Go Beyond

   En Route to Kolkata via Dubai

   Once again I am seated on a flight headed across the Atlantic to India via Dubai. I have flown this route many times before. Doyle Lowry, our Executive Pastor at Kingsland, is traveling with me. I am accustomed to flying far in the back of the plane with the chickens and livestock. I do so to save money. In fact, we redeemed miles for the tickets to take this trip. However, something pleasantly unexpected happened at the airport in Houston. Before boarding, the airline attendants called my name and Doyle’s and asked us to approach the ticket counter. They took our boarding passes and replaced them with two Business Class seats – free of charge. I’ll stop here because this post is not about the luxury I find myself in as I write these words at thirty-five thousand feet. But, I must say, “Wow! Thank you Lord, for this unexpected blessing!”

   As I have been praying about and reflecting on this trip, my thoughts turned to Micah 6:8 — “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” The three tasks of this trip align with the three things stated in this verse.

To Do Justice

   Our first stop is in Kolkata where I have a meeting with a friend who handles logistics for a large missions organization. We are going to discuss how we can collaborate as Kingsland starts funding two safe houses in India for women and young girls rescued from forced prostitution. One of these homes cares for one-hundred and fifty young women and the other for seventy. The residents of these homes range in age from thirty to girls ten-years old and younger. Every single one of these girls has experienced the unimaginable indignity, horrors, and helplessness of life in filthy brothels. Forced into a lifestyle they would not have chosen for themselves, each of these women will have to deal for a lifetime with the physical and emotional trauma they have suffered. They are victims of injustice – weak and vulnerable individuals who have suffered the loss of much at the hands of those stronger than them. The problem of sex trafficking and the kinds of abuses these women have suffered is a global problem. Issues of justice are not optional for Christians. We must work with God to deliver the afflicted from those who overpower and abuse them (Ps. 35:10). Kingsland is in the fight!

To Love Kindness

   While in Kolkata, Doyle and I will spend a couple of days serving at Mother Teresa’s homes for the destitute and dying. I first visited and volunteered at Mother Teresa’s homes in January of this year. It was one of the most challenging and fulfilling experiences of my life. Mother Teresa was a remarkable woman who was committed to looking for Jesus in the distressing disguises of the poor. And then, when she found the poor, she did for them what Jesus would do. Mother Teresa knew what it meant to love kindness. And, by demonstrating kindness to the least of these, she honored God. Proverbs 14:31 says, “He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, but he who is gracious to the needy honors Him.” I will return to Mother Teresa’s homes in January 2010 with a team from Kingsland. We will work alongside the Missionaries of Charity who continue Mother Teresa’s life-saving work in Kolkata and in hundreds of locations around the world.

To Walk Humbly with Your God

   From Kolkata we will fly to Bhubaneswar in the state of Orissa, the state with some of the most violent persecution of Christians in India. From Bhubaneswar we will drive six hours into the Khondhamal Hills to our boys’ school named in memory of Diane Patterson. In the past weeks we completed the purchase of a hectare of land for our new campus. Doyle and I will meet with the director of our school and local builders to discuss the costs to build dormitories, classrooms, and a sports field. Ed Aboud, one of our Kingsland members, graciously had architectural plans prepared for our meeting. These plans will guide us as we begin the building process. Our school is committed to fulfilling Kingsland’s purpose of loving God, loving people, and equipping the generations. Half of the boys in our care are orphans and the others are from very poor Christian homes. Our boys are learning what it means to walk humbly with God in a place where it is costly to do so.

   Please pray for us in the coming days. The work that we are doing here will have a huge impact on the lives of many women and young girls and boys. And, determine to live a Micah 6:8 life in your home, community, or wherever your travels take you.