Unthinkable things

My friend Steve just wrote a blog post, and I just had to share it.

Check out The Patch Our Planet Blog, its excellent. Steve shared some information he learned about at the Christian Alliance for Orphans conference in southern California. The post is entitled 'The Unthinkable is happening again', and the title drew me in. He started by reminding us about the horrendous Rwandan Genocide of 1994. When I began reading the post, I immediately thought that he was about to go into a discussion of another genocide or gross human rights violation of our time. There are many to choose from, unfortunately.

But Steve went on to detail what is going on Rwanda today. Rwanda has dramatically decreased the number of orphans and orphanages in their country. They are pioneering a groundbreaking plan to involve communities, churches and individuals to holistically care for their orphans. The western involvement has been collaborative and not controlling. Its an incredible testimony of what happens when people work together to solve a social problem and to care for a vulnerable population. Rwanda's history has been tainted by the genocide, but this is a beautiful reflection of progress, grace, and new beginnings.

Patch Our Planet and the Gillis family are very close to my heart. Steve felt called to start Patch Our Planet after he saw the picture below of a few of my 'babies' in Sudan. These precious children may never know how their image will change the lives of thousands of children around the world. Patch Our Planet is working to find a sustainable, Christ-honoring, and collaborative solution to caring for Orphans around the world. I'd encourage you to check out their website to read more about their mission, vision, and plan. I think it's revolutionary and will change the way the Church and the World cares for the orphan.

Steve's post was also very humbling to me. It is so easy for me to condemn injustice and to not spend as much time heralding success stories. I try to be positive and uplifting, but the injustices in our world are very urgent to me. But even though there are many bad things going on in our world, there are tons of good things going on as well. Many social entrepreneurs have great ideas on how to fix problems, but we don't always hear about how problems are being fixed. The example in Rwanda is one of many, and I'm so grateful that Steve has shared it with all of us. I hope you'll find time to read Steve's blog and check out the Patch our Planet Website- it's good stuff and they're looking for churches and individuals who want to address the needs of orphans around our world.

Rice and Beans

It's rice and beans week at the Laney's. It's part fridge clean-out, part charity, and part empathy building. Once a quarter my husband Brent and I don't spend our normal grocery budget on groceries. We purchase a couple essential items: a little milk, bread, rice, and beans. All of our meals for the whole week come from whatever is in our home and those few purchases.

This idea came about this past summer. Brent and I are both news junkies, and found ourselves affected greatly by the dire famine in Eastern Africa. Massive droves of Somali refugees flooded the Dadaab refugee camp in Northern Kenya. People were dying of numerous malnutrition-related diseases. The organization Care has a good description of the Dadaab camp and the food crisis in the Horn of Africa You can check it out here.

The drought made me uncomfortable. I felt powerless and helpless as I looked at picture after picture of malnourished babies, the masses of suffering people and the extreme lack of supplies. Usually I would look, and perhaps share a few articles telling people that we need to take action. I'd contact a few congressmen and would ask them to send aid. Then I'd move on with my life. But this time I wanted to do more. Brent wanted to do more. We discussed our options and came up with 'Rice and Beans Week'. It was a spin off from a movement I had seen on Facebook for people to eat rice and beans for lent. We decided to donate all of our grocery money for one week to one of our favorite humanitarian organizations, Samaritan's Purse. Samaritan's Purse is excellent, I have seen their work firsthand in several countries and completely trust their financials. They are truly seeking to care for the suffering in the name of Jesus, and they do it well.

The week was great. We got creative with our rice and beans. We cleaned out our fridge, using condiments and leftovers to add to our meal. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, and drank water instead of juice or coke. We used spices to add flavor and variety. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we decided to make 'Rice and Beans Week' a quarterly occurrence. We have never experienced true hunger, but eliminating comfort foods and the plethora of options we usually enjoy is a good reminder of our blessings. We are able to donate extra money apart from our normal giving to help people who are truly suffering. It hasn't been difficult finding humanitarian crises or organizations to support. There is plenty of need. For this Rice and Beans Week, we will be donating our money to support those affected by the crisis in the Sahel. This is a dramatic situation that is getting worse by the day. You can read about the Sahel crisis here or here. We don't know what organization we will support yet, but will figure that out by the end of this week.

'Rice and Beans Week' seems like such a small way to try to help people who are suffering in massive ways. I acknowledge that. I know that our seventy dollars won't change the world. But it could save several lives. Also, I remember that small things done by many people equal big change. If every person in the United States gave their grocery budget once a quarter to help those suffering from starvation and malnutrition, we could make big changes- we could change the world. So I refuse to live in my apathy, I'm not going to turn off the TV and go about my life. I'm taking small steps to change the world. You're welcome to join me.

{archives} One: Twenty-seven

Author's note: This post was originally written on October 12, 2008. 

Does scripture ever come alive for you? Have you ever experienced something tangibly that is written in God's Word? I hope many of you have tasted the sweetness of salvation, but in our lives with Jesus, sometimes God's word is so clearly reflected on this Earth that it's hard to deny who He is and how powerful His Word is. I put James 1:27 to memory some months ago. "Pure and faultless religion is this: to care for widows and orphans in their distress, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." So often times us 'progressive' Christians balk at the word 'Religion', but we are part of a 'religion'. And our actions reflect our faith, and our religion. Faith is just a much more 'happy' word in our culture. But regardless, this verse has recently rang true and unmistakably tangible for me.

I have experienced the truth in this verse on several occasions, my first time being at the age of 15. But I wasn't really aware of James 1:27 at the time. My recent trip to Africa was my first time at an orphanage since memorizing James 1:27. The verse began coursing through my head the moment a little girl put her hand in mind. Almost immediately after getting out of our truck, we had numerous hands competing for our attention. For the duration of my first visit to the St. Bartholemew's Orphanage, I had four little girls holding my hands at one time. Two would share each hand. The verse kept running through my mind, on a continuous cycle.

The second evening at the orphanage, I picked up Celina. Celina had malaria, and was a sick and sad little girl. Her stomach was bloated, and she never smiled. She was content just to be held. At one point, her soggy diaper finally gave into its weight, and I found my shirt and skirt moistened by it. I didn't mind, I just wanted to hold her some more.

One day I spent an entire afternoon holding little babies. I picked up little Nancy after her nap. She clung to my shirt, putting her head on my chest. She held on for the entire afternoon. When I tried to put her down, she cried. My heart broke for Nancy, so rarely held, so desperate for physical touch and affection. I think I left a small piece of my heart in her hands when I left the orphanage that day.

I felt the purity of caring for orphans on those days. It was an intense experience, both spiritually and emotionally. I can't quite express how my heart felt during my time at the orphanage, and I can't express how the memories make me feel now. But I do know that the beauty of caring for orphans is indeed pure religion. God's word was alive, and I could see it as I sat on the floor with four children in my lap. I felt it just like I felt Nancy's hands clutching my shirt. I heard it though the laughter of children as we played with them. I smelled it as we fed babies formula, and even as we changed diapers. I tasted it though the hospitality as we were fed an amazing meal from the already tired and overworked staff. It is the living word of God being worked out and revealed to His undeserving child- me. But I'm thankful for the experience, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to know and understand what caring for those precious children is- TRUE religion.