Apart from the Gospel... there is no hope.

Last week my daughter Gabriella and I attended Summit VIII. A huge conference that Christian Alliance For Orphans put on.

Churches, adoptive families, social workers, christian non profits and those who are concerned about the plight of the widow and orphans here in the U.S. and around the world attended.

It was so amazing to be so close to so many who are living advocates for the "least of these".
I learned a great deal. Primarily I learned that there is no pat solution to the orphan crisis.
 Or to world hunger; or to foster kids who never get adopted; or inhumane living existence for many men, women, and children. That the problems that cause these circumstances are complex, and that the solutions are complicated.
After hearing from so many who are on the ground working directly with these problems, I realized my american mom mindset was and is very limited in really unerstanding what the problems are and how they might be solved.

 I see everything from an american standpoint, from a moms standpoint.I see a need and a problem and want to solve it. I want to take away the pain of others and the solutions seem so simple. But I learned they are not.

The greatest lesson I learned while I was there was from Kimberly Smith. She is co-founder of Makeway Partners. I asked her, what is the hope for Sudan? She told me, "We do not live in heaven; Apart from the Gospel, there is no hope".

That statement and hearing from many from all around the world has reshaped my mind and how I think about pain, and heartache. I want to end pain and suffering, including my own. But sometimes pain and suffering last a lifetime. Because of sin. Either our own or the sin of others.

I realized Psalms 23 is promise of God being with us. He is our green pastures, our still waters. The greatest need you can meet in the lives of others is giving them the gospel because the hell they are living in is only temporary if they know Christ and if they don't, they will never have relief from suffering and terror. Ever. It will follow them into eternity.

We must meet the needs of people, one person at a time, one opportunity at a time. Pray for those opportunities. People need to be fed, goverments need to be overhauled, children need homes and stability. Do all you can to do those things. We are commanded to. But dont do it apart from giving them Jesus, because as long as we live on this earth, sin and it's effects will be with us. For some, pain will not end until heaven. So give people that hope.

Beth