After mine and April’s trip to China in June 2007, I saw many things that changed my perspective.
I saw expired food products on grocery store shelves and learned that the store that they were sold in isn’t held accountable if someone got sick from eating these products, and that there is no Food & Drug Administration to say what’s safe and what isn’t. I saw a family dog walk in and out of the kitchen at a “dive” restaurant; there is no Department of Health & Human Services to say that that’s unsanitary. I saw first hand a people without the freedom to worship God and learn about Him the way that the Word intends.
In short, I experienced first hand proof that the way of life I experience in the United States is the exception, not the rule. I realized that certain things that we take for granted are not givens and they are not to be expected. To expect them is to not appreciate them and not recognize that they are blessings. I realized that while voicing my concerns about our government is necessary and proper, being definitively negative about our government is largely unfounded, because for all its flaws, we could have it much worse.
I expect that this trip will change my worldview in an incredibly more remarkable way. I expect that just about everything that I have been raised in and socialized in will be challenged.
I already have a strong head knowledge of just how blessed I am in this country as compared to other countries. I know the statistics that prove that I, making a teacher’s salary at a small private school, am in the top percentile of the richest people in the world. I know the statistics that show how every minute that passes, children die from hunger. My head is arguably wise in the ways of the world.
My biggest expectation for this trip is that my heart will learn first-hand what my head already professes to know. While I am in the field, I expect that my heart will break with compassion for those who haven’t been blessed as I have. When I return, I expect that my heart will break with gratitude for the overwhelming abundance that God has blessed me with here. Overall, I expect my heart to break for all those who don’t have the greatest blessing of all, the joy and peace that comes from knowing God.
In short, I expect my heart to break. The idea is a little scary, but this is the most beautiful and wonderful thing I have ever been afraid of.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem, He gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; He gives to all of them their names.
Psalm 147: 2-4
Psalm 147: 2-4
