Whats the Point of Going to Africa?

I’ve been asked a few times,   “Why exactly are you going to Africa?”  I thought it might be good to give an answer here, and when I return I promise we will get back to the evidence for the resurrection.

One of the first things I did when I became a Christian, was to read the Bible cover to cover.   I wanted to know what God was like, and what he wanted from me.  To me, there were three things that jumped out at me about God from the Bible.

-He wanted me to get over myself.
-He is very interested in orphans, widows, poor people  and others who are disenfranchised.
-Jesus is what life is all about, and He wants me to be his representative here on earth.

1. This is difficult, but I think one of the hardest things about trusting in God is getting over myself.   Here in America we have a tendency to believe that with enough hard work we can accomplish anything.    That people who have a lot, have earned it and those who don’t have, just haven’t put in the effort.  That God helps those who help themselves.   All of these are false.    That last line especially is a devious lie, and could not be further from the true message of Jesus.  

The facts are that I personally have not earned my position at all and neither have you.    You or I could just as easily have been born in Ethiopia, orphaned from birth with HIV, no access to medicine, education or even parents.  Do you really think that child is in that position because he didn’t work as hard as you?   The truth is that everything I have I owe to God, all the way down to my very life.    I need to get over myself, because without God, I have no power over my present situation.  He sustains our lives day to day and until I embraced that fact, I would never really know him. 

“He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”  - Matthew 10:39

2.  There are countless verses about how God loves orphans and widows and how we are to treat them.     If Christianity is about God taking the heart of Jesus and transplanting that into me (being born again), then suddenly I should find myself hurting for the things God hurts for, and loving the people God loves.  

Part of this just takes obedience.  When I became a Christian a year ago I didn’t find that I immediately started feeling like I needed to help orphans and poor people.   Instead, I just decided as an act of obedience, that I would start sponsoring children through compassion.com.   This was a tiny step of obedience to be sure…(only $39/month) but God was faithful.

When  I got my first letter from Jony, my new eleven year old pen pal from India, that’s when I knew my heart really had changed.   I felt a compassion and love that didn’t exists inside me before.   Supernatural, is the only way to describe it.  In a matter of months I had been changed from a selfish, hedonistic and bitter person, into someone who was deeply moved by words of encouragement from an  eleven year old on the other side of the world.   The Lord gave me my faith, the ability to be obedient, and he changed my heart to be more like his own.  He is faithful to his promises.   When he says you will be conformed to the image of Christ, that’s exactly what he means.

“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”   Isaiah 1:17-18

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; ³⁰ and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” Romans 88:28-30

3.   God wants me to represent him here on Earth.  So when I go to Ethiopia to play with these orphans and show them that they matter, really I am just representing Jesus.  Jesus shows me love, and so I show him love back by spending my money, my time and my emotion on these children and widows whom he loves.   I show my love to the Lord by showing love to his people.

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,  you did it to me.”  – Matthew 25:40

God is absolutely everything that I could  ever need.   That said, he has decided for whatever reason to bless me with a sound mind, the ability to make a good salary, and to put me in a context where I can advocate for him to many people.    I can do none of these things on my own accord.  All of this is a free gift.

I am going to Ethiopia as an act of worshipful obedience to God.  I am going  to show some love to the types of people that again and again the Bible reminds us that God loves.    Finally, I am going to preach Jesus to the poor, the one thing that they need more than anything I could ever give of myself.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me.” - John 10:27-28