I am finding myself struggling with the things in this world. It has been hard to go from being around Christians all the time to being with people who are not. What I mean by this is it is hard to be back in the world of harsh language, crude jokes, or bad talk about other people. I miss community, having people around you lifting you up when you need prayer or encouragement. Even just that from being at home. I miss that.
Today as we were driving down some random highway in Guatemala I realized that I am “over” this place. I have seen much of this country; I have fallen in love with this place. But I have not fallen in love with the touristy, money making side of the country, I fell in love with the people, the Guatemalans.
Before coming down to Central America, Marsh and I thought that perhaps one day it would be a place we could call home for a long time, however after being here we have come to see and through a lot of prayer we have come to realize that this is not where we are called to live full time.
The wind blows hard against the window outside, listening to worship music, all that wants to come out of me is tears upon tears. So many thoughts going through my mind. What is going on in our world today, what we are letting happen to other people, to our environment. Do we not have any love, or respect for others? Why are the children in America more important than the children in Darfur, Guatemala, China? Why are we pouring millions of dollars into things not needed in America? Our need for the newest trends, technology? If we just stopped for a moment and instead of buying that new pair of jeans or shoes that we think we need, what if we put that money into an account and bought wells for clean water for people in Africa? If the USA government could stop for one day their military operations and used the money to fund projects like feeding the homeless, clean water, we could make a huge impact in the world.
I recently read that according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it would only take $30 billion a year to launch the necessary agricultural programs to completely solve global food insecurity. Severe hunger afflicts 862 million people each year, and $30 billion could save them. It sounds like a ton of money but the USA bailed out Wall Street for more than 23 times that amount!
- Global military and arms trade expenditures have hit a high at about $1 trillion annually. Approximately $540 billion is spent by the United States alone.
- The United States Department of Energy spends $23.4 billion yearly just to develop and maintain nuclear warheads.
- The U.S. Congress has approved $44 billion of U.S. funds for Iraqi construction projects (meanwhile, 39% of bridges in the United States have been deemed structurally deficient.)
- We're not the only ones, residents of the United Kingdom waste about ₤20 billion worth of food every year. That translates to about $31.7 billion U.S. dollars.
Does this sound like we are looking out for each other? That we are loving one another? Perhaps we should stop “being” Christians and start acting as them, Christ like. Seriously, would Jesus have stood by let this happen, I doubt it. Are we not called as Christians to give our shirts off our backs? That if a person asks us for something we would be willing to give it?
I don’t want to be just another person in the world, I want to help make a difference. Don’t you? And if you don’t then why not? Are you just going to let the world go by and let injustice happen? Are you really going to let what we allow today, be allowed tomorrow, and embraced? Is that really the best thing for you? For your kids? Think about it, that’s all.
Greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city. Greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this world.
Come be the fire inside of me, come be the flame upon my heart
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