Saturday, July 3, 2010

Lots to do

The universal comment on the Gent Festivals "Intentional Acts of Kindness Cookie Outreach" seems to be about the amount of work involved.

We remember the amount of work invested last year. The preparation and distribution of 1,300 bags of specially wrapped cookies with notes of thanks took a lot of time and energy. We worked with local partners and an American team of 5 to accomplish the ministry.

In praying and planning for this year, two thoughts seemed to dominate. First, how can we touch more lives and touch them more effectively? (Here culture and capability play a part). Second, 4,000 seemed to be a number that became evident. Why 4,000? That came from our Prayer Partners.

James reminds us that we have not because we ask not, and we have not because we ask for the wrong motive. We asked our Prayer Partners to be involved because: 1) Prayer is the foundation of all we do and essential for guidance and direction; 2) The task was much bigger than we could handle; 3) God always answers prayer and almost always in ways that makes Him look good and/or advances His Kingdom; 4) The need here is overwhelming.

There are places in the world where people are hungry. Many are physically hungry because they lack the necessary daily supply of essential food. Many are also spiritually hungry because they see the utter hopelessness of their situation. They are physically and spiritually poor.

But how do you touch lives where physical poverty is minimal. Yes 20% of children live at or below the poverty level. Did I mention the "poverty level" is a number set by the government and does not mean you are homeless and have no food? Did I mention that many of these are children of immigrants that may not be here legally? (Recently three families of squatters who had illegally moved into a home were evicted by the owner of the home. In the three families there are 27 children)

But why 4,000 attempts to touch lives? It is 4,000 because that is the number of bags Prayer Partners provided. It is 4,000 because much less than 1% of the people here have no personal relationship with God. And there are 6 million Flemish with 450,000 living in our immediate area. There is lots to do because there is much need. No, not physical need.

We are reminded not to fear the threat of death that causes physical loss of life. We are to fear a death that produces eternal separation from God. Hundreds of thousands are faced with that kind of death. That means there is lots to do.

So it is not about our ability (although we do what we can and only do what we can do with appropriate quality) but about the need. And there is lots of need, thus lots to do.

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