Tonight I was standing in a church on the south side of Glasgow, singing a song that is so familiar to me, and in an instant I was back in a wee room in Ballintoy with a group of about 20 folks…
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The room was in a hostel in Ballintoy, on the north coast of Northern Ireland.
The group of people where my Exodus team from 2005 – our Holland/Scotland team, and Ricks England/Scotland team.
It was our first chance to really get to know the other team.
We worshipped together.
We ate together.
We exercised together(!).
We went for long drives/walks on beaches.
And we met with the living God.
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One night during our residential, we watched a talk by John Piper from the One Day event in 2003 (part of the Passion movement). We listened and we grew restless as Piper spoke on boasting in the cross…
“But may it never be that I would boast,
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.” Gal 6:14
“You don’t have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know the few great things that matter, and then be willing to live for them and die for them. The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by a few great things. If you want your life to count, if you want the ripple effect of the pebbles you drop to become waves that reach the ends of the earth and roll on for centuries and into eternity, you don’t have to have a high IQ or EQ; you don’t have to have to have good looks or riches; you don’t have to come from a fine family or a fine school. You have to know a few great, majestic, unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious things, and be set on fire by them.”
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And we worshipped. We encountered God in ways I’ll never forget.
We we’re singing “How Great Is Our God”.
What a beautiful song, and what an even more beautiful truth.
That song became a vital part of our cry during those few days in Ballintoy.
It became our cry for the nations…
“Let all the earth rejoice…”
I stood in that room with about 20 other young people my age, with my heart burning for Jesus, and a passion for the nations… and a thankfulness for like-minded friends. [ A generation is rising up… ] Several months later, we headed out to different countries. We shared our lives and our hearts with each other, and many of us are still close friends.
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I have sung that song so many times since that night in April 2005. But never have I been so vividly reminded of the beginnings of this journey, of the birth of Generation 24.
Possibly one of my favourite songs in the world, I keep coming back to these lyrics time after time.
Teach me, Lord to have faith
In what You’re bringing me will
Change my life and bring You glory
There on the storm I am learning to let go
Of the will that I so long to control
There may I be in Your arms eternally
I thank you, Lord, You are the calmer of the storm.
In the run-up to World AIDS Day next Saturday, we’re (CU social action group) putting on a free screening of a film called Dear Francis tonight. I’m really excited about this – the film is a really personal look at the impact of the HIV/AIDS virus on Swaziland – the country with the highest prevelance rate in the world. Nearly 40% of its adult population carry the disease.
HIV/AIDS seems to me to be one of those issues that isnt addressed very well by us in the West. There is lots of talk of the devastation it causes, but there doesn’t seem to be much action. To me, it seems to be an issue people don’t know what to do about in response… we feel bad, but what can we do? That’s the purpose of tonight…
A friend and I were talking one day last week and got round to thinking about this statement of ‘its not a game’.
I went to a lecture by Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, two weeks ago today, and the conversation reminded me of it again. Kagame delivered a lecture, entitled ‘Education for Development: African/Rwandan Challenges’, after receiving an honoury degree. It was a very interesting night – his lecture was relatively short, but he stood and answered questions for over an hour off-the-cuff – while his answers were very political (i.e. not very enlightening), I was impressed that he took Q&A for so long, and especially entirely unscripted.
In a news report from last week, Sir Russell Muir (University of Glasgow Principal) is quoted as saying, “Paul Kagame is the central figure in the rebirth of Rwanda and he is one of the most impressive leaders in Africa. He preaches a doctrine of security, guided reconciliation, anti-corruption, and above all a drive toward self-reliance that he hopes will free his country from its heavy dependence on foreign aid.” I’m not so sure what to make of Kagame… he does seem to have been a key figure in the resilience of Rwanda, but does that negate the questions over his past and his involvement in the genocide?
Anyway, back to the point. During Q&A, someone asked Kagame about Rwanda’s involvement in the strife in DRC. It came up a few times before this question, but Kagame’s reaction was very much one of passing the blame. He firmly shifted the focus onto the (rich) Western world and what it’s involvement in DRC is. (On a side note, I think it’s good we think about this – we have a responsibilty too – but I would have been very interested in what Rwanda is actually up to there.)
Cut to: Reading a recent email from Jubilee Debt Campaign about the debt situation in Liberia. Last month Liberia’s debt cancellation was delayed again. Liberia has a massive $4.3 billion debt, mostly built up during 14 years of civil war. IMF shareholders have been discussing how to resolve this issue for more than 18 months. At the IMF’s annual meeting in Washington last month, countries blamed each other for the stalemate. Meanwhile, the people of Liberia, one of the poorest countries in the world, face life expectancy of just 42 years and an average daily income of $0.33.
It’s easy for us to spend months and years debating over the best way to do something, even something good like debt cancellation. But this is not a game to them. It’s life and death. 18 months living on $0.33 a day might mean your kids don’t live through another year. 18 months living on $0.33 a day might mean losing your wife because you can afford to pay for ARV drugs. 18 months living on $0.33 a day might mean both your parents die and you’re left to look after your 4 little brothers and sisters because they couldn’t get clean water.
This is not a game. It’s life and death.
When will we wake up?
Want to help? Check out JDCs website for more information and ways to get involved.
Today has been a good day. Lunch with Stoops. Dinner with Suz. Gig with Foy.
I spent tonight at Brel taking in Foy’s gig. To say I was excited would be an understatement… this was the rearranged gig that was supposed to happen in Sept. Holly and I were jumping around a little in anticipation… Foy didn’t disappoint. We had 2 newbies in our group – Suz and James… both of whom seemed to enjoy the night. Foy… I’ve said it before, but he really does get better every time. After the first song he played tonight, I remembered why I love to watch him live. Recordings are great, but Foy is in his element when he’s live.
He did an acoustic cover of Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For tonight, and it was so beautiful. Just him and a guitar standing in the middle of the crowd (so everyone could hear), singing the song. A lot of people joined in, and almost everyone sang along during the chorus. I had a little shiver up my spine… something beautiful. He also played an old song I love but haven’t heard him play live in years – someone requested What’s In A Bottle, off his first EP (the one he hates!).
I also discovered that ‘Home’ has been a perfect soundtrack for the past week and a half.
Though I can’t find a video for it, so here, watch Gabriel instead…
Tearfund’s Global poverty prayer week (12-18 November 2007) pulls together thousands of Christians hungry to hear God and keen to be part of a miracle. We’re thinking and praying about issues of justice and poverty, and trying to create space to allow God to be working in our hearts and lives to change us and use us to change to world.
Jesus make us your hands and feet in a hurting world.
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