"I felt a powerful and unshakable conviction that I could not continue to sit on the sidelines. Would I be able to persevere even unto death, as Bonhoeffer had? I did not know. All I knew was that I could no longer turn my back on human suffering, on injustice, on those who cried out in pain and terror. I had to stand up and be counted." –Christine Caine, Undaunted
The author of that book (which I highly recommend), had just visited Auschwitz. As someone else who recently visited that place of unspeakable horror, that quote in the book resonated with me. This year has taken me to some amazing places in this incredible world God created. Yet it has also taken me to some places my selfish nature would rather forget.
The slum in China, where families lived in the shadow of high-rise apartment buildings, struggling to survive in homes made of scraps and on the income from jobs nobody else wanted.
The streets of Chiang Mai, where girls were forced to sell themselves to the men who flock to Thailand for sex tourism. A place where these young women see no future except for the one where they have to give their bodies over and over and over again in order to satisfy a fleeting and selfish desire.
The streets and slums of Cambodia, where poverty reigns and where children are forced into labor, either the sex trade or begging. A place where children are maimed intentionally so they can bring in more money by pulling on heartstrings through their man-made disabilities.
The small town in Malaysia, where women are beaten and abused, locked away or trapped in layers of clothing, where men have bought into the lie that women are beneath them and a lesser form of human. A place where the Islamic faith has warped their view of women and causes them to bully and abuse rather than love and cherish.
The cities of Japan, where the suicide rate is one of the highest in the world. A place where the young men and women of the country fall into despair and depression and don't see any other way out. A place where hope is in short supply, but the means for temporary satisfaction are everywhere.
The country of Albania, where poverty and hopelessness reign. Where young men vastly outnumber young women, and there are no jobs, causing a huge emigration drive. A place that is a source point for human trafficking, where young women are coerced or forced into the sex trade in other countries.
The small city in Bulgaria, where alcoholism, drug abuse, and depression run rampant. A place where a church is renovating an old strip club/bar/disco club. Several people stopped in to ask hopefully if we were opening the club back up, only to walk away dejectedly when learning it was going to be a church.
That tiny village in Romania where witchcraft and superstition hold sway over the people. A place where the Gypsy people are shunned and rejected because of their heritage.
The country of Ukraine, filled with grief over the unrest in the East, and over the lives of the young men and women already taken because of it.
The country of Swaziland, filled with those trapped in extreme poverty. Filled with polygamist marriages and child brides. People struggling with the epidemic of AIDs. Where the situation of an elderly grandma raising her grandkids is normal. Where children are abused, beaten, and starved every day.
There's so much grief, horror, terror, poverty, unrest, abuse, injustice, prejudice, and suffering all over the world. Even in America. Pre-Race Vallory could ignore a lot of this, content in her happy little bubble. However, now my eyes have been opened. Yes, there's a daunting amount of evil in this world. But as a Christ-bearer, gifted with power and authority in Him, I can stand up and change it! I am called to be counted among those who will rise up and do something about the broken things of this world. I am called to live an undaunted life, a life that will not back away from bringing God's hope to the dark places. I am called to walk those places without fear. I don't have to think about the enormity of the problems, only what God calls me to do for those He puts in my path. And so are you! Yes, you! If you have Christ in your life, you are also called to rise up and illuminate the darkness for those around you. So come with me. Don't think of what it might entail, what you may be called to sacrifice. Let's just jump in with both feet and let God direct our steps. Let's live with eyes wide open to what we can do for others. Let's live an undaunted life.
