One year in Rwanda..

This time last year, I was getting ready to move to Rwanda. It’s incredibly hard to believe that a year has already gone by. I feel like such an older person than one year ago and it’s crazy to think of how my life has changed its course. I thought that by now, I’d be in my first year of grad school. Instead, I ride a scooter through villages to work everyday, I wash my laundry by hand, my stomach is full of rice and potatoes, I play football and organize activities with children whom I love and get paid for it, and I’m learning tons about business and management.

boys will be boys

While I was in the States this past summer, I was incredibly anxious to return to Rwanda. My previous experience had been so full of conflict and heartache that I didn’t know how much longer I could persevere living in Kigali. However, things have changed 180 degrees. HFLM is filled with peace, growth, blooming organization, and healthy relationships. Sometimes, when I go there, I find myself lost for what to do. Our new staff team is remarkable and we are so grateful for their constant hard work. Most days, I find myself enjoying living my life here, and am rather fascinated and in disbelief that this is actually my life that I’m living. I think I should write a book one day about it all  Since being back over the last month, I have contracted typhoid, and a major flu. Fun times. I’m feeling much better, however, and the sickness was actually a nice time to force myself to rest. I’ve now experienced typhoid, malaria, parasites, and tungiasis in Africa. What’s next?

About a month ago, Morris and I were driving through town on my scootie and an object in the road slowly started entering our vision. What we thought was a dead dog, turned out to be a human whose broken and twisted body was covered in blood and glass. As we hurried off the scooter and towards the man, cars mounted the large sidewalk and drove into the bushes to drive around the scene and avoid stopping. We counted at least 10 cars before us who drove clear off the road instead of stopping. Our hearts were broken at the depravity and lack of care we had just observed between fellow humans, but there wasn’t time for that as we had to try and get the man to the hospital. After checking he was breathing and flipping him on his side to avoid choking on the blood gushing from his mouth, the search began for a car that would be willing to take us to the hospital. We asked at least 6 cars who all either said no, rolled up their windows, and shoo’ed us away before we found a willing bypasser. We rushed to the emergency room which was filled with other thin, frail, and broken bodies and awaited the news.

After this incident, I found myself deeply disturbed and saddened by the lesson the world had taught me. I feel as if I have been schooled in the reality of the world and the reality of my own depravity away from the SPU bubble this past year. The man survived the accident and now has metal poles running through his fractured legs. What’s worse, however, is that the hospital kicked him out of their ward and is making him sleep in the grass outside because he can’t afford to pay for any of his $550 bill. Nor can the hospital afford to feed him or give him medicine. I can’t imagine the throngs and throngs of people who are denied simple medical care each day in Rwanda because they lack the $10 to pay basic doctor fees. The ramifications are astonishing and cannot be hidden – the malnourished bellies of children, scabby ridden skin, a 15 year old boy dying of malaria and diarrhea before my eyes, a 13 year old girl collapsed on the sidewalk because she hadn’t eaten in 4 days.. it seems that there is truly no option for the poor. In speaking with locals about this, its been explained that its simply the reality of life in Africa – people die... frequently. I refuse to accept this answer.

I don’t tell you this story to shout, “Hey, look at me” in any way. Rather, I wish to illuminate the reality of the worlds inequality and the disparity between access to money and opportunity to care for your family. I’ve randomly come across 3 dying people in the road in the past 5 months around Kigali. The average life expectancy in Rwanda is 38. In 2004, there was 1 doctor per 30,000 people in the South-Eastern region of the country, and no hospital existed. Even if a hospital did exist, who in the village could afford the $10 to bring their baby to the doctor when the $2 they earned that day must house and feed their other 2 children?

In other news, I am reading about Paul Farm who founded the global public health organization, Partners in Health. I find myself fascinated, drawn in, and interested in potentially studying public health along with social work. It is truly inspiring what can happen when people stop to really care about each other. From its humble beginnings in a small community in Haiti, Partners in Health has now expanded its programs bringing quality healthcare to the poor around the world, including to Rwanda. It’s the only hospital in Rwanda that will treat a patient, no questions asked, even if they can’t pay. Amazing.

Lastly, Caroline, Pippa and I have moved houses! We now live in a quiet, cozy house that feels much more like our “home” than our previous residence. We are enjoying our beautiful garden, more peace and quiet, and having a living room again.

Pips & Meg being goofs as usual

For more news on what’s been happening with Hope For Life Ministry, check out: www.hopeforlifeministry.blogspot.com

Thanks friends!

Safe and Sound

Don't worry everyone - I made it safely to Kigali a few days ago! I've spent the past few days catching up with the boys and staff, and falling asleep in the middle of the day on the bus, in chairs - jetlag is rough.

I really hope to blog more often this time in Rwanda, so stay tuned and if I'm not blogging, get on my case!

Love you friends, family, and supporters. I couldn't be here without you.

You're Invited!

You are invited to CREATIVE CHANGE: A BENEFIT ART EXHIBITION FOR RWANDAN STREET CHILDREN. Hosted by Hallway Gallery in Bellevue on September 18th from 5-8pm, the event will feature semi-abstract paintings that portray the beauty and struggles of daily life in East Africa. Displaying a wide variety of artistic styles, canvas sizes, and vibrant colors, the diverse price range of the exhibit offers something for any budget. Half of the funds raised from this event will directly benefit Hope For Life Ministry, while the remaining 50% support Rwandan painters who grew up in orphanages themselves. One of the Rwandan artists will even be in attendance of the exhibition!





We look forward to joining you for a meaningful night filled with beautiful art and wine for the betterment of Rwandan children!

For more information, email swansonhfl@gmail.com

Liberation in a Journey

I discovered this poem today:

“Liberation is a Journey” by Uwayo B. Edouard


Liberation is a journey

Rwandese of Rwanda and Rwandese outside of Rwanda

All who speak Kinyarwanda

We descend from a common culture

Come, we’ll sit here in Rwanda

Immersed by the culture of Rwanda



Let’s remember how liberation came

Unleashing heavy burdens in my youth

When I was young and just a child I played in mud and heard of hate

Rwanda readied children for war

Children chosen and armed against enemies



I heard that Tutsis were roaches and should be stomped

With tails like snakes, they should be killed



We were given bows and spears

And foreign countries gave us guns



Really

Darkness came to Rwanda , Machetes in place of peace

I saw people killed

Muslims and Christians worked together

Joined by machetes and their will to kill



And our Rwanda burned

Rivers flowed with bodies and corpses covered fields

Rwanda’s youth led the battle,

don’t you know that this is injustice?



That our Rwanda, its beautiful rivers and pools

Its beautiful fields with roads and no famine

Became a cemetery and a shame

Don’t you know that this is injustice?



And the RPF ARMY I was taught to hate

Decided that it was time to defend Rwanda

Should Rwandese die?

Should there be widows?

Should the dead be shamed?

They said, “No”



War began in Kinigi, in the heat

Everyone was involved so understand, my children

It wasn’t about guns or weapons

It was about a fight for truth

I will thank them wherever I am

Their heroics will be known worldwide

From Darfur in Sudan

To the Comoro Islands, they will be admired

And I’ll see them the way the Pope sees his church



But now that they have conquered, I ask of them

Free us from poverty and illiteracy since liberation is a journey

I’ll start with the family, the foundation

I condemn the many men who don’t allow their wives to have a voice

They hit them and think they’re mindless

Who gains from this?



Man of Mustache and small mind,

Hairy chested and without pity

You burden your wife to stay in the house

You are killing our vision of being a strong nation



And the children I see working so hard everywhere

Picking tea and coffee but they can’t even afford soap

What a shameful image of Rwanda

Give the child what he needs and he can become a king

His parents will live in peace and his family will be safe

Young girls miss school and are given a broom

And they dig in the valley because education is only for their brothers

A wife works all day and her husband hits her

And who will save her?



Where will liberation be?



And men work hard, sweat pours down

But he makes no money and it’s never enough

Don’t you see that this is injustice?
Let liberation come and let liberation be a journey

Away from prostitution

And towards wisdom and to new projects done with fervor

The rich one can prepare a gift to give to the poorest one

And how poor is he?



A house of wheat and a bed of wheat and he eats just wheat

And then he’s thrown out like wheat



Really

Our beautiful Rwanda with beautiful rivers

Beautiful pools and fields with roads and no famine

Tell me

Will it remain a cemetery without peace?

Don’t you see that this is injustice?



Let me speak further

What happens in the village genocide courts?

Let justice liberate

Let truth replace lies in Rwanda

Sitting together on the grass without division or hate

Without lying to each other

As we live in peace and the guilty seek forgiveness



Our Future is already failing

Unless we begin out journey well, helping widows and orphans

And food for the man in ruins with nothing

What is left is to share everything

As we battle against hate

I wish you all the best



And so I close here

I, a poet will speak again

Peace to you in Rwanda, peace everywhere."

May in pictures

Veterne and Tantine, the beloved HFL Caretaker.





D'Amour before playing soccer, with his new Seattle Sounders ball.



Eating lunch before heading to school.

glimpses of the kingdom.

this post is full of quite random and unrelated events, but things that have made an impression on me in the past few weeks and shown me glimpses of jesus in kigali..



in the past month, i have been walking in kigali and have came across 2 individuals who were literally nearly dead, sprawled out on the side of the road. it's the craziest thing. the first experience the individual was a very young orphaned girl around the age of 15 who had collapsed because she was literally starving. we took her to the hospital and got her some food that would last for about a week, but i can't help but wonder how she is now nearly 4 weeks later...

then, a week later, i was out jogging and stumbled across an older man who had also collapsed on the side of the road. there were lots of people walking past him but none of them stopped to see if he was okay or anything. i was flabbergasted and stopped to wake him up and see what was wrong. it turns out the man was named Musafa and he had come to Kigali from the village to search for work. however, while he was in the city, he had contracted malaria and didn't have the $10 to buy the meds to treat it. Thus, it grew worse and worse, and combined with a cold and not having food, Musafa collapsed, shivering with feverish chills in the heat of the day in the middle of some bushes. it blows my mind.

my new friend Musafa spent the next week in the hospital recovering. visiting him everyday, i made quite a number of friends at the hospital and learned significant amounts about the healthcare system here. Sometimes I get so engulfed in the business and administrative tasks that are right in front of me that I momentarily forget the bigger picture of why I'm here - I was grateful to be reminded.



The boy's got their Term 1 report cards back and they did SPECTACULAR. We seriously think one of the boys will end of being the next President of Rwanda. They are SO smart! 15 out of 20 of the boys scored in the top 10 students in their class - with their class sizes ranging between 42 and 51 kids. After being out of school, some for the past 4 years, their performance and diligent effort in school is remarkable and is consistently stunning their teachers. In third grade, HFL boys took the first, second, third, and fourth places in their class. It blows my mind and warms my heart.



A few weeks ago, Caroline went to the store to buy meat. As the man working at the deli stood slicing her meat, he looked up at her randomly and cheerfully excalimed, "I made a choice today.. I choose every morning to be happy." His simple and joyful sentence has been floating through my mind challenging me the past few weeks..



The other night, I went to a restaurant/bar with a few friends. The scene that unfolded before my eyes was one of those times that you can feel being etched into you as it's happening. In the middle of a club filled with dancing people who had had too much to drink, our friend Fila from Uganda got up on stage and filled the room with powerful, unashamed, humble, selfless worship, words of truth and declaration of the love of Jesus to bumpin reggae beats.. it was beautiful. i felt deeply moved at the power of the situation and the humility of this guy. it was such a powerful picture to me that this - bold words of jesus' love regardless of anything in the middle of a bar - is the growing kingdom of our jesus.



http://bbedit.sx.atl.publicus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100501/NEWS0107/5010366/1159&nav_category=
This article was posted in major newspapers all across the world a few days ago. This situation of Iwawu Island is personal for us at HFL as one of the children that we served through our drop-in services was arrested and is now at Iwawa Island, a supposed "Rehabilitation Center" for those who have committed petty crimes ranging from living on the streets, not wearing shoes, or not having an identity card. Although the government denies that children are here, we know for a fact that our 15 year old friend is stuck on this island for the next 3 years of his life simply because he is poor. It's absurd to me. Although I respect that the Rwandan government is doing something to address the problem of poverty, I think they have it all wrong in the way they are handling it. There have been rumors of human rights abuses, and of forced labor, of trapping children on a remote island where they have no way to contact their family members and tell them of their whereabouts. My heart is so sad.



We have a new roommate as of this week. Our friend Jo went back to the UK and was replaced with Pippa, our new 23 year old friend full of energy and spunk. She has been a delight to get to know and constantly cracks us up. I'm grateful for her joy and energy, and for having another new friend here.



Personally, I've been on a bit of an emotional, spiritual, and relational roller coaster the past few weeks sometimes being completely satisfied, and at other times wanting to run away as quickly as possible. Through this, I think God has been teaching me in a very tangible way that in his kingdom, weakness is the new strength.. that collapsing, resting, acknowledging the pain in my heart and my overall brokennes, and letting self dependency end are what he seeks to bring glory to himself (Psalm 51). It's funny how opposite His ways are - how resting in the fact that I am weak instead of fighting it has slowly led to more peace, how liberation shines when we realize that Jesus doesn't demand perfection from us. Despite the aches that my heart sometimes feels, I feel on the verge of learning something very important..


...come, jesus.

Summary of the past 2 months in Rwanda..

I have missed blogging so much but have literally not had a second to do it in the past 2 months! How sad. Sorry` to all of you who have been kept out of the loop. Because it would be impossible to tell you all of the wonderful, insane, challenging adventures I've had since the last blog, here's a summary:

° Uganda - I went to Kampala, Uganda 1.5 months ago with my friend and roommate, Caroline. We took a 10 hours bus ride through the green winding hills of the countryside. When we finally arrived, I remembered how different Kampala is from Kigali - immensely crowded, dirty, enormous, and more poor. Since the last time I visited there nearly 1.5 years ago, I forgot how angry I got seeing children with physical deformities beg on the streets and babies around 6 months old sitting completely alone in the middle of the busy sidewalk with their hands molded into the begging position. It's insane. However, while there, I got to visit Hudson, the boy my dad and I have been sponsoring for nearly 7 years now. He is the only boy in that region who has gotten to see his sponsor twice - he felt really special. I was really surprised at how big he's gotten! Going to Kampala was good for us, overall, to get away for the weekend and to realize things we appreciate about living in Kigali.



° Making Friends - The past month I have met some incredible people and become closer friends with my roomies Caroline and Jo. We've had our share of fun and disgusting times together (maggots jumping across our kitchen, lounging in our blow-up pool, going to parties, going on a mini-safari and our car breaking down in the complete middle of nowhere while monkeys walked around us etc). It's really great to have friends here and I'm so grateful that they're in my life. I'm also becoming good friends with a group of guys and girls from Uganda who all live together about 10 minutes from our house. Hanging out with people who understand your culture, speak the same language, and who are genuinely fun people has been a breath of fresh air for me. For a few months, I was having a really difficult time living here and was really quite miserable, but things have definitely turned around.





° Boys in school - The boys all started school in February and are LOVING it. They can be found studying late into the night and are constantly asking questions or for help with their homework. We are immensely proud of the hard work they are doing. AND, 3 of the boys have been reported by their teachers as having the highest marks in their classes! It has been extremely encouraging to us to see the progress in each child, given that one year ago, more than half of our kids couldn't read or write.



° Muhawe - We have taken in a 20th child into our residential program. Muhawe is an 8 year old boy who was living on the streets and occassionally came to HFL to bathe, wash his clothes, and get a meal. When he came to HFL 1.5 months ago with a severe case of malaria, we took him to the hospital, got medication, and let him recover at HFL. After his recovery, we noticed how much he was changing as a result of being in HFL and researched his family situation. His mother was killed when he was a baby, while strapped to her back. His widowed father is extremely poor and literally doesn't have anything at home to offer to his son. Believed to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and unable to live with relatives, Muhawe went to the streets. Muwahe came to HFL timid and fragile, but has unfolded the past few weeks into a gentle, kind, silly boy who now has a smile on his face and wants to hold your hand every second. We are happy to have him in our program and happy that someone has volunteered to financially and personally sponsor him.

° One year anniversary celebration - We happily celebrated HFL's one year anniversary a few weeks ago with the boys and the community members who have helped this past year. It was a great time to remember together all the things that have happened this year and to ask God for another successful coming year. Thank you for your partnership with us this past year to transform street boy's lives. Remarkable work has been done and we couldn't be happier. The boys also received their first set of letters from their penpals from the States .. wow, I don't know if I've ever seen kids so happy. It was chaos - kids running around the living room, waving their letters and photos in the air, trying to pronounce their penpals name to all the other kids at the top of their lungs, all the while dancing with enormous grins on their faces. They had tons of questions and have started a competition in school to see which kid is going to be able to tell their penpal that they received the highest scores on their exams :)



° Hovde Foundation: Lastly, and maybe the biggest news of all, is that HFL is receiving a grant from The Hovde Foundation (www.hovdefoundation.org)! This is a huge answer to prayer for each staff, for our supporters, and for the children themselves who have been praying for land and a house for nearly a year. The Hovde Foundation is partnering with us over the next 2 years to help us obtain our own land, construct housing, and develop a farm that will produce all our fruits and vegetables and help us create self-sufficiency. We could not be more excited!!!

° Coming home - I have a plane ticket back to Seattle for July 29th! I am so excited to be able to come back home... however, because we are partnering with the Hovde Foundation to expand our facilities in Rwanda, I will be returning in the fall to Rwanda for the next 1.5 - 2 years. This changes many of my plans of moving home, getting a job, and going to grad school but I feel that it is where I need to be. While I know living here for 1-2 more years is going to be full of challenges, I look around me and see God moving heavily in HFL and building a wonderful community here around me. Its bittersweet I guess..

° The next few months are crazy - This week initiates 2 weeks of mourning for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. It will be a week of hardship, memories, and pain for most of Rwanda. Additionally, our older boys will be attending a memorial in our community and learning about the genocide. Pray for them as a few have been directly impacted by the genocide by one of their parents being killed, or their parent currently being in jail for perpretrating during the genocide. We're throwing a benefit party at our house this weekend, and Javier and Brandon are coming up from Burundi to hang out with us. I'm stoked to see some familiar faces :) The second week of holidays here, Caroline and I are going to Burundi to get away for a week and relax on the beach. Then, a member of the Hovde Foundation is coming for a week to work out details of our project, then a friend from Uganda is visiting for a week, then Hilliary is coming! Wow.

° Scooty Scooty Scooty! - My parents got me a scooter :) I am so happy to cruise around Kigali on it. Instead of a 2.5 hour commute to HFL every day filled with an hours worth of walking and 4 buses, I now only commute 1 hour each day. Thank you mom and dad!! My life is going to be so much easier..



Welp, that's all for now. Thank you for your continued prayers and support of me living in Rwanda and of all our team is doing in Hope For Life. None of this would be possible without you..

I apologize for the lack of blogs lately!

(boys are silly everywhere in the world.)

"Lovers are hard to come by. And I think that’s what our world is desperately in need of – lovers, people who are building deep, genuine relationships with fellow strugglers along the way, and who actually know the faces of the people behind the issues they are concerned about. We are trying to raise up an army not simply of street activists but of lovers – a community of people who have fallen desperately in love with God and with suffering people, and who allow those relationships to disturb and transform them” (296).

Last month, I got the opportunity to pursue friendships with the street boys of Kabuga and take their pictures. (Our staff are already in relationship with them, but I hadn’t met them.) A few of the boys followed me to HFL and all our boys were eagerly asking, “Are they coming here? Are they staying?” I sadly, had to shake my head no and explain that we don’t have enough money. The comparison between our boys and the street boys as they stand next to each other is so stark. If you looked at the kids of HFL, you’d have no idea of their past. The street kids seemed to have a lot of fun having their picture taken and showing me the places where they spend their days. Afterwards, I pulled out bananas and most of them tried to lie about getting one after they hid it in their jacket. Despite their lies, and their constant sniffing of glue from a dirty and broken bottle, I can’t help but love them. My prayer is that in these acts of the staff being in relationship with them, they would not just see the love and care we have for them, but that they’d realize it’s an expression of how their eternal Daddy feels about them too. As I left, they thanked me for taking their pictures and for letting them show me where they sleep. Under their hard exteriors, their drug addictions, and beneath the layers of dirt that cover their skin, I think they long for their story to be told and for someone to care.


(Muhamwe - his mother was murdered when Muhamwe was a baby helplessly strapped to his mother's back. He begs to be accepted into HFL but unfotunately, we don't currently have enough money.)

The thing that sticks out to me the most was walking to the place where they sleep on a little mat tucked in between wild bushes. The smile on their faces as I took pictures documenting their sad reality was a crisp juxtaposition. Their shoeless feet are daily exposed to heaps of trash, mounds of dirt, broken glass and bent nails that line the trail that leads to and from the market. I remembered reading a book in high school about children in Mexico who lived in a dump and I was never able to really imagine what it was like. I am now able to picture that reality. As we walked past, other children were scavenging for usable nails amidst the glass and trash to earn money. When we reached the market, we rounded a corner and found 2 kids extremely high on glue. I sometimes wonder what I would do if this was my reality.. If I was a 12 year old living on the streets, I'm sure that in all honesty, I would start taking drugs, stealing, and drinking too..


(4 children sleep here each night.)

“When we look through the eyes of Jesus, we see new things in people. In the murderers, we see our own hatred. In the addicts, we see our own addictions. In the saints, we catch glimpses of our own holiness. We can see our own brokenness, our own violence, our own ability to destroy, and we can see our own sacredness, our own capacity to love and forgive. When we realize that we are both wretched and beautiful, we are freed up to see others the same way” (264).



Play For Hope, a Christian sports ministry organization, partnered with Hope For Life this week and came to run a soccer clinic with our kids and our friends on the streets. Despite the intense heat, the children had smiles on their faces nearly the entire time they ran up and down the field, dribbled between cones, and practiced passing and shooting goals. The energy of the street boys was noticeably lacking compared to the HFL boys and smiles didn't light up their faces nearly as frequently as our boys. They had a blast though getting the opportunity to act their age for a few hours and be the children that they are. For more information, visit www.playforhope.org






I told my testimony a few weeks ago to all the kids and they were so surprised that I’d faced some similar issues to them as a teenager. When I was finished, they began raising their hands asking questions and saying what they had learned. Veterne said, “Through your story, I see that God can use my past to do good for other people.” David hopefully stated, “I’m going to keep praying for my parents and not give up.” Paul thoughtfully commented, “I thought that everything in America was peaceful all the time and that there were no problems. Now I know that the only way there can be peace is with God.”

The next day, I came to Hope For Life and found several of the children fasting – many for the first time. When I asked them why they felt that they wanted to fast they replied, “We are praying for America and for your family.” ... WOW.


(their personal carriage - our friend who is a market worker who frequently visits HFL to pray and get advice.)

The boys excitedly and nervously started school YESTERDAY! The eldest is in primary 6 and all the small ones are in primary 1. Please be praying for the success of our boys and that they would not get discouraged in their studies or by the fact that the students in their classes are all younger than them.


(eating breakfast on the first day of school!)

I also want to remind you about our NEW CONNECTION PROGRAM! Hilliary and I are so excited to introduce it to you. Your chance is finally here to connect with one of the boys at HFL on a personal level – to learn more about his family history, his interests, his dreams, and to begin communicating directly with him via emails. No financial participation is required to participate. Simply email Hilliary Anderson at anthill00@hotmail.com and tell her you’d like to get involved. It is our sincere hope that through Hope For Life, it’s not just Children and staff in Rwanda who are being transformed, but also that our donors in America would be encouraged and transformed. We believe that when barriers that separate the rich and the poor are broken down and they become genuine friends, that the world will be changed.



“Pity may represent little more than the impersonal concern which prompts the mailing of a check, but true sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of one’s soul.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

“Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough; money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere (including America) you go.” – Mother Teresa



Lastly, several of you have been asking about sending things here. The best way to do so is to ship through the United States Postal Service (not to be confused with UPS). You can buy a flat rate box and ship 20 lbs here for $54. You should also be able to send letters for cheaper. Here’s my address:

Hope For Life Ministry
PO BOX 44 Kigali-Rwanda
C/O Megan Swanson

Belief is only the beginning...

Sunday I heard the testimony of a man who used to live in refugee camps and on the streets as a kid. As a mere child his poverty and his status as an orphan led him to become a thief, a murderer, a prisoner, a gang leader. One day while the boy was a houseboy for an elderly Rwandan Christian couple, he decided to steal their DVD player and ran away. Later that day, he saw the old man running after him and assumed he was coming to beat him and take back his stolen possessions. Naturally, the young boy ran and soon drew the attention of the police who shot him and beat him up nearly to death. When the old man finally caught up to the young thief, he was so upset that the boy was bleeding and beat up that he carried him back to his house and personally nursed him back to health. When the boy finally came around, the old man explained that he had followed him only because he wanted to convince the boy to come back or to give him money to take so he could provide for himself on the streets.

In that instant, the young boy's life was forever changed.

Today the young man is a 20 year old lover of Jesus who is still finishing high school. When he's not in school, he fixes shoes and with his earnings, he houses and provides for 40 street kids in his humble dwelling each night. Why does he do it? His answer is simple: because that day so many years ago, he was given what he didn’t deserve – grace and love. Now, he spends his life giving the same gift to other boys in his community.

It is by these acts that the world is changed and the Kingdom of God is made known. It’s by love in action. This kind of change doesn't come about from a Christian who worships in church on Sunday and remains unaffected and uninvolved in the needs of the world; not by someone who hoards his or her things but sees them as tools of the Kingdom. Transformation comes by living and enacting the Gospel; not just by reading it and thinking that doing the things it says are for other people.

Be a part of it.

“For us, belief is only the beginning. What really matters is how we live, how what we believe gets fleshed out…” (Claiborne, 148).