Last week, we heard from two of our wonderful congregation members as to how they work to make their faith an integral part of their lives. I found it wonderful to hear how Michael has struggled through his addictions to make God a priority in his life, spending this upcoming winter in Guatemala in order to serve at a Christian orphanage, as well as how Jammin' Jenny has made tough life choices in order to make her life fit her faith (rather than the other way around). They are just two examples out of many within our congregation, and I wish we had more time to talk with more people. But since we need to keep moving along, today we're covering examples of people we DON'T know, but who are doing things that fit with THEIR calling.
I'll preface these examples by reminding you that these are not meant to be your life plan. They are examples, meant to give you the courage to do things that might be considered "odd" by your friends and family. To show you that people can and do decide to put God first, and fit everything else around Him. You might be called to something completely different, and there is a whole lot of good in that, too!
The following examples are doing things "big" enough that they've made the news, but they are still individuals who face some of the same questions and needs as you. What do I wear today? What will I eat? How should I interact with my friends and family? How will I travel around? Where will I live? How do I make sense of the things I see/experience/hear/read? Where does God fit into all of this and what does He want of me?
First up, we have the couple who was recently in the news for giving away half their salaries. Now keep in mind, this couple lives in Boston, which means their cost of living is higher than it is here in Wisconsin. But even with that, they made the decision to put generosity before raising their standard of living (which is truly an example of loving your neighbor as yourself!).
Then we watched a short clip on Katie Davis (who we've talked about previously), a young woman who moved to Uganda (originally short term) and realized God was calling her to stay there. She started the organization Amazima Ministries, and is trying to live out her faith while raising 14(!) foster daughters. She's a great example of someone whose calling from God didn't line up with what her family expected of her- and how they managed to work that out.
Our final clip of the day was on Dr. Tom Catena, the Catholic missionary doctor working in the Nuban mountains (South Sudan). The link above goes to a short story on him. The following link is the one we watched parts of during youth group. I think it is very worth watching, but because I can't skip around the video for you in this format, I will offer the same warning I gave during youth group: it may be very, very hard to watch. There are graphic representations of the conflict and of his work, which you cannot unsee. Dr. Tom is doing amazing things because he feels his God asks it of him, and he is doing it in extraordinarily challenging circumstances.
And while Dr. Tom is a great example to end on, I'd like to add the two following examples that we didn't get to during "class:"
Shane Claiborne who helped found what amounts to an inner-city commune. More information on what they do can be found here: http://www.thesimpleway.org/about/faq/
Meg Hunter-Kilmer, a young woman here in the U.S. who felt called to be a transient missionary-speaker-preacher. She lives out of her car while traveling around spreading the love of Christ. She also blogs, and her posts are well worth checking out.
Our 5 Minutes of God Time song: This Is Your Fight Song by The Piano Guys
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