Weeping Because of Malaria...

I did something tonight that I've done several times before, but hadn't done in quite a while...I wept for the children and families in sub-Saharan Africa...I wept not out of pity or guilt, but because of the personal stories I encountered in watching a documentary filmed to raise awareness and response to the global health pandemic of malaria...

I screened a documentary for a bunch of students here at CU concerned about global poverty and justice issues called WHEN THE NIGHT COMES...it's a piece done by some of the folks who did the Invisible Children documentary and was sponsored by the UN and ONE CAMPAIGN groups...we just completed hosting a major malaria event called Night of Nets where we raised several thousand dollars at a CU soccer match and will be able to distribute over 1000 insecticide treated malaria bed nets when he head to Zambia in May for families at great risk of being affected by this awful disease...

I've probably shown over 100 documentary style pieces done concerning issues in Africa, and I like to think I'm fairly aware of some of the impact lack of resources and as Bill Gates calls it "the accident of geography" has upon many people's global situations and life challenges...

But this particular film was exceptionally well done and the filmmakers had access and demonstrated great sensitivity in telling and showing life stories in northern Ugandan communities...and my heart was once again broken and I was educated in a meaningful way about what life does and can look like for a people that have the deepest faith in a God who will see them thru very challenging things and who has remarkable plans for their futures...

And as I sat in a classroom just outside my office covered with African paintings and photos and treasures, the tears came once again, despite my want to stop them and my head's ideas that I couldn't possibly still be crying about things on the other side of the world...

But I wept...I wept because 500 million people globally deal with a horrific health issue that was swept away from our American world over 50 years ago...I wept because I saw once again the utter despair and grief of parents who lost their one year old babies in clinics that would never pass health codes anywhere in the western world...I wept because Ugandan teenagers just assumed that millions of people in our country were dealing with malaria in our country because of our type of climate...I wept because girls who love to play soccer don't just worry about their homework at night after practice, but instead worry about falling asleep and exposing themselves to the bite of an insect that could end their life as it has others in their immediate families...I wept because the people interviewed just assumed we were going to help end malaria when asked about it...I wept because this disease that is completely preventable is keeping almost each of the millenium development goals from being achieved...I wept because we were able to raise enough resources to provide over 1000 desperately needed nets with just a bit of work and energy from some middle class college athletes and globally minded students on a Saturday in September when for millions of people a net would make the difference between life and death...I wept because only 20 students or so will come see this documentary about creating a future for people without one and over 200 will go watch a film made over 25 years ago about an actor's make believe past and future...I wept because I don't worry about even sleeping under a bed net in Africa when I go because of the preventative medicines I take while traveling...I wept seeing the privilege it will be to hand a net to a family that will sing and dance for joy in response this summer as I walk dusty roads in a nation I've grown to love...and I wept because of the fact that I honestly believe with all my heart that millions of my fellow Christ followers are missing out on great joy and meaning and intimacy in relationships with amazing cultures and peoples and Jesus Himself because their faith hasn't made room for the reality of a global God who has blessed some so they may bless others and bring life, truly abundant life to each and every person made in His image on this planet no matter what global crisis or issue they are facing...

And perhaps most of all, my tears fell because I know that God still longs for me to do more...He longs for me to invite more students in this generation to be the church that loves their neighbors near and far in our world...and He longs for me to use my gifts, my influence, my voice, my loves to help do things like end malaria by 2015...because that's His calling and His passion for me in this moment of my walk with Jesus...and so often I don't cry like I should and love like I should and live like I should in light of what I know to be true in Scripture and in our world...

So tonight as I finish writing and head to bed where a mosquito is the last thing on my mind as the night has come to Grand Rapids, I am glad for a film that makes me weep again...and am praying tonight with my CU student friends with such open and compassoniate hearts that our tears will lead us to repentance and acts of restoration as the church of Jesus Christ that will wipe away the tears and the fears of our African friends as malaria disappears in the villages and homes and lives of those in a place where God has not left and has so much more to do in the days to come...

Wiping Away the Tears in my Eyes Because of the One Who Brings Light and Life Even When the Night Comes to All of Our Lives...