Almost a year ago, before I left for the race, The Bozeman Daily Chronicle wrote an article about my upcoming journey around the world. The article got massive feedback that I was not expecting.
The argument was this : why go and help those around the world when there is need in the Bozeman community?
I greatly acknowledge the need in the Bozeman community – after all, I had just given my life to the youth of the community for the four years prior to the race. I believe there is a need in the States. I do. But, following that season – God began calling me to see the world. He wanted to expand my worldview so that my eyes would see a bit more of what He sees. A less narrow vision He desired for me… something like that.
Today I walked the “wetlands”, a slum community on the outskirts of Masiphumelele. I hadn’t really seen poverty to that extent since The Philippines and Cambodia. The smell of sewage running through the sea of shacks made of tin, wood and tarp reminded me of the words that God began to whisper to me during month four in The Philippines. As the smell rose up within me, as repulsive as it is, I was reminded that this is the work He told me I was made for.
God has given me a burning passion for these communities. He has given me a desire to love these people, to pray for these people and to disciple these people. He has given me a passion to be His hands and feet in a place that cannot see clearly.
It’s as if God has woven into my DNA the longing to be an advocate for these people. It is a craving that I cannot quite describe – all I know is that it is from Jesus, Himself.
I want you to understand extreme poverty. But it is something that is hard to grasp unless you walk in it, touch it, smell it, taste it and talk to it. Poverty exists in the States. I am not discouraging its’ very existence. But, there is a different kind of poverty that we Americans do not experience, it’s called extreme poverty.
Bill Hybels describes the essence of extreme poverty exquisitely in his book “The Power of A Whisper”, he says this :
“As opportunities presented themselves, I began traveling to parts of the world where life seemed unbearably broken. I had witnessed poverty in American cities, but this level of societal decimation cast the term ‘poor’ in a whole new light. God began to reveal to me the difference between poverty and extreme poverty, and that the latter was something I could actually help fix.
Let me explain what I mean.
Of the more than six billion people alive today, three billion – approximately one half of humanity – live on less than two dollars a day. What’s more, these people have virtually no access to capital that would allow them to start a business or buy an acre of farmland that would dramatically change the trajectory of their lives.
That is what is called extreme poverty, something most Americans know nothing about.”
He says this just a few sentences prior,
“In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus announced that a distinguishing mark of his followers would be their concern for those who were hungry and naked, shelterless and impoverished.”
I agree. We should care about our community back home. We must live out the call to love God, first and foremost and then to love others next. We are to live out that command wherever we are.
But, I cannot help think of this – why did God choose me to live in America? Why has He made it unbelievably easy for me to get a passport and travel to nearly any country?
Maybe it is because He wants me to live out this calling past my back yard.
Maybe it is because He has asked me to stand for the oppressed and to take the Scriptures seriously.
And maybe, it is even because He doesn’t want me to stay in America to only help Americans.
Maybe your stomach is churning just like mine is writing this. It may seem crazy and what I am saying may seem controversial. But I believe that it is time to think past ourselves.
To think outside the box and outside the boundaries of American Christianity.
God has a big call on my life and He has a big call on your life. And when you are obedient to that call, your life will absolutely look different. It will look upside down and inside out. But that’s the way of the Kingdom.
Of course, I do not know the entirety of what God has in store for me – His call is not always easy, but it is good. The life that He requires is full of risks and it can be dangerous. But, I know that my life is not my own. I know that He has bought my life and that if I allow Him to, He will use me for His glory.
I beg you to keep seeking the things above. Know that God has a call and purpose for your life. And always remember that this world is not your home yet you are not alone. There are hands and feet that will guide you every step of the way.
Serve in America as God calls you to serve. Be the hands and feet of Jesus wherever you are. Give sacrificially in every way, wherever He sends you. The light will go forth from you into the darkness of this world proclaiming the goodness of God in America or overseas.
Seek first His Kingdom. And all else will be added unto you.
