This week has definitely been a change of pace for me. I left for South Africa on Saturday morning with the expectations of a short stay and a SAX flight back to the DRC on Monday. That has proven not to be the case. Air Serv was unable to get me on a return flight until this Friday. Usually I would welcome a week stay in a civilized country such as South Africa but this isn’t exactly my favorite scenario. It’s cold, I am alone, I brought one change of clothes, there is nothing to do in Pretoria, and currently I have no Internet connection. On the up side of the situation, I was able to go to the mall and pick up some things that I needed/wanted. I also got to go to a bookstore, do some quality reading and watch a movie at a theater.
Actually, I got the chance to watch two movies: Spiderman and Conversations with God. I never before thought Spiderman to be my type of movie….and it still isn’t my type of movie. Enough said. Conversations with God on the other hand was exactly my kind of movie. In short, the plot consists of an ordinary man who has a little bad luck and finds himself living among the homeless. After many struggles and heartaches, he catches a lucky break and goes on to become a successful, sought-after author. I am not exactly sure that I totally agree with all the theological assumptions of the movie, but I do believe that it is an excellent portrayal of the human struggle faced by those on the fringes of society.
Last year this time God placed a burden on my heart for the homeless in Raleigh. Ethan and I were blessed with the opportunity to befriend several of these beautiful, less-fortunate people. I saw their struggles firsthand. I even tried assist one man in getting out of the shelter and into an apartment, but I gave up after facing the same frustrations that he had been dealing with for the past number of years. About that time, Ram Air relocated me to Baltimore. There I neglected the burden that God had placed on my heart. I found it frustrating to befriend these people and not be able to get them out of their seemingly hopeless situations. And it was also a copout. Someday when I have more time, more money, more influence… Yeah, then I will get involved.
I don’t know why intense human struggles seem to follow me around (or maybe I follow them around) but now I find myself facing the same problems on a much more frequent basis here in Africa. After watching this movie the other day I came to the sobering conclusion that I am becoming increasingly indifferent to these people, and in some cases, defensive.
On Friday I came across an NPR podcast called Speaking of Faith, hosted by Krista Tippett. In her latest episode she interviewed Shane Claiborne, the author of Irresistible Revolution. Although I have not read the book, I have read some of his articles and heard many great things about the guy. There were several things that really stuck out to me in the interview but the most notable idea that I came away with was his explanation of why God, the author of great and miraculous miracles, allows social injustices (specifically homelessness) abound in the world. He responded by referring to a comic strip that he had come across several years ago:
Cartoon 1: You know, I wonder why God allows all this pain and poverty and hurting in the world?
Cartoon 2: Why don’t you ask God that?
Cartoon 1: Well, I guess I am scared.
Cartoon 2: What are you scared of?
Cartoon1: I guess I am scared that God will ask me the same question…
So often we humans try to throw these questions at God and we forget that we are his are his body, his hands and his feet. Somewhere along the line Christians (myself definitely included) abandoned their call to be Jesus to the world. Jesus changed the world - no matter how large the task, we must do the same.
In other news, I got two haircuts today. First one: Congo haircut. Second one: I finished it off.
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