In one village we
visited, there were so many drunkards roaming the city day and night. We met a
former lay leader of the church who dropped out and became an alcoholic. It was
a city not so much dominated by witchcraft as it was by alcoholism and Islam.
We visited people’s homes as well as a local bar to talk to them. People
welcomed us because they wanted to hear who Jesus was. Whereas the name Jesus
is known everywhere in the states, some people we met said that he was some guy
in history, but that they didn’t know anything about him. One thing that really
struck me though was that what people really wanted to know was how we could
help them in the physical terms rather than in spiritual terms. One woman in
that village put it blankly when she pointed at my water bottle and said “You
are drinking clean water, but we don’t even have clean water to drink. What are
you guys going to do to help us?” She told us about women that dumped their
children after they were born because they couldn’t afford them. She told us
about girls dropping out of school and getting married off very young because
their parents can’t afford their own children. Honestly, I’m not sure what I can
do about this at this moment. It seems like in every country I’ve been in there
has been need -be it freedom, education, or water. It is a problem bigger than
I can solve on my own. However, the truth is, if every person that is able (not
could) would help out, these problems in the world would be solved. This is a
challenge for me as well as for the followers of Christ back in America – that
people want to see us live the words of Jesus and not just speak them -lives of
generosity and coruage where we truly love our neighbors as ourselves. Our
neighbors aren’t just our friends or those living next door, our neighbors
encompass those on the other side of the world as well. They wanted clean
water, not Jesus. Others want their freedom from brothels, but we offer food
and clothing instead. Others still want to go to school, but we offered a
sports program. I probably need to clean my ears out to really listen to what
they say they need. Although their ears are closed to Christ, if we found a way
to bring clean water to this one village – perhaps their eyes will see Christ
in action and perhaps their heart will feel His love. Then, it won’t be a
matter of someone proclaiming that God or Christ is real because their prayers
would be answered before their very eyes.
