Points of Light in a Broken World
It has been my great fortune to get to travel around the world and be part of both humanitarian and short term mission projects. I have met some incredible people and seen how God can use just a few committed persons to bring light to a broken world. I have seen lots of great organizations worthy of support. Today, I want to commend to you two such points of light which are making a difference in our world and challenge you to shine today.
The little discussed issue of human trafficking is one that defies belief. Human trafficking is modern day slavery and an ultimate human evil. Enslavement of people in need of work or opportunity can be witnessed in countries all over the world, including in the United States. Sexual slavery and trafficking for indentured servitude is rampant. Children are kidnapped and used as child soldiers. Young women are promised jobs in other countries only to be drugged and forced into prostitution. Many give up all hope as their lives are stolen from them one day at a time.
Kimberly Smith and the incredible team at Make Way Partners are attacking the scourge of human slavery, human trafficking and the plight of orphans in the toughest places on the planet earth. Make Way Partners is rescuing God’s children one by one. Their project with orphans in Southern Sudan is the only one of its kind in one of the most remote regions in the world. Read about these stories and help if you can. Man’s inhumanity to man is one of the great demonic evils of our day. Make Way Partners shows how darkness cannot comprehend the light when one couple steps up to the challenge.
Marta Gabre-Tsadick is a modern-day Mother Teresa. She and her husband Demeke are serving the poorest of the poor in her native Ethiopia through their ministry Project Mercy. Project Mercy takes a full life approach to battling hopelessness and poverty. With the love of God they find children who have never tasted milk or meat and have never attended school. Through innovative programs of agriculture, education, healthcare and teaching personal life skills; Marta and company are building new lives in one of the toughest environments on earth.
Project Mercy is all about creating models of self-sufficiency. Their unique breed of milk cows allows a person to become an entrepreneur and earn a living by owning a hardy livestock that can withstand the Ethiopian climate. By selling milk in the city and villages, program graduates earn funds and provide nutritious milk to a malnourished community.
Each of us is called to become a point of light in a broken world. We may not go to Sudan or Ethiopia, but we can shine right where we are planted. We can also provide the resources to help intensify the work of others. Hurt, pain, injustice and need are all around us, often in our own family or at our place of work. Like Kimberly and Marta, let those things that break our hearts spur us into action. The love of Christ is the light of the world; so let that same light shine through all of us into every dark place and circumstance.
Check out these great organizations and give or volunteer!
http://www.projectmercy.org/
http://www.makewaypartners.org