When will we WAKE UP?

Being in the urban slums of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and meeting children living in unspeakable poverty and with HIV/AIDS was one of the most difficult things I have ever faced. It haunts me still. It has left me sad, frustrated, angry and discontent with my current situation.

The fact that anyone has to live in conditions like that is appalling, and the fact that most of us know it and do nothing is even more appalling. I am speaking to myself here as well. I live in comfort, ease and pursue those things often.

The sadness and anger comes when you see this sort of thing face to face and then you see the church of the West speaking about abundance and prosperity, and blessing, when the rest of the world quit literally goes to hell without the gospel and lives like hell on earth as the children play in the open sewers and die of starvation, unclean water and preventable diseases that we have had cures to for decades.

While there we visited a Compassion International project and a church that is doing what they can to aid these kids and their families, many who have HIV or AIDS. They live to make Christ known in the most hellish place I have ever been.

Islam has make huge strides here as the rich Gulf states have poured money in for schools, hospitals and to convert a nation through their money. They have got it in part, and we as followers of Christ seem to be to caught up with our circumstances and making life more comfortable in our temorary little kingdoms.

I ask myself "Church" Where are you?, "Christians" why are you not here? "Self" Why am I not not there. These people need hope, they need Christ, they need food, they need education, they need people who care. Not many caring people are found in this dump.

Where are they? I may be cynical, but I know many of them, including myself. We are busy building our own kingdoms. We are building houses to house our furniture and toys. Garages to park our vehicles in. We are too busy being blessed that we have forgotten that it will all fail and we will have wasted it while the least of these know Him not.

I think of the the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12 and wonder if you and I are more like him then Christ. Most days I feel more like him.

"The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' 18 And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' 20 But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God." Luke 12: 16-21

This is a staggering statistic...37% of the world children live in extreme poverty. That's over two times the population of the United States.

14,000 people are infected with HIV/AIDS each day in the world.

85% of people come to Christ between the ages of 4-14.

What will it take to wake us up. Must we be stripped of our seemingly easy way of life. Will God have to bring this western church to her knees to see that He has blessed her to to keep but to give so taht God would be seen as great and not our things?

Why must this be Bono's fight. This is the call of the church not Irish rockstars. I am glad Bono has taken up this fight, but it is a fight that the church should be waging, and it should put is to shame. I have heard some say, "well if they had a good government it wouldn't be an issue. To me this is not a government problem it is a church that needs to wake up and get off it's fat, lazy, abundant butt and see that if Christ is our treasure problem. Maybe then we would treasure and fight for the least of these more than we fight for our stocks, and cars, and toys and pleasure.

When will we wake up? What will it take?

What do I do from here. I am not sure, but I want not to waste my life. I want Christ to be seen as more valuable than my things.

I want the little girl I met named Hannah in this slum who is four years old and has HIV & who's mother may die any day from AIDS to know that though she has been dealt pain now, Christ will be her portion and she will not lack any good thing if she is Christ's.

How can that happen? I don't know at this moment.

It still haunts me and I'm not sure what to do, but I cannot do nothing!