Going MAD

On October 17 I will leave for Cape Town, South Africa, where I will spend nine weeks volunteering with Living Hope, a ministry that my local church supports and partners with. Living Hope’s stated mission is 1) to spread the good news of Jesus Christ in a life-changing way and to encourage people to follow Him; 2) to play a vital role in the prevention, care, treatment and support of people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS and other chronic illnesses; and 3) to undertake the development and promotion of community health through educational and health-related programs. I will also spend some time with one of Living Hope’s sister ministries, Living Grace, which serves the homeless in the town of Muizenberg.

I suspect some of my friends are wondering, why leave a paying job and travel thousands of miles for a non-paying one, even if it’s only for a temporary period? And if you want to care for the sick and the poor, why can’t you just do it here in the U.S. in your spare time? True enough, I certainly can, and I should at every opportunity. But this special opportunity will allow me to devote more time and energy to the effort. And please understand, I’m not doing it for accolades, and I’m not writing about it to draw attention to myself. God has been good to me and I simply want to share that love with others, in word and in deed.

Regardless of where we are, Jesus’ followers are called to live out their faith – to put into practice His commands to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” and “to love your neighbor as yourself.” That mandate forms the core of LowCountry Community Church’s mission program, and LCC's goal is for every one of us to go “MAD” – that is, to Make A Difference in the lives of people we touch. (Incidentally, I believe we are called to make a difference as individuals, rather than leaving the job to the government, as some politicians would have us do.)

John Thomas, the visionary founder of Living Hope, visited LCC last January and delivered a sermon that made a difference in my own thinking, prompting me to pursue this return to South Africa after first going there on a mission trip in September 2007. (That's one of teammates, Jen Harsta, pictured above – the image is one of my favorites from the trip.) Pastor John challenged his listeners to not just talk about caring for the poor, but to do something, citing God’s words through the prophet Isaiah – “to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke … to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter .. to clothe [the naked]” (Isaiah 55:6-7).

Interestingly, almost immediately upon returning home after my two weeks in Africa last year, I came across the band Caedmon’s Call's just-released CD, Overdressed, and was stunned to find it included a song titled ... Two Weeks in Africa! It’s about a girl who goes on a mission trip – a trip that sounded much like my own experience – but when she came home, she got caught up in everyday life and almost forgot about the experience. The song played a big role in keeping the trip seared into my consciousness, along with the possibility of a longer return stay. Its lyrics are displayed below.