The Same

It seems that the more I tell stories of some of the things that God did over the summer, the more I truly connect with them myself.
Something that has really sunk in is how we (as white Americans) are really just the same as they (Zambians) are.
It’s easy, upon thinking about it and even during a first, short trip overseas to think that they’re so different.
They have a different skin color.
They live on a different continent.
They speak a different language.
Their political system is different.
They eat different foods.
They grow their own food.
They cook their food over a fire.
They live in huts.
They don’t have electricity or running water.
They don’t have cars or cell phones or computers.
They’re impoverished (at least by our standards).

But when you strip everything away, we are all the same.

At the core of humanity is a fundamental desire to be filled, to have peace and joy. We were wired this way. But we were wired so that only ONE thing can truly ever fill and satisfy us. Yet, ever since the fall, we have tried to fill ourselves with anything and everything that we can get our hands on. For many Americans, it’s stuff, material possessions, wealth. Zambians may not have things but alcoholism is a big problem there. Sexual gratification, sleeping around is a big problem there. Sound familiar?

“But”, people say, “you tell a story about witnessing demonic manifestations; that doesn’t happen here.”
Doesn’t it?
I assure you, it does. My dad recently told me about a time in the church I grew up in in which a revival meeting was taking place with a guest evangelist, and a woman manifested a demon. The difference is that we’ve turned demonic manifestations into an entertainment industry, and when it happens to people for real, our medical system diagnoses it as some type of mental or physical illness instead of addressing the core issue.

“But,” people say, “you tell stories about miracles; God doesn’t move like that here.”
Doesn’t He?
Or is it that we are so preoccupied with all of our stuff that we simply don’t notice? When you’re praying over people that have God truly as their ONLY option–no doctors, no counselors, no medicine, no surgery, and certainly no money to afford any of that even if it was available to them–He tends to actually get the credit He deserves because we are totally reliant on Him to come through; our loyalty and hope is not divided.

In essence, they’re stripped down versions of us, and the need that is so clear there is just a picture of every human soul, regardless of race, nationality, or social class.

We are all the same. We all have struggles. We all are on a search for true fulfillment in life. We ALL need Jesus.

This is something I really try to drive home with them, because sadly, many of them think that there is something special about us because we’re white. They don’t think that God loves them in the same way He loves us. They don’t think that they can do what we do–pray and preach and share the Gospel.

But praise God, we are all the same. And the same power that rose Christ from the dead lives in us, ALL of us.

Want to know more? Contact me using the links above, and I would love to share with you.