others

We believers have brothers and sisters all over the world. And I admit that I can be far to egocentric and not be moved by the suffering that takes place beyond our borders.


But God is pulling me out of that. He is softening my heart and teaching me to love globally.


Last night we watched a movie called Beyond the Gates. There is one by the same name about Jim Elliot and the other missionaries who were killed in South America 50 years ago and I recommend it.


But this one is about the Rwandan genocide that took place in the nineties. It is harsh. Not good bedtime fare, I tell ya. Horrible and excruciating. I am trying to break out of my normal pattern of avoidance, though, and to let my heart break over the things that break God's heart. So I do recommend this movie, but if you watch it, be forewarned of bad language, which honestly pales in comparison to the violence. But it's real, as in it really happened, and I think sometimes we need to be shocked out of our comas of indifference. Also, if you watch it, then go read this for some positive closure on the topic. It's a post I did in April about Rwanda.


But what I really wanted to write this post about -- I got a little off track-- is the devastation in Bangladesh. More than 2,000 people dead. In places 95% of the rice crop was destroyed. Please, go to this site and see what you can do. At least pray, which is the most powerful thing you can do.


There is a scene in the movie we watched where a white woman with BBC is talking to another British guy and this is what she says, (loosely): "When I was in Bosnia, I wept every day. But here, not a tear." He suggested she had hardened herself. She said, "No, it is much worse. There, every time I saw a dead white woman, I thought about how it could be my mother. Here, all I see are dead Africans."


That's harsh. But look deep. It rings too true for me. And not just Africans. All I saw was dead Bosnians. I don't want to just see dead Bengalis. God help me.

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