This is a Journal Entry from our sister, and Canvas Missionary, Alison White. She spent the summer bringing good news to the issue, the victims, and the families affected by sex trafficking in Benin Africa.
7.29.09 - "thanks for this food, God"
7.29.09 - "thanks for this food, God"
tonight I sat down for dinner. beans and rice, and some scrambled eggs with cheese. I don't always pray before meals...but this time I felt like I should. I picked up my fork, and said "thanks for this food, God"...and then I broke down. head in my hands and tears streaming down my face, I couldn't help but think about how lucky any single person I met in Benin would be to have this meal...but more-so, how incredibly blessed I was to have it, and how unaware, unthankful, and self-centered I am on a daily basis. I ate a bite of the beans and rice, then one of the eggs, and completely lost my appetite. after playing with it for a bit with millions of thoughts and feelings rushing through me...I remembered that I was still slightly malnourished and could use the protein this food had to offer, so I forced myself to finish, blowing my nose and wiping my face the whole time. It was the most miserable meal of my life. This life isn't fair. it's not fair that where a child is born decides whether he'll have clean water and three meals a day, or a life of fighting off parasites and hopefully one meal a day. I don't get how those two worlds can coexist.
Coming back...what most people say to me is "i'm glad you're home" or "you look like you lost weight." or they ask..."How was Africa?" (those are not bad comments or questions, they are simply exemplary of my experience thus far) When I am asked about Africa, I think that the expected (or even maybe even the desired) response is this: "It was great...an awesome trip. God is doing amazing things. It was very successful, and 85 people were saved!" well, those things are all fine and good, but that's not what I have to report...and it's not what I want people to hear. Yes, I want to see people come to know Christ, and maybe some will due to the hope they have seen. How cool would that be?! And yes, God is doing things in Africa...just like in Cuba and Portugal and England and the Americas. Mainly because he loves the people there just as much as he loves you and I...but also because there are people in all of those places who realize that this life is about more than my education, my kids, my outfit for tomorrow, my job, and how much money I have saved up for the new ipod. There are people who realize that there is a gospel that isn't just a gospel about Jesus for us to read about and admire, but a gospel of Jesus for us to live out. (sidenote: I stole this concept from Brian McLaren's book "Everything must change"...I think he stole it from the Bible) SO here's what I'm getting at...in the process of leaving Benin, I knew that I didn't want to come home and give everyone this glamorous report of how "my trip to Africa" was...instead, I wanted to leave everyone with the same challenge I'm currently facing. That challenge is this: the fact of the matter is, there are people in this world who, if they have more than one child, must choose which one they will nourish and which they will let die of starvation because they are fully aware of their inability to feed more than one of them. In contrast, you and I don't usually think twice before leaving half a plate of untouched food at a restaurant, because we have more than we could ever possibly need. If we know both of these things and do nothing in response, how can we (with a clear conscience) call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ? Hunger is just one of the many devastating issues faced by the majority of the people who share this earth with us. with knowledge comes responsibility.
Psalm 146 says this: Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free, he opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless.
So if that's what our God does...and if men who seek Him are blessed...what are we waiting for? what's really more important?
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