a shout out for another book...

I read the book "The Good News About Injustice: A Witness of Courage in a Hurting World" by Gary Haugen this past summer before I came to Cambodia. (Thanks Juice! ;) It really impacted me then, and I still am moved when I reflect on excerpts of it now. After spending awhile living in the midst of this poverty we often may talk about but don't really understand, I have a new viewpoint on what, as a follower of Christ, I am called to do to in the midst of the injustice going on around the world every day. It's easy to feel overwhelmed... and like the problem is so vast there isn't anything each of us can REALLY do about it...but that isn't the case! One of my favorite excerpts from the book reminds me a lot of my experiences here.

"We lift our eyes to the horizon and ask, What great work of justice might God perform through us, in our time, to the glory of Christ? How might God renew through us the witness for biblical justice in the world? What child...might yet stand and testify that the hand of a faithful God touched them and loved them through the obedience of Christians who refused to despair?"

There are actually some specific children that I think of when I read that quote. One is Jane, a little girl who has just come to stay at the Garden of Joy, the orphanage I spend time at here in Cambodia. Her little 8-year old life has seen mostly tragedy so far. Her father has been gone for years, her mother just died of AIDS. She says she doesn't miss them; her family was not really much of a family to her... she likely took care of them more than the other way around. She was dirty and disheveled when she arrived. She doesn't know basic colors or numbers... she has never been to school.

But now she has been given another chance. She lives with other children who understand her experiences. She just started school for the first time and loves it. She has a new family, and is now learning about the Father who has loved her since before she was born. I think she may feel like she has now gained much more than she lost. Her smile and hugs light up my day. I look at her beautiful face and the love that surrounds her and am encouraged when I think of her future...and the future of the other children around her.


Jane, on right

It isn't starting an orphanage or living abroad in the midst of poverty that is necessary to show we care for the world, however. There is something each of us can do. Check out the book for more thoughts...and let me know what you think.