King of Glory

If this God we claim to believe in is truly the "King of Glory", then He chose to manifest His glory in some of the most unbelievable of places. I'm spending a week with Compassion International in Rwanda, Africa. I'm sharing some ideas with them on how to start being more effective at reaching a youth culture. Their work is unbelievable and undeniable. Almost 90% of every dollar donated reaches the life of a child in desperate need of it. They use that money to enable the local churches to provide proper care for the kids, from birth through high-school and sometimes college. This is my second trip with Compassion (Dominican Republic in July of last year was the first). It's a complete God connection that I'm even here, but that's how He works. I didn't make a phone call to the right person, submit my resume, etc. He just opened the door. Read more about Compassion at http://www.Compassion.com. If we choose to really TRUST God, we should come to expect this kind of door opening action in our lives. I'm convinced that the reason we see so little of the miraculous is that we allow God so little room to prove Himself.

I believe God can do anything and that nothing is Impossible for Him. He can heal us miraculously on the spot from cancer (or anything else), He can speak to us through dreams, visions, prophecy, etc. He can save the souls of entirely undeserving humans, especially when those humans have stooped so low that in four months they brutally wipe-out 1 Million fellow country-men. What's even crazier is that Rwanda was a 95% "Christian" country. That's what happened here in Rwanda back in 1994. If you haven't seen "Hotel Rwanda" or read a book on the Genocide here, you should at the very least read up on it at Wikipedia. It's absolutely stunning the level of inhumane brutality. No one was sparred the unbelievable killing spree that left One Million "Tutsi's" dead and many more raped (many by HIV positive men), scarred, and orphaned. I visited a Compassion project with 280 children in it this past Saturday. Over 40 of them were orphans due to the Genocide, and that was 15 years ago.

Without a doubt, the greatest miracle I've witnessed so far in my life is that of a country rebuilt after the kind of devastating blow it received. You would never have guessed that the Genocide of spring 1994 ever took place save for the memorials and all the Rwandan's that could tell you about it. I met two of those survivors tonight. Compassion runs a program called LDP (Leadership Development) and it provides higher education for bright youth graduating out of the Child Sponsorship Program. I heard testimonies of two of those kids. First of all, they're incredibly bright. Unbelievably smart and full of heart. They're dreams are to be doctors, pastors, managers, etc. - all going back into their community to share love with those they grew up with.

In one of these cases, the child was only 9 years old when the Genocide hit. He was displaced from his family and wasn't reunited with them until he was 14. He lived with his aunt (his uncle had also been killed). He shared how much Jesus had protected him and taken care of him even after having lost his parents for so long (they fled the country and made it back years later. Two years after they returned both parents died from a heart disease). This kid had a genuine smile on his face and was so thankful for what Jesus and Compassion had done for him. Unbelievable. How spoiled our culture is and how much we need to meet kids like these to remind us that the words of the prophet Jeremiah still ring so true: "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)

It's late here and I have another full day tomorrow but I hope to post more soon about my trip and what God has been teaching me.

Bless God.