How will you make a difference in one month?
What happens when you leave?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to just stay in one place?”
People asked me these questions for months on end, and I always had what I thought to be the “right” answers. But as I approach the end of my third month, I still find myself asking the same questions every single day.
I’ll admit that it is an area where I lack faith at times. Satan continually leads me to believe that what I’m doing is not meaningful. I have been processing it since my first week on the Race (hence my lack of blog posts).
Last week, I received an unexpected message from one of our Ugandan friends. “You made me feel human in life.”
How do you make someone feel human?
Journalism school taught me that you spell her name correctly or tell his story in a compelling and accurate way.
Teaching taught me that you believe in his ability to succeed or never give up on her, no matter how hard it gets.
But what does the Bible say?
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them…God saw all that he made, and it was very good.” – Genesis 1:27, 31
This month, we are working with a variety of organizations that serve children and youth. Last week, we met Abraham, the founder of Youth Impact, where we tutor and hang out with middle and high school students three times a week.
We asked him what we could do, and without any hesitation, he said, “Continue your relationship with us, especially after you leave.” Everything else – financial support, other resources, future visits – are simply the byproducts.
A few days later, we met some of the former street boys that have benefited from Youth Impact. We asked them for advice on interacting with the people on the streets, and they said something similar. “Talk to them. Hug them. They want to feel human.”
I am learning that making someone feel human, in the context of the gospel, is about communicating the depth and breadth of God’s love, and His desire for personal relationship.
Many people tell us that they are truly encouraged just by meeting us – not because we are special in any way, but because they experience God through us.
Here in Africa, and perhaps in all of the countries we will visit, communicating humanity, or really, demonstrating God’s love is very practical. It means hugging the blind orphan, because she doesn’t know who you are. It means sneaking silly faces to the children peeking into the house where you are sharing the gospel. It means asking questions, not to have something to say, but because you want to listen.
Every time we pass the first furniture shop on our way to Youth Impact, the same lady waves and shouts hello in English or Amharic as we walk by.
A lot of people want our attention in this city. Taxi drivers, peddlers, random people who are fascinated by the ferenjis. It’s kind of overwhelming at times.
But as we walk past the store, I always try to wave back.
And as we walk past the people on the streets, I always try to make eye contact, even if I can’t give them money.
And as we push past the children running beside us with outstretched hands, I always try to ask their names, and take the time to tell them that I don’t have any food.
Humankind was created in God’s image, and I want nothing more than for them to know how profound that really is.
So if something as simple as a smile or a word can make someone feel human, then it is what I will do for the rest of my eleven months.
