I think at the end of the day…I wondered if the Gospel was enough.
It took me awhile to find peace with my faith in Jesus Christ. The God I met in the Bible often times did not match up with the God I’d experienced through the masses. Perhaps one of the most detrimental blows to the Christian faith is our willingness to shape our beliefs on the masses instead of meeting the Lord in the quietness of our soul and entering into a personal relationship with Him.
Because that is where we find TRUTH.
That is where I found peace.
I think I used to put serving the poor above sharing the Gospel – even though my service to the poor was a direct result of the Gospel being shared with me.
But when I am sitting in the sparseness of Northern Uganda across from a child whose wounds are swarmed by flies and belly protrudes from her tiny frame with malnourishment…I wonder…is the Gospel enough?
When I am camping in a Maasai village in Tanzania and befriend a 15-year old girl…who will likely be sold at auction to the highest bidder; a man who will become her husband and oppressor…I wonder…is the Gospel enough?
Is spreading the message of Jesus Christ enough to make a difference – in the present – as well as in eternity?
I asked.
Africa responded.
The true Gospel propels people into action. The Gospel feeds the poor…heals the sick…and raises the dead. Sometimes physically – sometimes spiritually – sometimes both.
The Gospel spurs Victory Outreach Church to plant themselves in the desolation of Pader, Uganda to become a light in their community, to feed that little girl.
The Gospel changes the hearts of Maasai men to build their life on Christian values and morals.
The Gospel I know helps an alcoholic quit drinking, an abusive father stop beating, and an adulterous spouse to stop cheating.
So now as I enter Southeast Asia and catch a glimpse into the gruesome realities of the sex-trafficking industry…and take on the weight of this burden, I know…
The Gospel is enough.
(Our neighbor girls while serving in Pader, Ugands with Pastor JJ)
(Pastor JJ’s son, Samuel (Sam-well) on his first day of school. We pooled money together to pay for his school fees and uniform. He was so proud each morning to go to school and never wanted to take off his uniform at night)
(Maasai woman and girl – the patterns in the girl’s face are actually burned into her skin)
If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:10-11
