Your turn

Pictured above from L to R:  Annie, a granny, and Myalani

I recently commented on a blog entry titled, “Where are all the missionaries?” written by a ministry called Paradigm Shift.  They will be arriving in 2009 to a township outside of Johannesburg and will be focused on community development through micro-lending.   Their post and my comment, which follows, is a great lead-in to the purpose of this post:

 ”You have hit on something profound.  For 2 months now, I have volunteered with a team of five (ages 27-31) in the township of Mamelodi outside of Pretoria, yet have not really thought/researched about the decreasing number of missionaries or of the lack of young professionals, becoming missionaries. We have run into a few, but the need is so great.  As a “micro-example”, the five of us working full-time while partnering with an indigenous church are overwhelmed at the basic spiritual and physical needs within a 5-minute walk of our church.  We are but a small dot on a map…a tiny boat in a sea of people.

A new wave of young missionaries must be birthed for the church to be taken seriously in an age where many parts of the world are suffering from the effects of oppression, poverty, and disease.  While we (I) remain comfortable in our “wealth”, yet suffering from spiritual poverty.  There is nothing more exciting and fulfilling for our generation than touching the hands of, sharing meals with, and worshiping with the oppressed on one day and then advocating for them in the international financial markets, the global platform of journalism, the international arts community, etc. the next day. The opportunities are endless.”

 “And I think that’s what our world is desperately in need of - lovers, people who are building deep, genuine relationships with fellow strugglers along the way, and who actually know the faces of the people behind the issues they are concerned about.” Shane Claiborne    

Calling All Revolutionaries!  AR Recruiting for 2009-2010 Internship