A few weeks ago I was reading the story where Jesus heals the man born blind. Instead of celebrating that a man had received his sight, the religious leaders of the day were angry that it happened on the Sabbath. Jesus says, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” The Pharisees, wise to the fact that part of that comment was directed to them, asked, “Are we also blind?” Jesus responded, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.” (John 9:39-41)
Pause.
Here I am in Swaziland. In our short time here, this is what I’ve learned about this nation:
Approximately 28% of the population is infected with HIV/AIDS. The average life expectancy is 51 years. And children have little to no motivation or encouragement to do well in school because the third best student in the country is working as a gas station attendant after graduation. Within 50 years, the entire population could be wiped out.
My eyes have been opened. I can no longer say that I am blind to these facts and realities of the Swazi people. The question remains, “What am I to do about it?”
This is a question my team and the other two teams with us this month have been wrestling with since we arrived.
The easiest answer is pray. Pray for the people of Swaziland. Intercede on their behalf. But James says, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead.” (James 2:15-17)
I don’t want to offer a dead faith to the people here.
Recently I read in Ezekiel about how God commanded him to prophesy to the dry bones, to call the breath into them. We just celebrated. I want resurrection life to again prove stronger than the power of death in Swaziland.
I can’t say that I know how best to serve the people of Swaziland and bring hope where there is more space for despair. All I know is that I can no longer plead ignorance. With the knowledge I now have comes a responsibility. Maybe that just means sharing this information with others and raising awareness so that together we can seek the Lord for his plans for Swaziland.
But maybe there’s more. Maybe the Lord is calling us to go out and speak life where we see only death. Maybe he still wants to breathe life into dry bones and see the hope of resurrection triumph over the schemes of the enemy.
Call me crazy, but I still think God does those things. And I think he wants to use us to accomplish them. May we be willing participants in bringing your kingdom to earth. Give us the grace to do something now that we say we see.
