Last Day in Salem

If my body could reflect my heart,
I would be crying from a thousand places.

If I wore my heart on my sleeve,
Perhaps people would see that I care.

If this were a perfect world,
Everyone on this base would move to Boston.

If I knew a better way to do justice to how much people here mean to me,
I would not be writing this stupid poem.

If we were not so self-absorbed nor possess the gift of forgetfulness,
Saying goodbyes would mean heartbreak until the next hello.

If I had never met the people here,
I would be nowhere near where I am today.

If my heart could say words,
It would say "thank you".

"I love you".

What are our priorities?

Some things to fire me up:

Global priorities in spending in US $(Consumerism, Volunteer Now! 1998)
Military spending - 780 million
Basic education for all - 6 million
Water and sanitation for all - 9 million
Reproductive health for all women - 12 million
Basic health and nutrition - 13 million

Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen. (State of the World, Issue 287 - Feb 1997, New Internationalist)

I know these stats are more than 10 years old, but wonder if things have changed very much since then...

God freaking knows everything

I'm currently putting together a manual for anyone who wants to take outreach teams to North/South Sudan and Uganda. It's funny - I'm not really a diary person who writes down details about everyday life - but I do write down important prayer times and actually log things religiously when I'm on outreach. I honestly think it largely has to do with the fact that there is no electricity and I have nothing better to do, but I am left with several precious volumes of details from some of the most dramatic times in my life.

So, back to the story - in the process of writing the manual, I've been taking a trip down memory lane and have been thumbing through these dirt-crusted, palm-sized journals - and found this entry from waaaay back in 2005 during my DTS. It was written a couple of days before I left for Sudan. I'll write it down verbatim.

Putting together politics & missions.
Conflict ridden areas.
Peace & conflict resolution.
How to get YWAM/missionaries more involved in that?
Linking this w/taking Islam by its roots.
Grassroots movements?
But how is that done?
So...and where in the middle east?
Am I going to the middle east?
Which conflict ridden nation?
Is it going to be one nation or multiple?
God where do you wish to take me?
Where am I to give the most glory to You?

Needless to say, I had goosebumps after reading this entry. After outreach, I had gotten caught up with moving to Sudan (and honestly, a little part of me still wants to work for unreached war-torn people in the bush somewhere and bury my bones there) and then got caught up again in other things and don't remember at all having written or even thinking all this.
But God remembered. When the timing was right, He spoke to me about all this again, and not only told me His heart, but lead me on a journey that brought me to choose to do all this. He put together choice with obedience.
Sometimes, thiking about how smart God is overwhelms my puny little brain. Thank goodness He is here to help me.