called to act

i just stumbled upon an ethiopian adoption blog that contained this link: http://www.drawnfromwater.org/

it's about an organization in rural ethiopia that has opened an orphanage to care for children rescued from a tribe that kills children who are considered cursed-- or "mingi" in the tribal language. go to the website to learn more and watch the video on the homepage about how they got started.

so why am i posting this other than just for general awareness? mainly because i wonder if just "being aware" is really getting us anywhere. don't get me wrong -- being aware that things aren't right in this world certainly has the ability to profoundly affect the decisions we make about how we spend our time and money and what we do with our lives. but i'm starting to wonder if just "being aware" makes us complacent towards action in that we assume the problems of our world are too big for us to actually solve, so we continue on with our lives simply "being aware" that many in our world suffer daily.

if you watched the "gotcha day" video i posted, you might have noticed proverbs 24:12. my own paraphrase of the verse is that once we become aware of a need, we are held responsible to act. now, i'm not going to go as far as saying that everybody should adopt, though i will inch very close to that statement and say that all christians must think seriously about adoption, among other courses of action our world desperately needs for us to take. this is not the world of 50 years ago. 50 years ago, we didn't have millions of orphans, millions infected with HIV, millions starving, millions in poverty...i could go on. and so the way we act must be in line with the needs of our generation.

i say all that to say plan and then act. if you're thinking about starting a family (even if you're not married yet but you want to think through what expectations you have for a spouse and kids), consider adoption. i'm not even convinced that adoption is something you have to "be called" to do, which is why i'm saying you can plan for it in advance and commit to it. but if you're not in that position yet, give. plan not to buy that grande cup of coffee (or, in our case, that delicious sandwich from dioli's italian market). there are a lot of non-profit organizations that do wonderful justice-related things around the world that need more funding. i read on drawn from water's website that just $25 a month pays the electricity bill at their orphanage. there are non-profits that use donations to pay for HIV medicines for people who can't afford them. money can go a long way to keeping many children (and their parents) alive. you can find a list of non-profits that benefit orphans on the there's no me without you website (the link is on the sidebar).

there are plenty of other ways to act in our world, many that i'm probably not even aware of. just today, i was reminded that we need people willing to volunteer their time to counsel and help with the rehabilitation of past prison inmates so they do not become repeat offenders. i learned a lot about this need on a school trip to nyc in march. check out this website for more details. if you're reading and want to share a need you wish more people knew about, please comment. you will be opening my eyes and thus making me responsible to act in whatever capacity i am able.