I usually keep up to date with Shannon from Rocks in My Dryer and Sophie aka Boomama. And I knew (and was insanely jealous) that they were going to Uganda with Compassion International. Live blogging about the lives of children who need love and Jesus? That’s my kinda gig.
For whatever reason, I missed out on their posts when they left for Uganda. I guess it was when my internet was acting all selfish. I glanced at their sites the other day but knew I didn’t have time to sit down and spend the time I needed with them. Now it’s Saturday, Les is playing golf and Lydia is napping. I knew it was time for me to visit Uganda.
I have now read all of Shannon‘s posts, all of Sophie‘s and most of the rest of the Uganda Bloggers.
And I’ve been sobbing.
Sobbing because although I KNOW that there is poverty and children living without parents and without food and without medical care and WITHOUT Jesus, I still complain about my bed. I still buy an extra set of dishes when they’re 50% off at Target. I still dislike Lydia’s plush carpet in her playroom. I still wish I had another pair of jeans that fit!
And I know being guilted into caring about poverty is not the point. But you know what? It is! If we don’t know about the poverty, we’ll never do anything about it! Playing on our emotions is the right thing to do! We are SO blessed and SO rich here it would be hard for even the most selfless of people to focus on someone 8000 miles away!
I heard an awesome quote from Sara Groves about this very thing. (It’s not a direct quote, it’s just from memory.)
When I see tragedy in the world, I no longer wonder, “Where is God?” I wonder, “Where are God’s people?”
WHERE ARE GOD’S PEOPLE?
I think most of us sit here and blame God for poverty. We do. We think if God was really loving, He’d do something about AIDS and hunger.
But what are we doing?
What are we doing?!
This is one of those things that can go overboard. Les and I have enough money we could sell half of everything we owned, including one of our cars and still live like kings in comparison to the kids in Uganda. I’m not suggesting God is expecting us to do that. (He might be…) But the point is, we CAN do SOMETHING.
And as soon as Les gets home we’re going to search through the faces of the children who need us. They need our money. Period. They need food, they need love, they need support, they need Jesus. And my 32 bucks a month can bring that to them.
THIRTY-TWO DOLLARS.
I think it will be 32 holy dollars. And I do not say that lightly or flippantly. I think God will use that money to make an eternal difference in the life of a child.
Please go read the blogs. Look at the pictures. Watch the videos. Listen.
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