Why I Go…..

What difference has my life made?
                    
                     If I were to die today what effect, if any would my life have had on those around me?

                                                                                 What would be left behind in my wake?
                
                These are the questions that have been plaguing me for the last couple of years now, and I have come to the startling realization that my life thus far has had little significance whatsoever. In the short time that we are here are you not supposed to try and do something more important than yourself? Strive for something more than working the average 46 hours a week at a job you hate, and go through your daily routine wondering if there is something more out there? There has to be more to life than this. That ache for more is what has brought me to where I am today; about to embark on the greatest adventure of my life.

               
                        My discovery of the unbelievable need in the world began with to papers. I had been assigned to write these papers In two separate classes, about some catastrophic event that was going on in the world in which few knew about, or was vastly ignored by society. The first paper I chose to write on was about the invisible children. For those who don't know, invisible children, is the name coined for children in Uganda who are abducted in the middle of the night by the Lord’s Resistance Army, snatched out of their beds and forced into a child’s army where they are persuaded in to committing horrible acts, and eventually becoming so brainwashed they forget who they are and where they came from. They are called invisible children because they will disappear in the middle of the night and will never be heard from again; like they have become invisible. This paper left me with a pressing question on my mind, why wasn’t anyone doing anything about this?

 

              
                    The second paper I wrote was on the genocide in Rwanda. In approximately 100 days between 500,000 and 1,000,00 people (or nearly 20% of the country's total population) were murdered. This horrible genocide happened only 17 years ago, thus there are still many lasting consequences seen today in Rwanda. I was once again moved by such horrible storied and statistics and had to ask myself why. 
 

                 I handed my paper in with a sullen smile. I was happy that I would be able to open the eyes of even one person –my teacher- to the horrors of what was really going on, but I was still shocked and hurt by the true volume of human’s hatred toward one another, and the indifference people have toward others suffering. When I got my paper returned my teacher had written ‘write about something more reverent’ across the top of it, and had me write a new paper.  I was shocked! How could he be so ignorant toward the continuing suffering of the people in Rwanda?! Then I came to a startling discovery, perhaps people just don’t know. People are so caught up in their own busy day to day lives that they don’t have time to worry about other people’s pain and suffering; they just have not realized like I, that things like this are not just plot lines in movies, this is real life, and they need real healing. Then again there may be plenty of people who know about the situation, and ask themselves the same question that I found myself asking; why isn’t anyone doing anything? And then they would just go back to their everyday life.

                  I recently have come to the realization that I have been falling in that last category.  I send so much time saying ‘why isn’t anyone doing anything?!’ and then I go to school, and I go to work and sit in front of the TV. My heart breaks for the world, and then I allow myself to forget what i have learned, and go back to my everyday life. It finally hit me; if anyone should be doing something it should be me! I can’t sit around looking for change, I have to go out and bring change!

Enter the world race!!
 

                   I have come to the conclusion that this is where God is leading me. Here I will be able to make my life worthwhile and bring the change that I hope to see in the world. For those of you who don’t know, the world race is an 11 month mission trip that takes you to 11 different countries and lets you experience the world and God like never before. Even though I know it will be incredibly challenging I am excited. So excited I can’t even begin to explain. This makes sense to me. This is where I feel like I need to go and what I need to do. Not to mention the rout that I am planning on taking is going to go to both Rwanda and Uganda! If I could go anywhere in the world those are the two places I would want to go, and now I have the opportunity to go there!

                     I would love if you all could follow my blog as I go through this process form the very beginning (right now!) through all the fund raising and tear jerking departures, through the travels and adventures, the hardships and amazing God encounters! To the very end 🙂

God Calls us to go out and pour his love on those around us. So that is what me and my team are going to do! we are going into the world to LOVE!