Go Beyond

   I am thankful to be home for Thanksgiving. As much as I enjoy traveling and meeting interesting people around the world, there is no place like home. On Thanksgiving Day, our home will be scented with the wonderful fragrances of our Thanksgiving meal and our table will be populated by the most important people in my life. I’ll carve the turkey, blow my calorie count for the day, help scrape the dinner dandruff off the plates into the disposal, and then watch an old classic movie — all in the comfort of my home.

   This Thanksgiving, my family and I will also recount the things for which we’re thankful. I’ve added to my thanksgiving list throughout the year and scribbled notes around the world. Here are just a few of the many things for which I’m thankful this Thanksgiving.

   Family: My travels this year have introduced me to many people who have no family. I have met widows, orphans, and street kids in Mongolia, India, and Nigeria. I have looked into lonely eyes, felt the irregular pulse of despair, and embraced those permanently disfigured by rejection. This Thanksgiving I will remember and pray for Abraham, a teenage boy in Nigeria whose Muslim uncle doused him with gasoline and set him on fire because he chose to follow Christ. And, I will give thanks for my loving family.

   Security: Earlier this year, Pastor Alex and I spoke to over 3,000 believers in Orissa, India after the worst persecution of Christians in Orissa’s troubled history. Believers in Orissa left their homes and ran to the surrounding hills to escape the violence. They drank from streams, cooked their meals at night, and slept under the stars. This Thanksgiving I will remember and pray for all those who did not sleep safely in their own homes. And, I will give thanks that I am able to sleep securely and peacefully in my own home every night.

   Access: My youngest daughter and I walked dusty trails in Tanzania this summer and spoke with those who have little or no access to the gospel. We slept in a tent, sat in the dirt, and made many new friends. This Thanksgiving I will remember and pray for those who heard about Jesus for the first time. And, I will give thanks for the unlimited access to the gospel that we enjoy in America.

   Friends: This year I met the Kurdish people of northern Iraq, a people who refer to themselves as “the orphans of the universe and those who have no friends but the mountains.” I watched children play next to graves, saw a father weep at a grave, and heard thanks expressed that Saddam is in the grave. This Thanksgiving I will remember and pray for the man who watched Saddam’s men push two of his friends out of a helicopter to their deaths. And, I will give thanks for my new friends in Kurdistan.

   Life: This year the people of Kingsland took a bold step on behalf of the unborn by purchasing a building for The Comforter’s Center, the pregnancy help center we support in Kampala, Uganda in cooperation with Life International. Our center is located one block from one of the busiest abortion providers in Kampala. This Thanksgiving I will remember and pray for the young women we met who stopped by the center and chose life instead of abortion. And, I will give thanks that the people of Kingsland made it possible for life to move into a home one block from death in Kampala.