Do you remember how the world looked through your eyes as a child?  I think about how I use to see things and process things as a child.  I was thinking particularly about a time I was about 10 years old and walking into my little country church on Sunday morning and seeing a flyer on the bulletin board inside the vestibule.  On the cover there would be a picture of a child who looked sad, worn and seemingly unhappy in appearance.  I would see some church parishioners sometimes put money in envelopes for the cause and sometimes they would  adopt one of these children for a longer period; to send money a few times a year vs just one time.  Those good people, however, would perhaps never actually get to see this child, but in good faith, they would send their hard earned funds to show their love for humanity and to some folks they felt it was their Christian duty.  There was always something in those flyer’s that spoke to me  and looking into the eyes of the child on the picture, I could somehow feel a connection.

In addition, I did see in my church that there were those folks who always did outreach for global missions, but, they were few and some who just seemed to ignore it.  I can see that same theme  within  churches today.  Many people and churches seemed content then and still today to just attend church and go about their lives pretending that all this poverty and worldwide hunger will go away or pass in good time.  Or more like, “if you ignore it, it will go away.”  As a child, I could not  ignore it and I can’t ignore it as an adult,  especially now, that I have seen it!

I can reasonably understand how many ignore world poverty.  I believe most of us just can’t comprehend it to be a reality and ”seeing is more believing.”  It is not because people  are just bad, uncaring or not Christians, they simply can’t imagine other people living in such impoverished conditions and if they can, it may just seem too huge a problem for an individual to know what to do about it.   However, that is were our Christian faith should come in to play.  Like the trust in a child’s heart and mind and how it is seen through a child’s eyes.

Personally, keeping faith is all I can do.   Just like that child, I can not look at the big picture, but just one day at a time and one person at a time.   For me,  I have now seen it first hand, up close and personal!  Now it has come to life!  It is not just a picture with a sad face on the bulletin board in the little country church I grew up in.  Now, God has given me an opportunity to do His work in a far away place and I have accepted His calling as a great gift in my life.

As a child, I watched how many adults responded to these global request for aid.   I was very curious about how much they responded and expressed care for a child from far away, whom they may never see for various reasons.  In my small community there were not many people that traveled outside of our own county or state, let alone half-way across the world.  So, I continued to think about those children from a very young age.  I was always wondering  how we were different.  What made them so poor, hungry or homeless, when I had a home, shelter and food?  Did God think we were more special?  Why did God not take care of these children better and their families?  As a child it was a big question!  Today, I am still puzzled why some people seem to have so much more than others.  Is this God’s fault?  Who is to blame?  Is anyone to blame?  Well,  I believe those are questions everyone could discuss for  eternity and never find the absolute truth!  We can discuss all the intellectual theories and analogies and not find the real answer. 

I believe that only God knows that answer.  Someday, I pray it will be revealed to us all!  Today, I have many of the same feelings that I had at that young age of about 10, but today, I feel a stronger connection with that child and with God.  In some ways, I am still looking through that child’s eyes, because I am not all knowing and I am surely learning as I go.  Many times,  I still have to process things  as I did when I was a child.  It has to be by faith alone!

So, if you can remember what the world looked liked through your eyes as a child, try to imagine what it looks like through the eyes of the children in the world who are hungry, ill and homeless. 

Blessings,

Judy