Denied

I heard from Arthur yesterday. As you can see from the title he was denied a visa. The reason - he did not have sufficient income nor ties to his country to want to return. I happen to disagree with the ties part. He has children, a job, a house and a ministry he runs to return to. I accept God's will in this but what is hard to accept is the privilege of being an American.

On my passport is a quote. It says, "The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class - it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity." I did not write this on my passport, it was put there by our government. If freedom really is a birthright that transcends race and class then why is it limited to Americans and those who have wealth? What does God want me to do with the great privileges He has given to me? I could have been born in Africa or India or anywhere else where freedom is limited. Instead I was born here. It is not easy for me to reconcile in my mind how I could be given so much and others given so little.

The faces of the kids I saw in Africa - faces that were starving and scared and sick - they haunt me. Every meal I eat, I see them in my mind and think of how they are NOT eating. I go to sleep in my bed and think of those sleeping on the ground. I put on clean clothes in the morning and think of a little boy I saw who was wearing long underwear with all of the buttons missing and the butt blown out.

Lord, please show me how best to use my freedom for others!