What are we going to do?

Written 8.25.09

It’s a cool Tuesday evening in Ayat, just outside Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It’s been a beautiful day spent with babies, toddlers and kids waiting to be adopted through Gladney. I read letters to kids from their new families, took pictures of kids smiling and playing. I danced with kids to Amharic worship music and was fed handfuls of injera by those same lovely children. We sang songs together and shared plenty of hugs and kisses.

So now I’m in my little flat in Ayat resizing pictures and writing updates on these kids for their parents, who are eagerly waiting to come get them back in the U.S.

As I work, BBC World News is on, and my mind goes back to Kenya. There has been a segment running on BBC about Kenya and the food shortage they are facing. World Food Program says that 1 in 10 people in Kenya are in need of food assistance.

It’s been 5 weeks since I left Kenya knowing about their food shortage. We made a trip to Kitui to meet and spend time with the people affected by the missing rains.

Still, very little has been done by the Kenyan government to bring relief. I can’t help but feel frustration and indignation towards these men and women that wear nice suits and run their country while their fellow Kenyans face real starvation. It’s real. So real. I’ve met these people. I’ve played with them and celebrated their birthdays with them. I’ve hugged them and finger painted with them. I’ve sat with them, prayed with them and talked with them.

Then we got in a van and drove away. But they are still there, and as I watch this segment on the news I continue to stew over what little has been done by the government to bring relief.

I get so upset with the government, but I already know government can’t solve our problems. Never have, never will. Jesus didn’t say to wait for the government to solve anyone’s problems. He set it upon his followers to care for the poor, the sick, the widows, the orphans. It’s not up the government. It’s up to the Church.

So now my frustration is redirected. Are we doing anything? Are we praying for rain in Kitui, Kenya? Are we doing what we can to bring relief to those in need halfway around the world? Love your neighbor as yourself. And who is my neighbor? Jesus was asked that before, and he told the story about the Good Samaritan. I’m pretty sure there are people waiting to be cared for in Kenya, praying for God’s faithfulness to be revealed to them. You and I have the opportunity to participate where God is at work, to be used by him to bring heaven to earth.

So here it goes. What are we going to do?