the trip, but for the first report after I return home, I feel compelled to share a thought about giving and receiving.

In reading and hearing others stories about similar trips, it is both wonderful and challenging to visit places where poverty and suffering are daily life for each person.  Many of the children and people are so happy to meet us.  The children are especially excited and crave much needed interaction and attention.  As you see in the pictures, playing ball, holding hands, climbing on backs, and being held and hugged is great fun.

At the same time, there are some among the crowd with what my wife and I call “the fussy look”.  These are the ones who’s hurts show on the outside, and require extra sensitivity and encouragement to open up and return a smile.  There was one four or five year old girl that willingly let me hold her for about an hour, but never did yield a smile.  I will pray for her whenever I remember her face.

It is wonderful to share in the fun and loving interaction, and it is challenging to see or listen to personal accounts of sickness, death, suffering, loss, hunger and loneliness.  I had multiple heart pained and some tearful goodbyes because a heart felt bond was built quickly, or compassion welled up, or because a child was still “fussy” and I had to leave without a break through.  But being there to interact, share a smile, give a hug, shake a hand, say a prayer, or have a short visit at a home is simple, important and greatly appreciated by those who can show it.  It is humbling to be placed in such a seemingly honored position.  In giving simple actions of love, so much was given back to me that I can almost imagine I am in danger of taking from the poor.  I think Mother Teresa said it well, “Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love God better because of them.”

If I did return home only to remember my experiences, and show off my passport stamps, a charge of theft might be warranted.  This is an attempt at a clever way to say, “We are not doing that!”.  The trip has developed the awareness we desired to select a carepoint, adopt it as our Connect Community, and begin building relationships with the children and workers on the ground there.  I hope and believe each individual in both our connected communities will receive the riches of life from God through each other as we work together to give and share simple acts of love.

The movie below shows pictures and video from the entire trip.  The movie is published in two parts and lasts a total of ~25 minutes.  The pictures will scroll by without music.  I believe the silence will allow the pictures to speak for themselves.  There is music and audio included in the movie that was captured during recordings (be prepared to adjust your volume level for the first audio section).  All the carepoints we visited are shown in the movie, but we will publish another movie on our selected carepoint with more pictures, video and information in the near future.  Without further suspense or delay, I am happy to announce the 100 kids of Ludlati are now OUR KnownToMe kids!  You can find some of the pictures and video from Ludlati in the movie below.

Swaziland Vision Trip 2009 Part I from KnownToMe on Vimeo.

Swaziland Vision Trip 2009 Part II from DandB on Vimeo.