Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: "Here am I." If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Isaiah 58:9-11

I'm still thinking about last week. Everything I've seen and heard is racing through my mind right now. I see children's faces, broken homes, dirty streets, homeless men, hurting women. I also see a men and women with a faith that moves mountains. I see Christians who gave their all to the Lord and who have received blessings beyond belief. I see people working to break the cycle of poverty and destruction that rages through the streets in our cities. I see all of these things and I wonder what I'm supposed to do with it. What I've been exposed to I can never forget. And knowing what I know, I can no longer sit comfortably in my room doing nothing.

But in the midst of this overwhelming need to go out and do something, I'm held back by the fact that I'm still unsure as to what it is that God wants from me. I'm sure there are many things that I could do, but I don't want to just rush into the first thing that pops into my head. I know that if I go in blindly trying to do something just to alleviate this burden on my heart I cannot be nearly as effective as I could be if I allow God to guide my actions. So I guess part of what I'm feeling right now is impatience. I want God to tell me right now what He wants me to do. I know what he has called me to do in the future, and that's why I'm here spending a lot of money to get a teaching job that will pay me next to nothing. But what am I supposed to do while I work on getting that degree?

I suppose the only answer is to pray, pray, and pray some more.

"What does the Lord require of you, but to act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God?"

- Micah 6:8

I am now back at Calvin after a week in Chicago working with Sunshine Ministries. I am exhausted and drained and I am loving it. To put it simply, this past week has been stunning. I made new friends, had long talks about God, learned new things, and was pushed far outside of my comfort zone. I've definitely been challenged in many areas of my faith this past week, and I've had to look at the views I hold in a completely different way. I don't know that I have everything sorted out in my head yet, but I need to start getting ideas down before I lose them.

On one of our evenings listening to Joel, the leader of Sunshine Ministries, speaking to our group, he brought up the verse Micah 6:8, and how that relates to the way we view poverty. The reasons for poverty fall into three basic categories:

1. Sin

-gambling

- addictions

- laziness

- lust

2. Tragedy

- disability

- loss of job

- medical bills

3. Oppression

- unjust political structure

- lack of education

The thing that Joel said which struck me the most is that when we in middle-class America think of reasons for poverty, we always always focus on the "Sin" category first. We might then look at Tragedy, but rarely do we view Oppression as a reason for poverty in our day-to-day thinking, and the reason we don't see it is because it practically never affects us. Think about it. When was the last time that you, a white, middle-class citizen, experienced oppression?

It's this outlook on poverty that affects how we try to change the situation. If we are viewing poverty as the result of sin, then we will try to bring people to Christ. ("walking humbly with God"). If we see it as the result of tragedy, then we will bring relief. ("love kindness"). But then there is that last part, which we rarely are motivated to put into action. It's easy to put in a quick fix by feeding someone, telling them the Gospel, donating money. But to "act justly", to face Oppression and work towards a solution....that often takes more than we are willing to give. Changing a system, creating new policies, standing up to social constructs, that's hard. That requires us to admit that we are part of the problem.

I'm not claiming to know what exactly is wrong with society. I don't know what needs to be changed to bring about the betterment of the poor in society. I'm not even sure of how to start. But I do know that sitting back and offering silent approval of the way things stand is not how we as Christians are supposed to operate. I don't know if you noticed, but "act justly" is the very first thing mentioned in this list of things we are called to do by our Lord and Savior. In light of the numerous blessings we have received, I don't see how we can ignore it any longer. We can't sit comfortably in front of our tv's and laptops and feel that this is God's plan for our lives. It's time to get up and do something about the heartbreaking poverty that so many people in this world experience every single day of their lives.