Reading and Feeding

We are on a road that leads to Burundi.  Our hearts are already there in many ways, but there are a thousand steps before our feet and hands will be there.  IF we do in fact go there.  The going could mean so many different things, and we don't really know what this road looks like further on ahead.  But in the meantime, in the waiting that is not standing still, there is lots going on in the discussions of our minds.  Feeding those discussions are a few profound books.

First, Dangerously Alive by Simon Guillebaud.
      In 1999, Simon Guillebaud arrived in Burundi, which was reckoned to be the most dangerous country on earth at the time.  "The book combines prayer letters, diary entries and reflections from ten years in a war zone," says Simon.  "It includes thoughts on witchcraft, miracles, evangelism, Islam, orphans, street kids, AIDS, and many stirring stories of triumphant faith in the midst of hideous suffering."

Simon wrestles throughout the book with the gruesome suffering of the warring people around him, admitting that many times he wishes to excuse himself from engaging with those in need.  His challenges to himself become challenges to the reader as he repeatedly chooses the path of true active faith.  He recounts the true story of a pastor who had told a homeless woman that he would pray for her but did nothing for her physical need.  She wrote the following poem, which subsequently found its way back to the pastor:

I was hungry,

And you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger.

I was imprisoned,

And you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release.

I was naked,

And in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.

I was sick,

And you knelt and thanked God for your health.

I was homeless,

And you preached a sermon on the spiritual shelter of the love of God.

I was lonely,

And you left me alone to pray for me.

You seem so holy, so close to God,

But I am still very hungry--and lonely--and cold.

 

Our longing increasingly becomes to GO and DO and TEACH.  Yes, there is a need for the bigger picture discussion of how to truly help a nation out of its poverty (which is why I'm looking forward to reading Poor Economics next). 

 

God, please don't let the overwhelming need of this tiny nation convince us that nothing can be done.  We have to pray and debate and discuss and preach (and listen!) in addition to, not instead of, taking action.