Posted by: Mark | May 13, 2008

Rick Warren Tells My Story

I have been struggling to capture my thoughts and feelings after visiting Africa for 3 weeks. There is so much need and we as Americans could be doing so much to affect change and meet needs from the abundance of what we have.

I have been asking myself, how can I convey this and get across the urgency of it all? Answer, I can’t really - you need to go and experience it 1st hand and it will change you. But until then, I want to just share some of my thoughts and experiences with you, believing that God may use it to open your heart to whatever he might want to grow us all in.

How can I do something today to make a difference? I am working on it and praying about what God would have me do.

James 1:22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

James 1:27 (AMP) External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.

I came across this video tonight, and Rick Warren speaks in this video and captures some of the same thoughts and feelings I had during my visit, as I saw the effects of HIV/AIDS, poverty, the orphans and widows in their distress. Would you take a couple minutes to watch this and pray about what God might have you do to care for those in need?

Responses

I will continue to pray with you about what can be done and how I can make a difference. This is something that has been on my heart since my 1st trip to Equador and it has only grown on my heart since then. I’m so thankful for your openess to go and see what God can use you for.

I appreciate your sentiment here, friend and fellow-laborer. What a devastating impact HIV/AIDS has had on an African generation not able to care for itself. Just as bad for the present time: how many children right under our own noses will we “orphan” tonight because we have too many of our own things to do on the way to the top? I do not say this to deflect the spotlight on the crushing needs of orphans in Africa. It only serves to warn us that a measure of affluence and safety can make us insensible to the urgent needs of those–not a continent away but right here in our own backyard. JB

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