#182

Greetings from Niger!

Well, I don't feel like I have much to update about since my last blog. The end of last week and the beginning of this week I was pretty knocked out by a bug going around. I was just really tired and had some head aches. But alas, I am feeling much better now! Because I was so tired I missed some kid's clubs and did not go to PE in the morning. This week has just been a blur due to my inactivity and I can't recall any experiences of interest to you.

However, this is something you may find interesting. Several weeks ago the UN came out with it's annual Human Development Report. This list ranks countries based on their people's quality of life. This often gets translated as the 'best and worst places to live.' The list consist of 182 countries. This year it went something like this

1. Norway

2. Australia

3. Iceland

4. Canada

5. Ireland

6. Netherlands

7. Sweden

8. France

9. Switzerland

10. Japan

11. Luxembourg

12. Finland

13. United States

.

.

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180. Sierra Leon

181. Afghanistan

182. Niger

Niger was dead last. Now if you ask any of the missionaries who have been here for a while, they are not surprised by this. But, really? Last? Afghanistan is in a war and Niger was still ranked below it? This is a little strange. However, I found something else very strange about this.

I read several articles that talked about this report, such as this BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8290550.stm. What do you notice about what it says? What does it say about Niger? Not a whole lot. This surprised me. It's ranked as the worst place to live and... No one cares? No one wants to know more about it or learn what it's like to live here? Are we that ignorant? Are we that self absorbed? Or do we fear that if we learn about the suffering of these people, that we might care? Are we so selfish that we are afraid of caring about other people? Are we afraid that if we care, God might call us from our American lifestyle of excess to go to those people and join in their suffering? Think about it! Why do you resist watching world news? Do you ignore offers to watch documentaries about modern injustices? Why?

I am asking you to take a step out in faith. Make yourself aware of what's going on in the world. For as many sad things as you will see, think of all the amazing things that God is doing and preparing to do! Lift up these problems to the Father. Are we so selfish that we cannot even be bothered to spend a minute in prayer for other people? It costs us nothing, but a moment of our time!

Why are we so selfish in this way? We think "Oh Lord, I don't want to see these things. I don't want my heart to break." At the same time, God's heart breaks for these people. How much more do you think it breaks when we say that they do not matter to us? They may be from different countries, have a different shade of skin, and speak a different language, but they are the same as you and I. They are created in the image of God just as we are. Christ died for them. He made the ultimate sacrifice for us by giving up His life. Yet, we cannot be bothered to give a few minutes, and heaven forbid that we should be called into life long ministry! But really, our lives are no longer our own. We have died and it is Christ that lives in us. He was willing to give up everything, and so should we.

This is not me telling you that you should become a missionary. This is me, just trying to get you to think. So this week, I dare you to do one of the hardest things. I dare you to care. Don't turn the channel when you see a news report on a famine. Don't turn a blind eye to the injustices and the hurting around you. Know what's going on in the world around you. The world is a lot smaller than you think, trust me.

Most importantly, seek after God's heart, for it is pure and full of truth. If you want to do the Lord's will, to follow Him as the name Christian implies, then never stop searching for that heart. I pray that God reveals himself to you in new ways this week; in ways that you never imagined possible. That He would astound you with His strength and love and that your faith and desire to walk with the Lord would be renewed by it.

Hm... so much for a short update! What can I say? These are the things I am feeling; the things the Lord has put on my heart. I want to share them with you to the best of my ability, even from 7,000 miles away.

You can find the actual UN Human Development Report here: http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/