Documentaries

     Ever since Tyler and I got married a couple of years ago, I have not lived with a TV. This was mainly by choice. It was an easy way to cut costs and we wanted to eliminate this distraction from our lives. We waste enough time without the help of this modern marvel.
     We do have a computer and through that we have access to Netflix. Lately, I have been challenged to learn about the world: to learn about the way that people live, to see it with my own two eyes. I plan on going a lot of places in my lifetime, but for right now I can only do so much. With all that being said, I have been watching a TON of documentaries.
     For a while the films were about India. Then they were about places and things all over the world. Today, it was Africa. I met ex-warlords in Liberia who gave me a tour of towns full of violence, brothels, and children without a school in sight. Some of these men wait for the day when they will be called upon to fight once again. Others have converted and seek peace in compounds where they pursue healing for themselves and others like them. I met white Zimbabwean farmers who fought the corruption of a dictator so that they could live in their home and provide jobs for hundreds. After winning in court, their farm was burned to the ground. I met children from the war zone in Uganda whose lives are being transformed through music and dance. Some of these children have been raped, some have been orphaned, and others have even been child soldiers.
     Is it enough to be amazed by these stories? To be shocked? To be appalled? To be moved to tears? One of my favorite songs, Albertine, by Brooke Fraser, challenges me. Here's the chorus: 


Now that I have seen, I am responsible, 
Faith without deeds is dead
Now that I have held you in my own arms, 

I cannot let go 

Friends in Oaxaca Mexico

    I accept this challenge, but what does this responsibility look like. Do I keep watching these documentaries, hoping one will move me to action? What I have been doing is praying for the people in the films. As strange as that sounds, I pray for them because I believe that God cares for them. He sees their circumstances. He's actually there. He loves those warlords, those children, those dictators, and those farmers as much as he loves me. My action today is to allow my heart to be broken for these people. To ask God to give me his heart for people; to show me his heart of mercy, justice, and grace. This way, when I do get a chance to go or an opportunity to help, I will do it whole heartedly with the mind of Christ.