The mission community is small. There are thousands of Christian
missionaries around the world, but if you stay with it long enough, you start running
into friends of friends all over the place.
So I wasn't surprised when some close friends started posting prayer requests for Nancy Writebol, an SIM missionary and one of two in Liberia just diagnosed with Ebola. My friends know her, love her and, obviously, are deeply concerned.
As I think about Nancy, I worry for my friends living in West Africa, one of them also working with Ebola patients.
Christians get a lot of bad press. And we should. So often we try to impose our agenda, values and politics on our communities. Often we do it without integrity or wisdom and completely devoid of love and grace.
At the same time, there are thousands of Nancy Writebols in the world. They are people who run to tragedy to comfort and care for victims. They staff hospitals, dig wells, negotiate peace, bring justice, provide jobs, educate and liberate.
Family, safety, comfort and affluence are sacrificed for a humble commitment to service. As I look at the world map on my wall, I can see their faces all over the place, some of them in the most violent and oppressive places on earth.
So often we miss the point. Nancy Writebol hasn't. But as we tell her story, we should make sure it challenges ours.
So I wasn't surprised when some close friends started posting prayer requests for Nancy Writebol, an SIM missionary and one of two in Liberia just diagnosed with Ebola. My friends know her, love her and, obviously, are deeply concerned.
As I think about Nancy, I worry for my friends living in West Africa, one of them also working with Ebola patients.
Christians get a lot of bad press. And we should. So often we try to impose our agenda, values and politics on our communities. Often we do it without integrity or wisdom and completely devoid of love and grace.
At the same time, there are thousands of Nancy Writebols in the world. They are people who run to tragedy to comfort and care for victims. They staff hospitals, dig wells, negotiate peace, bring justice, provide jobs, educate and liberate.
Family, safety, comfort and affluence are sacrificed for a humble commitment to service. As I look at the world map on my wall, I can see their faces all over the place, some of them in the most violent and oppressive places on earth.
So often we miss the point. Nancy Writebol hasn't. But as we tell her story, we should make sure it challenges ours.
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