For those of you who have been on this journey with us over the past several years, you probably have a pretty good idea about what it is we do in Africa. “Reaching the Unreached One Need at a Time” has become our motto as we use appropriate technology and health care to build bridges to sharing the Gospel in word and deed. The application of sustainable, transformational development implemented through Biblical principles has taken the form of water wells, health clinics and various technologies demonstrated through our Resource Center as the spiritual, physical and social aspects of Unreached peoples’ lives are impacted. Real, tangible encounters with the Gospel message has provided an opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with communities and people groups that are difficult to reach and lack access to the most basic physical needs and the most essential spiritual need. Through these encounters we have been given a platform to share our faith and hearts.
I have realized that although many of you may know what we do, you may not fully understand why we have chosen a path that would take us away from our family, friends, careers and the “stability” of American life in exchange for the uncertainty and challenges of living in a developing country several thousands of miles away. We often find ourselves doing things that don’t fit the “mold” and seem rather strange, risky or perhaps downright crazy for those standing on the outside of our lives looking in. As we prepare for our next round of ministry in Africa, I wanted to take some time to share some of the reasons, motivations and thoughts behind our actions. Whether you share our faith as a Christian or not, I believe you will find we all have some common ground to stand on. The defining characteristic of our lives, however, is how we perceive and live out truth.
I am a Christian; it is what both defines me and motivates me. By profession, I am an environmental engineer driven by a desire to preserve our planet as a steward of God’s creation. I do not draw a line between my secular career and my religious beliefs; they serve one another synergistically. I am an environmental engineer gone missionary with a heart to reach the unreached. I have come to the very simple conclusion that I cannot claim to be a Christian and not feel compelled to actively do something about the state of the world. I cannot stand back as a passive observer of the pain, suffering, corruption and injustice taking place before us and simultaneously claim to love my neighbor and God. How can I claim to know there are over a billion people without access to clean drinking water and not feel burdened to do something about it when I have been given the knowledge, abilities and resources to do so? More importantly, how can I simply stand back when I know we have been commanded by our Creator to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, invite in the stranger and visit the sick and imprisoned? How can I not share the Good News of hope and salvation in Christ that is unknown to two-thirds of the world’s population? The answer is, “I can’t.”
We all have a decision to make. When will we stop waiting for change and instead become a part of it? I made the decision, and that is why my wife and I found ourselves living across the ocean in a small African community where basic needs, such as water, health care and food, are still a daily concern. No, they are more than that. They are a struggle. It is a place where the freedom to pursue and seek truth is non-existent, a place where you are born into an identity that has been pre-determined for you. To stray from this identity will mean persecution in one form or another, and a life that is already difficult in many ways becomes that much more so. In America, the decision to pursue or ignore opportunities to explore truth is our own.
We all have our own world view, and it is this world view that determines what our “better tomorrow” would look like and how we believe we can (or cannot) achieve it. My world view describes a tomorrow where there will be no death, no pain, no suffering and no mourning. Poverty will be vanquished, and justice will rule supreme. There will be everlasting water, food, joy and love. That is the hope in me that fuels my passion to create such a world now to the extent possible in a place that is plagued by what Christians refer to as sin. The world has fallen and needs to be picked up again.
That sense of there must be something more, something better seems to be everywhere. Many are yearning for an escape from an intangible enemy that has enslaved us to materialism, consumerism, relativism and individualism. The threat of global disaster or annihilation seems to grow closer with each passing day. Global climate change, wars, famines, water shortages, genocide, economic uncertainty, natural disasters impacting millions – the list goes on and on. We know something has to change but what and how? What are we to do as individuals in the face of such looming peril? I say our part. If we all do our part, we can change the world together one act at a time, one day at a time and one life at a time until over 6 billion people have been cured of their illnesses and freed from their suffering. It begins with relationships – our relationships with one another, the environment and our Creator. They are all broken and need to be repaired. Every single day we are faced with the choice of how we will address these aspects of our life. A simple change in attitude, lifestyle and priorities can lead to a whole new world.
I would not dare to claim that I possess the perfect formula for world peace and meeting everyone’s basic needs. I would dare say it begins with a right relationship with God. Our entire life changes when we become accountable to someone or something else besides ourselves. When we devote our time, energy and talents to something greater than ourselves, a passion is ignited. It becomes an unquenchable fire that consumes everything around us. If we believe eternity exists beyond this life, we have no choice but to live differently. If we believe we will one day stand before our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as I do, and give an account of how we spent this life He has given us, we have no choice but to listen to how He said we should live it.
I do not expect that your idea of truth falls perfectly in line with my own. It does not have to in order to appreciate what my wife and I have experienced while trying to live out our truth in a place where we felt we could have the most impact given our prior experiences, training and passion. What is important is that you understand we are average Americans that had just as much, or little, to lose or gain by venturing on this journey to do our part. We are not independently wealthy, we did not grow up in model families and we have made our share of mistakes. We are by no means saying that everyone should sell their belongings and head off to an unknown land in order to accomplish world change. What my wife and I would say, though, is that you need to identify where it is you can have the most impact and then go! It may be in the African bush, but it is more likely that it is next door or in your local community. It is not uncommon in our day and age to not even know our own neighbors, co-workers or even our own family well enough to impact their lives in a positive way that can ultimately lead to world change and a better tomorrow.
Whatever your situation or your idea of truth, making the world right is a calling we all share. What good is knowledge of any truth if we do not live it and share it? The very essence of truth is that there can be only one, and some of us will be closer to it than others. As a Christian, I believe that truth was revealed and lived in the person Jesus Christ through whom we came to understand what perfect humanity could look like. Humanity, as a whole, has the same general sense of right and wrong in regards to issues such as social equality, justice and preservation of life. If it did not, we would live in a world of utter chaos. The time has come to stop waiting on the world to change and to start changing it. It is time we devoted our lives to something greater than it.
