Tuesday, March 10, 2009

I am not sure why I am writing, other than I have to work some things out, and this seemed as good a place to do it as any. As you can read or have read in previous posts I, along with several close friends and my wife have gotten involved in helping Lost Orphans International. In the process we have also begun working in other ministries here in our area, we go down a couple times a month to a facility owned by Cornerstone Church (MLK & Grande Ave..aka South Dallas) where every Sunday 150-200 homeless find their way to the former liquor store, now used as a kitchen, to get a hot meal, a sack lunch, and the opportunity to hear a good word. But most important they have the opportunity to leave it all behind and make a new beginning. They are offered the chance to go out to a place in Kaufman county to live and work in a program designed to help them get their life back together.

Our involvement is to cook (100 dozen eggs, 40 lbs of bacon,toast, oatmeal, and assorted pastries and baked goods), but also to engage these people in conversation and offer to pray with them and just to listen to their "story."

Our "group" has also recently visited a nursing home on Valentine's day where our kids handed out Valentine treats to the men and women in the facility, we are scheduled to work at a community center in a couple of weeks that serves a large Hispanic and economically challenged neighborhood, here in Rockwall. Also we are scheduled to serve in a dinner worship service at a church in Oak Cliff that opens the doors to the homeless and mentally impaired people in that community. This organization offers a warm dinner and a place to worship every week.

Now I write this not to say look at us, but because I am struggling with the questions is this what I am supposed to be doing? Is this it? On the surface I get a great "feel good" from all this and I believe in the work that is being done, but in reality, it requires very little from me. Sure maybe a little courage and a Saturday night here and a little sleep there, but is that really a sacrifice?

I was introduced to a blog by my wife "The Journey" (you can find it in the section on the right side of this page in blogs I like). It is the blog of a 20 year old woman from Tennessee, who lives in Uganda with 15 kids (orphaned), the only way to describe her is to say she literally is "Jesus in skin" to that community. I challenge you to read her blog and see what I mean. I also have recently read about a couple of local high school kids who have done amazing things, in raising money to build water wells in 3rd world countries and serving the homeless of Dallas, and raising money for the Invisible Children of Uganda. Top that off with what we witnessed in Vietnam, where the sister who run the community there in LaGi are so selfless, that they beg for money, not for themselves, but to give away. And the family who basically left a cushy ministry job in a prominent church to start a ministry for the "crazies" on the streets.

In light of this and all the need, injustice, poverty, disease, hunger, the billions who live on less than$2 a day, the millions afflicted with HIV, the approx 140 million orphans world wide, and the millions who die each year having never heard the Gospel of Christ; are my deeds sufficient? Is my action or reaction to these challenges only enough to easy my conscience? Or should the fact that my Savior humbled Himself to give up His God form, to become flesh, and limit himself to humanistic traits; He gave all, including humility on a couple a pieces of wood, so that I could live the American Dream? No so that I can live eternity with my Creator. That should elicit a response from me that shows gratitude and an understanding that the effectiveness of our deeds in this world come from a focus on a promised one!