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With the ever-growing blog related to dogma, I thought I'd share a personal item which will cross all of the dogmatic lines we can wrestle over with one another. Zambia is a small landlocked country in central southern Africa. It's population's life span is 35 years, average age is 16+ years, at least 25% HIV+ population, percapita annual income $800, over 70% unemployment, 21% inflation rate...not a vacation destination spot. But Ann & I have interviewed with Alliance for Children Everywhere and been accepted for a missions trip to go there in the name of Christ/no dogma. She'll be working with abandoned infants, most of whom will be AIDS babies, and also sharing her vocational gifting by trying to get some computers up and running. I'll be trying to organize some sports activities with their youth and in the evenings doing some Bible teaching and also teaching some of our more contemporary worship music. We leave this coming Sunday and will be gone for around 3 weeks. The decision wasn't an easy one to come to/remember last night's issues - the tension between the world and the kingdom. In coming to the decision I thought about the time we don't have, money we don't have, impact on our jobs (horrible timing), and then heard some things about selfishness, comfort zones and disobedience to a call. In Colossians 4:10 it states 'make the most of every opportunity.' It doesn't say 'when convenient.' When Jesus called people, He didn't tell them to meet Him after they had taken the time to put their personal lives in order. They just went. So, we're just going. Look at their website "childreneverywhere.org" and you'll see the House of Moses ministry in which we'll be serving. After having looked at the video clip on the site I came away feeling so totally unprepared and without anything to offer in such circumstances that I know whatever good comes from this will have been God given. Please pray for us while we're gone/I'm concerned with the contact with AIDS/HIV, and somewhat concerned with my interacting in the public square in a place where poverty is rampant and crime is the way to live. Ann's perfect for this/the Lord chose her well for the trip. I'm a huge question mark, so I could use a dose of intercession for just finding a way to walk worthy of the name of Christ, and find a need and touch it effectively. Thanks for working on this project with us through intercession - and whether we acted through our liberty to do this, or God had predestined us for it really doesn't matter much to the Zambians who die too young and live in squalor while alive. |
