It’s very early in the morning. Even the sun hasn’t thought about rising yet, and I have been wide awake for hours. I don’t want to be. I’d rather be sleeping soundly upstairs resting for the full day that lies ahead. But my mind is racing, and sleep escapes me.
A dream — one that seemed very insignificant — jolted me from my deep sleep, and when I woke up my mind began going to those places it just shouldn’t go to in the wee hours of the morning. Not if I want to go back to sleep soon!
But there it went! And now, a peaceful night’s sleep eludes me while thoughts of global poverty haunt my mind… my soul.
Global poverty is a reality.
One that I have had to come face to face with on several occasions now on continents near and far. A reality whose face fills the albums and frames all around my house. A reminder that screams at me every time I get a drink of cold, clean water from a pipe that runs straight into my house or pick up a neatly plucked, deboned, and pre-packaged chicken at the grocery store. Never mind that I have a choice between free range organic or not.
The undeniable truth is that thousands — even millions — of people all around the world lack the most basic needs that many of us in America take completely for granted.
Last night I spent over an hour in conversation with a dear Ugandan friend of mine who will soon return to her country — to the village of her childhood. She is wrestling with these same questions, but from a different angle. She feels the weight of it… poverty’s brutal sting.
In her family — more than 11 of them — she is what we would call the “breadwinner.” She is 28. The burden to earn enough money to send five of her younger siblings to school rests on her shoulders. The care of her aging parents and support for her older sisters falls upon her.
Last night I learned about two young women who have had to move into the African forest — no clean water or shelter — to burn wood to make charcoal which they will be able to sell in nearby markets.
I learned about a village so plagued by witchcraft that any villager who has tried to start a legitimate business to bring economic development to the community has been harassed, threatened, ridiculed, and the business ultimately destroyed.
These are not strangers to me. Not just faces on a child sponsorship card. They are my friends. They have names. We sit around and drink tea together or eat soup and rice. I’ve stood in their homes, and now I lay awake at night trying to figure out ways that I can — we can — help. The obvious ones come to mind — sponsor a child, raise money to build a well, provide a loan to help someone get a small business started, buy a pig or a chicken or a cow for a family in need.
They all seem so small to me in contrast to the enormity of the problem. Sometimes I get frustrated because I want to do more.
But then I hear in the back of my mind a phrase I read somewhere last week —
“Don’t despise the small!”
It’s true. The cumulative effect of a lot of people doing a lot of small things in the name of Jesus and by the power of His Spirit adds up! It’s a Kingdom principle!
And in each of these places, there’s something I’ve seen.
There is Hope. And He holds the universe in His hands. And we are for Him. And He loves us.
The sparrows He feeds. The lilies He dresses. The poor He lifts up. The hurting He heals. The destitute He delivers. The hungry He feeds. The thirsty He satisfies. The broken He restores. The lost He finds. The tired He revives.
And to the hopeless He gives hope. He gives himself.
The sun will soon be rising on my little “not-quite-suburban, but not sure what to call it” corner of Central Ohio, and a day full of excited, screaming first graders celebrating the end of school awaits me. No doubt this mama who normally needs a full night’s sleep will be functioning at reduced capacity today. But I don’t want to waste my sleepless night. (Did I just Piper-ize this post? Oh well…)
By God’s grace and with his provision, I will act upon what I know. I will not despise the small.
- I will pray by name for each of my sponsored children — Joan, Joshua, Eunice, Nelson, and Phillip — and I’ll set aside some time in the next few days to write to them.
- I will continue to find ways to use my photography hobby to raise money for His Kingdom… perhaps to build a well in Uganda or to provide a small business loan to a budding entrepreneur. Do you need a family portrait?
- I will buy a t-shirt to support the fight against human trafficking. [updated: When I tried to order my short, this site wasn't working. I'll update if it ever returns to service.]
- I will press on with plans to return to Uganda this fall, despite the many obstacles standing in the way (namely that of raising financial support… again).
- And maybe I’ll buy a pig or a chicken or a cow for a village family in celebration of the two couples we know who are getting married this summer. Who doesn’t just love to get a pig for their wedding!
As the sky lightens, the trees becoming a silhouette against the pale morning light, I tell myself:
Whether it’s big or small, just DO SOMETHING… NOW!
(HT to Passion for that phrase!)
Why? Because I’ve been given much… Because I’ve been rescued… Because He loves us!
What about you? Do you need to wake up to poverty & injustice? Need some ideas…
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to DO JUSTICE, and to LOVE KINDNESS,
and to WALK HUMBLY with your God?
Micah 6:8
