I Cannot Bring About Change

I wanted to post the letter that I wrote a year ago when contemplating our trip to South Africa. Jeff (world in view) asked me to put my thoughts into words as we talked about the purpose of the trip. I could not be more pleased as I read this document this morning.

Dated July 2008

I cannot bring about change.

I want myself and my children to learn about the power of God through service. A place like South Africa shows me that there will be no relief beyond the individuals I come in contact with and that “relief” will be defined by them knowing that I love them. Beyond that, the problem is so big that there is no way for me to “bring about change.” God is not asking me to change Africa or anything else for that matter; He is asking me to serve without leveraging anything.

To best lay out the goals of a trip to South Africa, we must understand the nature of the Lord. As I see it James 1:27 tells us specifically about “true religion” and Matt 25 spells it out very clear. We are to serve the Lord by serving the least of these. Jesus does not ask us to change, fix, save, or cure them – just serve. What will I get out of this? Nothing, other than the realization that God is more powerful than I believe Him to be and that I need Him to be more powerful than I have believed him to be.

American Christians have capitalistic idea of service. It could be called “transactional service.” I do something nice for someone who needs me and they repay me by changing into the person that I want them to be. We love our “service success stories.” We bristle at people that take our time and energy and never change. Service in Africa can bring a change to that mindset.

The needs are so great across the continent of Africa that we lose the opportunity to make those changes and there is really no way to have those “success stories.” All one is able to “accomplish” while serving is engage the emotion and reality of the suffering of others – to feel what Jesus feels.

Hands at Work provides an opportunity to work alongside volunteers that are true servants. They are from all parts of the world and they are there for “non-transactional service.” There is little that they will benefit from other than service the “least” and praying for a change. No transaction!