Reconciliation

We are all looking for reconciliation in one way or another, with someone or something.

What it Looks Like Outside our Door

The state of the world that we live in is one that is so disjointed, so out of whack, and so far from what it was intended to be like. I continue to read current events from every corner of the world and the consensus is that the present is not quite in a stable place. There are forces at odds with one another across the world. Many are fighting for what justly belongs to them. Many are fighting against foes that they know as foes simply because they have always been foes. Why can't we just listen to John Lennon and "give peace a chance"? It is because the peace that we envision is in many ways, misguided, self-centered, alienating, unjust, and is no real peace at all. Sorry John, but we gave peace a chance and it does not work out. This is in no way a new occurrence. Almost the entirety of the earth's existence has been categorized by conflict. So why do we have this seeming inherent longing for peace and reconciliation when we were born into conflict and we are surrounded by despair, hatred, strife, and anything but unity? If you do not feel this is what the world looks like, you may need to unlock your door and venture outside once in a while. Or look truly deep within yourself and you likely will not like what you see. Why? Could it be that this is not how we are meant to live and this is not what the world is supposed to look like. Do you long for something grander for you life or for your world? You are not alone. We all have, in some way or another some understanding that things are out of whack and we long for more.

The Solution

So why do we all have a seemingly inherent longing for a better world? Could it be that we are awaiting and are meant for another one. As the great C.S. Lewis puts it “If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world”. The beauty of this other world is that it's not difficult to access, but is impossible to fully comprehend. It does not require you to change the world first, but instead to have your world changed. This was the case in my life. After living for myself (selfishly) and within my own world for so long I got kind of lonely in there. When you only see the world through your own eyes you miss what is going on around you. I had no desire to change the world. I just wanted my world changed, because I was pretty miserable living in it. I did not want to be any longer. God, through his wisdom, took my life, but not in the way I had envisioned. He changed my world for His and my sake and now I am committed to changing the world we live in for His and our sake. Sometimes the first step is finally giving up and realizing how little strength and power you have in and of yourself. Through understanding God's call for your life, this world, and what He is doing about it one can better understand what changing the world takes.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

So you can take the John Mayer approach and 'wait on the world to change' or you can get a vision for what the world once perfectly was and will be again and get your hands dirty. So changing yourself is a huge part of changing your world. As Socrates so beautifully put it, "the unexamined life is not worth living". And as Leo Tolstoy so truly puts it, "everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."

A Call to Revolution

We are called to a revolution or a 'turn around'. Revolution in its purest form is not what you see on TV everyday. Revolution comes from a pre Judeo-Christian context in which the world was always seen in the realm of cycles (agricultural seasons, calendar cycles, etc.) and not as being linear. The world was seen in a revolving way. So revolution was going back to the beginning in a cycle. In the same way we are called to be agents of catalyzing change. Not going back in the sense of digression but instead in the sense ascendancy. The world was once in a great and perfect form, but that did not last for too long. Human's striving away from perfect reconciliation has separated us from our Creator God, our surrounding world, and the people we live, see, and work with everyday. Reconciliation is accessible today. Are you willing to realize that you have ownership in the brokenness of the world? We see despotic leaders, suicide bombers, murderers, degenerates, and hopeless individuals in the news and on our streets. Are we willing to see such people as people just like us and if we were able to understand the worlds they grew up in, in themselves and understand why they are the way they are we can likely empathize on the deepest human level. Everyone is striving for change in themselves or in their world. Have you ever thought something in your life or in your world was not fair? Well the world is not fair and it is in a rough place, but life is good for many of us because of God's common grace or as the result of the merciful saving grace of God.

Battle for Reconciliation

Before you take to the streets in angered mis-guided revolution, go to the deepest streets of the infrastructure within your heart and soul and start the battle for reconciliation there. Surrender there and realize your brokenness and need for reconciliation at its deepest level. If you earnestly search for it, you just may find God's ministry of reconciliation awaiting you there.

A Call to Join

Then you can join me and the millions around the world who are earnestly trying to painstakingly refine themselves daily and fully know what reconciliation of self, relationships, world, and reconciliation with God can look like. Do you care to join us? You do not have to do it on your own, in fact you cannot do it own your own.

Why?

Any good place to start is by defining your terms, setting a context, or by asking the question of 'why'.

I have no terms to define and since this will be a fairly one-sided dialogue I'll ask the questions and answer them.

Why am I working for free? Why am I living and working in Lancaster, PA? Why is this 'the beginning of an adventure and the beginning of a dream'? Why has it taken me 7 weeks to actually write my debut blog entry?

THE CONTEXT:

So I just graduated from Indiana University-Bloomington this past May of 2010 after 4 solid years of growing, learning, stretching, and getting a true calling for how I am to serve with my finite time on earth.

Through my time in college I was blessed to be apart of some unforgettable and amazing groups of people (Phi Gamma Delta, Greek Intervarsity, Exodus Church, The Canvas, IU Dance Marathon). I am indebted to them for the way they have grown me, supported me, and walked along side me. I hope I returned the favor and left my footprint on their lives as well.

After having my world rocked and radically altered through a few life trajectory altering experiences in college I found myself with a heart to use the resources and opportunities I have been blessed with to serve the nearly 4 billion people who live on less than $4 (USD) per day, most of whom are living in developing nations.

After experiencing life in some tough communities domestically and abroad I came to further understand that most of the world's poor are as content with being poor as you or I would be. Living with so little doesn't lead to simplicity of life, it leads to unimaginable difficulties. Having to sell one of your kids into indentured servitude just to provide for the rest of your children, being one of the 850 million who goes to bed hungry, being one of the over 1 billion who has no access to clean drinking water, being one of the 2 million children who dies every year from diarrhea, etc. None of this has to do with being a outlier of a problem in a far away land. It is the reality of people just like you and I with the same basic needs, hopes, and desires as you and I.

It's Not About Depressing Statistics, It's About HOPE.

After realizing how similar I am with most of the world's poor it unlocked a new frame of mind for addressing the world's under-developed nations, and aspiring people. I came to understand that for most people living in poverty, the last thing they need is a charity or a favor. They need access to the same resources and opportunities that I have grown up with and have taken for granted. These people don't need a hand out they need a hand up. Charity/relief is essential for many of the world's poor who need rescue from their current circumstances, but most of the world's poor simply need that opportunity or that access to basic services.

After a trip to Leogane, Haiti about 2 years ago I learned from a friend about the powerful tool of microfinance. Microfinance, which essentially entails providing small business loans as small as $50 to persons in developing nations. These loans are paid back over consistent intervals, with relatively low interest rates.

(Stephen Mann discussing microfinance with a local Haitian, Scutt. I listen and learn)

It's easy to take for granted the ease of access to capital.

However, most of the world's population does not have easy access to capital, and microfinance institutions are basically like the opposite of commercial banks in the Western World. They go out and find clients in destitute, hard to reach areas and allow them access to such credit services even despite their lack of collateral.

Most microfinance institutions provide more than just a loan disbursement function. Many also provide savings services, insurance, life skills education, business training, biblical teaching, etc. Today there are 100 million individuals who have used microfinance loans, but there are over 450 million that could benefit from such a loan yet don't have access to them.

After realizing that most charities simply create dependence, drive out local entrepreneurs, provide merely short-term assistance, and often leave people or communities worse off. I further learned about microfinance as a viable tool that entrusts those in need with resources and allows them to use their entrepreneurial spirit to work themselves out of poverty. By showing people that they have worth, are dignified individuals, and have the God-given skills and abilities to provide for themselves and their families microfinance unlocks what is already in individuals and allows them the means to reach a level of their poverty alleviated and a level of self sufficiency.

THE NEXT STEP:

After learning and studying microfinance for a few years it seemed almost too obvious to head in that direction vocationally after graduation from college. Through a seeming coincidence (there's no such thing) I stumbled upon an organization called HOPE International which was providing microfinancing services plus many other services to poor communities across the world. The most intriguing and powerful part about HOPE was that they were also a Christian organization which was addressing spiritual poverty as well as physical poverty. I knew that post graduation I wanted to go into ministry or serve the world's poor, and I saw HOPE as a way to funnel both those desires. After further learning about HOPE I knew I had to get plugged in with the organization. And putting all my eggs in one basket as I often do, HOPE was the only place that I applied as it was the only place I wanted to work.

It wasn't the way I would have scripted it, but I eventually landed an internship position with HOPE about a week after graduation and was moving out to Lancaster, PA (HOPE Intl's HQ) a few days later.

Now I find myself working for the type of organization and doing the type of work I have long since aspired to do and am so thankful for the opportunity to be out here.

But most importantly this is only the beginning of the adventure and the beginning of the dream...



(Picture courtesy of Jefferson Crawford Photography. All rights reserved.)