A Word from the Mercy Ship in West Africa

Greg and Becca Kulah

It’s not okay with me that every day over 26,000 children die of preventable diseases related to poverty.  Hearing these numbers can be overwhelming and actually mind numbing.  Many sad statistics are told everyday and different pictures of malnourished children shown but until you see it the numbers seem so distant.  Sadly it wasn’t until these past few years of living in Africa that this number became a personal reality to me as I have seen many children die.  Aminata, Annicette, James, Emmanuel, to name a few.  These numbers became names, each of whom I had grown to know and love.  Recently I read a great book called “The Hole in our Gospel” by Richard Stearns.  One conversation from the book that stuck with me was:

“Person 1: Sometimes I would like to ask God why he allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when he could do something about it?

Person 2: Well why don’t you ask him?

Person 1: Because I’m afraid he would ask me the same question.”

1 John 3: 17-18~ If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion – how can God’s love be in that person?  Dear children let us not just say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. We have the means to help.  We have the skills to help.  We have the wisdom to help.  But will we? It’s not okay with me that so many of our brothers and sisters die every day of things that I could help prevent. 

Becca Taylor serves as a nurse and health educator on the Mercy Ship

Heartbreak in Africa

Tom & Terri with Trey

It's not okay with me that people here have insufficient strength to even register their heartbreak with their government. Recently, a significant number of people asked -- yes, asked -- their government if they might stage a short march to the presidential palace to protest the state-sanctioned killing of innocents in border areas. The government said "No, thanks," and the people shamefacedly called off their march and went home. Unlike other areas of the world you've seen on the news -- with citizens flooding various city squares by the thousands -- the many would be protesters here barely have enough to eat and live. With no food reserves in the homes of extended families, to protest is literally to risk the starvation of one's children, not simply harm to oneself. This is not okay.

We continue to hope that our work in translating the Bible will serve to form a critical mass of people who have the personal salvation and inner resources (faith) to trust in the God of the Incredible. (These people are called Believers, and more of them are coming into being every week.) In our experience, it is the real, flesh-and-blood Messiah, Who feeds thousands with a few loaves and fishes, that gives individuals the hope they need to stand for human dignity in the face of threats. It is the Lord of David Who enables a young person to stand against an stubborn Goliath; the God of Gideon Who empowers the humble against the mighty and well-armed. It's not okay with me to see any people held down and struggling to get up, struggling to live as full human beings in God's world. But I guess it would REALLY be not okay with me to give up helping them, and just shamefacedly go home. I pray that God would inspire others to join with us. "The harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few."

Tom serves in North Africa

Our Response to God in Missions

Missions is our participation in God’s plan to reconcile his creation back to himself in Jesus Christ. We battle to advance God’s kingdom in a world that is sinful and broken. We all experience things in life that break our hearts and anger our souls to the point of declaring, “It’s not okay!” There is no shortage of injustice, corruption, oppression, disease, genocide, gendercide, starvation, homelessness, persecution, and evil in our world. Not only is there human suffering here on earth, but we live with the reality that there is the future eternal suffering of hell for too many people who are without salvation in Jesus Christ. We send missionaries and support partners all around the world as part of God’s mission because we are not okay with these facts. We are also not okay with a church that remains self-centered and indifferent. Believers who remain apathetic and powerless are not okay! Our lack of discipleship and disobedience to Jesus is not okay. These are not okay with God. This blog is a response to the question- What are we going to do about it?