Stoked to be Stepping
Tuesday, September 15, 2009 at 10:51AM
We’ve all heard it…today is the first day of the rest of your life—clearly stated by someone with a flair for the obvious.
Nevertheless, I invite you to journey with me on this first day of the rest of my life as I am stepping into the abyss. I need to preface this by explaining that I believe fervently in El Shaddai; in fact, more than merely believing, I have trusted my life, my existence to the hands of the Creator of the Universe, the Father who knit me together in my mother’s womb. I am madly in love with my kinsman Redeemer. There may be someone reading this who doesn’t believe in this God. I hope that doesn’t stop you from traveling with me. Many men have asked, “What is truth?” I may not know your truth, but I assure you, this trip will always reflect the truth I experience…come along and feel free to climb aboard or to stop the train and challenge what you don’t accept.
There are too many words needed to give all the details, so a short statement for background: My day started about 3-4 months ago, really, the day I first heard about Point Hope, a foundation set up to help forgotten children. I was pulled in by the passion of the founder and the love she and God have for children, specifically for His children who fled genocide in Liberia and landed at a refugee camp in Ghana. I have thought of going to a lot of places, many in the area of the Mediterranian Sea. Never have I had a desire to go to Africa, yet within three months I was flying over the Med Sea, stepping off of a plane and into Camp Buduburam, Accra, Ghana, West Africa.
That led me to today. I got into a little white Sunfire and drove north to start working for Point Hope. I don’t know where I’ll be staying. I don’t know my job description or title. I don’t know where I’ll be working. I don’t know what or when I’ll be paid. I do know God knows. I do know I will have a place to lay my head. I do know I will have food and drink. I do know I will have more than many in this world have. I do know God has called me for such a time as this. I do know I have a passion to be the hands and feet of Christ. I do know I feel so privileged and honored to be allowed to be on this path, trusted enough by my Father to be permitted to represent Him to as I work with others to find the answers to a myriad of concerns.
Okay, what else do I know….
The United Nations has been pulling out of the camp, bit-by-bit. Liberia now has an established government and other needs of the globe are pressing. The fact that it is still not safe for many of the refugees to return or that they have nothing to return to is not going to be enough to stop the termination of the supplemental feeding program which provides rice, corn and beans to approximately 10,000 disadvantaged at-risk persons, including the elderly and disabled and women and children. The neighborhood watch team, security for the entire camp which is run and staffed by volunteers, may lose the $15.00 a MONTH they each receive from the UN. Their limited uniforms are in tatters, they have no weapons or tools to perform their duties, they haven’t received any training for many years, yet they are called upon by the local police daily, often to catch and secure violent people who elude the police and hide in the camp. The farm, all five acres, isn’t producing the volume it could and should to feed the camp. The women’s empowerment program has taught the women skills and tradecraft, but there are presently insufficient outlets to sell the merchandise to provide them a self-sustaining future. Property purchased for the construction of an orphanage, senior center, clinic, trade school compound has been illegally resold and is not recoverable, yet no appropriate replacement property has been found. At the local orphanage, babies from birth to three years of age sit in cribs night and day, only being picked up for diaper changes and feedings because there are too many of them and not enough hands to hold them, laps to bounce them on, or hearts to care. Oh, there’s more, but you get the idea.
At any rate, I feel as though my Boss has called me into His office and said, “You have done well with the previous assignments I have given you. I have noticed you and your efforts and I am pleased. I realize at times you didn’t feel capable of completing some of the assignments I gave you. You doubted yourself and wondered if I knew what I was doing. In spite of your misgivings, you moved forward and completed them to the best of your abilities and you trusted that I would fill in the spaces where your abilities alone would not be sufficient. Now, I am giving you a new assignment. You will again, at times, feel inadequate, incapable and will wonder if I know what I am doing using someone like you. I ask you to continue to trust Me, to step forward in faith, certain that I love you and believe in you. I am asking you to step into the abyss and know that My right hand will guide you.”
So there it is…why I’m stepping into the unknown and why I am so stoked to be stepping!
I am heading off to Africa with Point Hope!