at today’s stop on our shoes for orphan souls mission to latvia, i met a great kid.
mariks is 12 years old, full of questions, and trying to be as full of english as possible.
this young boy, living in an orphanage in the latvian countryside, is actually quite a “man of the world.”
mariks has already been to the USA thanks to an agreement between the latvian social service agencies and an atlanta, georgia-based ministry.
athough buckner isn’t involved in this kind of program yet, it is an opportunity for children to travel to the USA for up to a month, and stay with an american family.
mariks is going to atlanta for christmas.
and…mariks was soaking up all the english he could today. during our jenga and uno games, he was asking for words to be repeated, listening to the sentences, counting in english, and always with a smile.
what does the future hold for a boy like mariks? adoption? big dreams that an american family with means could help fulfill? spending time in a christian atmosphere that could jump-start an eternal relationship with his savior.
it could be “all of the above.”
how about you? has your “adventure” across cultures started yet?
a year ago, we tried to jump-start dozens of inner-city ministries in cleveland with an event called 1 night on the street. check out some of the other posts on the sidebar…we’d love to have you check them out, and some of the ministries listed there as well.
for me, the “adventure” has included trips overseas…like the one i’m on this week. according to a recent survey by george barna, only 11% of american christians have ever ventured outside the united states for ministry purposes. why is that true?
fear? uncertainty? or worse…ignorance?
when you journey outside your culture and comfort zone, you find that you’re not going to visit “foreigers”…you find out that you are the foreigner.
and that’s o.k.
as my friend shane claiborne points out, “americans didn’t invent christianity, they just domesticated it.”
atlanta’s welcoming mariks for christmas.
who will welcome you in 2009? a ministry at home…or a chance to minister that will take you outside the country?
either way…if a 12-year-old latvian boy can step outside his comfort zone, i think we can take some steps like that, too…right?
mz in lv
