Referring to his (Richard Stearn's) trip to Rakai (in Africa): I much preferred living in my bubble, the one that, until that moment, had safely contained my life, family, and career. It kept difficult things like this out, insulating me from anything too raw or upsetting. When such things intruded, as they rarely did, a channel could be changed, a newspaper page could be turned, or a check written to keep the poor at a safe distance. But not in Rakai. There, "such things" had faces and names-- even my name, Richard.
Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision, once prayed, "Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God." But who REALLY wants his heart broken? Is this something to ask of God? Don't we pray that God will not break out hearts? But as I look at the life of Jesus, I see that He was, as Isaiah described Him, "a man of sorrows...acquainted with grief" (53:3). Jesus' heart was continually moved to compassion as He encountered the lame, the sick, the widow, and the orphan. I try to picture God's broken heart as He looks today upon the broken world for which He died...
How could the great tragedy of orphans get drowned out by choruses of praise music in hundreds of thousands of churches across our country?
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