There's Hope For TodaySample

I stood on a hard, dirt path that joined a nameless village to another nameless village of mud huts in Zambia. The poverty was numbing. Everything was needed – from economic development to basic human needs, from schools to churches, from water wells to medical care. After a half day in the villages, I saw what seemed an endless stream of children in rags with little hope of an education or a life beyond working the fields and dying before reaching 40. I learned of the syncretism that had effectively subverted the Gospel. I heard of discouraged missionaries giving up with nothing to show for eight years of investment. I saw the endless cycle, so void of joy and hope. I talked with my missionary friend of the obstacles faced in church planting – a new strategy and starting point – an estimate of start-up costs. Somewhere, in our discussion, it overwhelmed me, and I found myself saying what had been shouting inside: “What am I doing here … what in the world am I doing here?” My missionary friend let the question settle for a moment, and what he said next changed my life: “You don’t see anybody else here do you, Pastor?” Sometimes you just need to let the simplicity of need dictate your actions.