Worth the trip

A friend of mine is following the Lord's lead and currently serving Him on a mission trip in Chile. This week as I've been praying for him God has been bringing different things to my mind that have jogged my memory to stop and keep my brother in prayer.

When I was traveling internationally I always knew he was praying for me, and now it's been cool to stop what I'm doing and come to the Lord on his behalf as well.

Here's a few reflections from my journal when I was in Kenya that God brought back to my mind today as I was remembering my friend in Chile...it's cool how God connects dots isn't it?

• One of my friends wrote me an e-mail prayer that really struck a chord…he prayed that God would really allow me to feel the pain of the people and “taste the salt in their tears”…that’s a pretty tough thing to pray for but is really at the heart of what I would like God to do...on the way to Nairobi today and around Ruiru He did just that…Here’s a few things that moved me today…
• Kids everywhere just wandering around aimlessly (like sheep without a shepherd)
• Old woman carrying huge piles of hay, wood, fruit etc. with children on their backs on the way to a market where they sit and hope that someone will stop by and buy something…with what? 
• I thought to myself, these people have nothing. I kept thinking of the words to a song called “Boulevard of broken dreams” all day I couldn’t get it out of my mind (actually the same friend who wrote me the e-mail and I used to think about that song when we walked the streets of Pittsburgh from our cushy hotel room about 6 or 7 blocks to a Youth Conference as we passed broken person after broken person on the way…interesting).
• A huge Hindu temple… very fancy, very ornate Mahogany I suppose…I’m sure it cost millions to make and right in front of it along the road is shanty after shanty filled with people just trying to survive…I can’t judge people’s hearts but the gap between very wealthy and very poor seems to be extremely wide here…
• I remember thinking the same kinds of things the first time I was in Kiev and saw the huge ornate cathedrals with their solid gold domes surrounded by people begging for food…I was just struck with the importance of God’s church reaching out to the less fortunate and making it a priority to not be all about building kingdoms on Earth, but rather be about building God’s kingdom in the lives of His people.

Well, those are a few reflections that came to mind today from serving in Kenya...I wonder what things God is going to teach my friend in Chile. He did say something about wanting to get some people fired up about doing some good...Uh-oh watch out, I think he's going to come back to NY ready to change the world. 

Now that will be worth the trip!