The price that must be paid

We sent Gary to Las Vegas last week to visit the Call in Las Vegas to explore possible partnerships with the World Race. The trip meant a lot to Gary on several levels, but his story of homecoming breaks my heart. From Gary Black:

Coming home from
America back to
Swaziland this week
was like getting run over by a truck! The jet lag seems more then usual as I
just can’t seem to get back to normal… but, walking into our weekly staff
meeting today just pushed me over the edge.

We opened with prayer and I began to
share about my incredible trip to the States and the time I had at the Call Las
Vegas (see Calling the Youth of America to Their Destiny) and with my family and friends back in
Colorado. I shared
about the miracles, the people, and how God is moving on the youth of
America. I was
upbeat and excited.

We then asked Becca to share. Becca
heads up our high school ministry here and takes Alexis with here often to hold
bible studies, drama’s and special events for the high
school girls here in Swazi.

She shared how last week many of her girls dropped
out of school because they were pregnant from their teachers, family members and
others, (the young girls here many times cannot pay for their school fees, so
the teachers trade the fees for sex), 13 year old girls, out of school, infected
with HIV and the reality of children raising children continued. Becca wept as
she tried to hold a graduation for the girls to make them feel better, but their
families couldn’t afford 75 cents for the hats so they didn’t want to have the party.

Colin, another staff member, began
to share how one of our “kitchens” blew over from the wind last week right on
top of one of our go -go’s (grandma’s) that feeds a couple hundred children a
day. We didn’t have the money right now to rebuild the kitchen, which is a wood
covering, so Ruby was cooking for the kids out in the rain and wind. On top of
that she has to store the food about 1k away and walks back and forth to make
sure these fatherless children have something to eat once each day…

The staff shared stories of kids
starving to death, getting attacked, raped, and how two of our missionaries had
been stabbed and robbed a little ways from one of our care points, all last
week!

It was a slap in the face and a slap
back into reality! I watched thousands of young people make commitments to God
last week in America, and I
wonder, do they really know what is going on around the world, do they really know the price that must be paid?

Part of living radically involves recognizing just how privileged we are here in America. Please pray for the missionaries and their families you know – they depend on it!