Sacrifice

Greg on the coast of Africa

This is how we've come to understand

and experience love:

Christ

sacrificed

his life

for us.

This is why we ought to

live sacrificially...

1 John 3:17

I spoke to him, my little brother on a cell phone today. Not so unusual if it weren't for the fact that he is in Africa ... a different continent, strangely, uncomfortably different from anything he has ever experienced. Describing the smells, the tastes, and the sights of a foreign place, his heart aching for home, he told tales that will be cemented in his mind, and heart forever. And mine.

We take so much for granted. Gifts unrecognized ...

285. access to clean water daily
286. electricity at the flip of a switch
287. telephone service
288. public service
289. good roads

We as a nation, and individual Christians are segregated from the real world. One fourth of the world's population lives on an income of less than $1 a day. (1)
Sad, but we often spend our money on unnecessary purchases. Even our churches are wasteful. K. P. Yohannan (Gospel For Asia) states, "There is such an emphasis on church buildings in the United States that we sometimes forget that the Church is the people --- not the place where the people meet.... God is calling us as Christians to alter our lifestyles, to give up the nonessentials of our lives so we can better invest our wealth in the kingdom of God."

In his book Revolution in World Missions, K. P. goes on to challenge American believers ...

Why do you think God has allowed you to be born in North America rather that among the poor of Africa and Asia and to be blessed with such material and spiritual abundance?

In light of the superabundance you enjoy here, what do you think is your minimal responsibility to the untold millions of lost and suffering ...?

Something to chew on, huh? Please let me know your thoughts.
And please remember my little brother, Greg and company in your prayers as they travel home from Africa to the U. S. this coming weekend.

Order your free copy of Revolution in World Missions at https://www.gfa.org/freebook

The World Bank, World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty (New York , NY: Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 21-24