It has been three months now since I have returned stateside from my
round-the-world trip called the World Race. I have settled in nicely in rural,
mountainous Virginia. I am working, I have a place to stay, I am trying to
learn about the community here and trying to find my place in the midst of it.
Yet now that I am settled, I realize I am also unsettled. Something is missing,
something is off balance. Where do I belong?
I find my thoughts returning to the community I had on the World Race: all
those young, crazy Christians I had never met before, traveling from country to
country, working alongside local ministers and living in each others face
24/7. Its true it would be impossible to live like that forever, it was quite
demanding and exhausting. Yet, it modeled a lifestyle that was
counter-cultural. That lifestyle doesnt exist here in the U.S. If it does, it
certainly isnt widespread. There was so much good in that lifestyle that I
wish to capture to some degree, yet where to start? With God and prayer for
sure but where do I find intentional community here? And where are the people
who arent content just to work their jobs, live their lives, get by and enjoy
themselves on the way?
Where are the people who really believe that God was serious when He said: “Is this not the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo
the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into
your house; when you see the naked to cover him and not to hide yourself from
your own flesh?”
I actually know quite a few people like that here in the States, I just
havent found them where I live yet. But in the quietness and mundane routine,
a resolve is forming in my heart: I resolve not to simply live my life, work my
job, get by, and enjoy myself. Though there is the temptation to do that. I
resolve to remember those who I met around the world, to not forget those who
are working for the poor, the orphans and the oppressed. I resolve to do what I
can to support them, to make their stories known and live a life of radical
obedience. By Gods Grace, I know I can: and I will.
And I will begin by remembering the orphans I met in Kenya at Great Mercy,
who would be so vulnerable if someone didnt care enough to do something for
them, to give them hope.
(photos taken in Kitale, Kenya)
*Note: I have another blog site: http://triumphalprocession.wordpress.com. I am going to begin transitioning from this blog to that one, if you would like to continue following me. Or, look me up on facebook!
