Congo's Day

I have had Congo on my heart a lot lately. Partly due to the relationship shared by my father, partly the situation that the country finds itself in today, and partly it simply fascinates me. I have been learning much about the people of Congo and the day to day misery that has become the norm for the millions who live there.

I have a lot to say about Africa although I have never been. Correction: I have a lot to feel about Africa. I have been given the chance of a lifetime to go this coming summer to train children's workers but I am struck to learn about what is happening, not only in the rural areas where water is in short supply and food is scarce but in the cities as well where the sick can not get the care they need and millions of children roam the streets abandoned by their hopeless families or orphaned by the war that no one knows how it began or when if ever it will end.

The most curious thing about Africa and specifically the Republic of Congo, is that they are not asking for aid. They are not swarming the missionaries there to assist them with finding new water sources. They are not asking for donations of money or medicine. The people of Congo are begging, with tears in their eyes, that we help them teach their children. Not to teach them English or math or even technical skills. They are crying out for knowledge on how to reach the next generation with the love of God.

This unfortunately is the beginning of an inconvenient narrative on the effectiveness of missions today in that area. It is so much easier to drop a bag of clothes into the anonymous bin in the grocery store parking lot and feel like we did some good in the world. But the truth is, they know the way for them to become successful as a nation, as a people, is for them to help themselves. They understand that no nation has climbed it's way out of poverty based on the charity of other nations. They are crying out for the skills to reveal God to the young and the hopeless and finally offer them something greater than themselves. The men and women making a difference in Congo are not the President or his minions or even the growing rebel groups spread throughout the country. They are the Sunday school teachers and they are the moms and dads that have made the decision to live a life that honors God above all else and at whatever the cost. And many times that cost is their own lives.

As I mentioned, I have a lot more to share on this topic but for now I will leave you with the phrase that many there continue to repeat as they encourage us to come back to them. I pray that it will haunt you. And when you think of it (and you will) that God will break your heart just for a second and you will stop and pray for Congo:

"Today is Congo's day"

Nerds

It takes all kinds of people in this world to make it interesting. Specifically, the nerds. I feel like I need to define what I believe to be a nerd before continuing any further. I believe it is someone that takes a hobby way too seriously. A person that focuses in on something fun and interesting and tun it into a way of life. Sometimes this attitude or interest can be so mild it can at times go unnoticed. But for a nerd, this hobby, form of entertainment, or even sport is almost a religion to the point of putting others off and sometimes even offending them.

There are slow food nerds, bicycling nerds, and workout nerds. These are all fun and even good for you in moderation but for a nerd, if you don't practice these everyday all day, that makes you less. There are chess nerds, physics nerds, and computer gadget nerds (PC and whatever that other one is called). Nice to have the knowledge, but when you are not buying food this week so you can be the first guy with the newest technical calculator the day it comes out...that doesn't seem logical.

There are of course the fun kind of nerds. These are the guys that take something we all enjoy a little and over analyze it to death. There are Star Trek nerds and Star Wars nerds (do not get those two confused). There are twitter nerds and facebook nerds. There are drama nerds and TV nerds. Film geeks and theater freaks. Cos play and role play. Something that is really fun for a bit but blown way out of proportion.

The reason I am talking nerds so much is because the other day I had a thought: what if all the nerds (and we are all one kind or another) spent all the time and money that we spent on those things and focused them on things that matter? How many lives could change if the guy that built a life sized replica of the ship on Firefly (the ship's name is Serenity. Again, we are all nerds here.) and instead gave even just half of that to a homeless shelter? What would happen if instead of focusing on one of life's passions, we focused on our purpose?

We all have passions. We all have a purpose. Our purpose on this planet, right now, today is not to amass the world's largest Superman memorabilia collection. Our purpose is not to study the Star Wars encyclopedia so we can analyze why George Lucas made Han shoot second in the remake.Our purpose isn't even to study the elvish poems from Lord of the Rings. Our purpose is to serve one another. To make life better for our fellow man. To love one another and to sacrifice for those that are truly in need. If we were so passionate about ending world hunger we poured ourselves into it the same amount of hope and spirit we do into the playoffs every year.

Imagine what the world would be like if our passions were our purpose and our purpose was our passion.