Re-entry

Salutations to all.

I just wanted to thank all of you for your prayers and let all of you know that I have arrived home safely. I've been back for about a week now, and I think i've kicked all the jet lag stuff. I must say that the culture shock of re-entry has been much more prominent than previous trips. The day after I returned, I went to grocery store to get a few things, and I was unexpectantly overwhelmed when I walked in. Look at all of this food! It's everywhere.....and there's tons of it! People are milling around through all the fresh vegetables picking the ones that are up to par. Aisle afer aisle is stocked full of any type of food you can imagine! Everything is so clean and there's even some nice Christmas music playing. Whoa....this is weird and a bit surreal. I quickly think of Zimbabwe and the grocery store I visited that was nothing but empty shelves except for a few produce items and a rack of wine. I also think back to my conversations I had with the Zimbabweans about how things were back in The States. I then took my stuff to the check out counter, swiped a plastic card, and left. On my way out my mind is running and Zimbabwe is at the forefront....hurting. I get in my Jeep and notice that I'm parked next to an $80,000 SUV. Man....what I could do with $80,000. Then I think about another conversation I had with one of my Zimbabwean friends, Gilbert.

"Do all Americans have there own cars?" he asked.

"Yeah, most of us do," I replied.

"Wow....so you can go anywhere you want when you want to?"

"Yep, pretty much."

"What kind of car do you have?" he asked.

"A Jeep Cherokee."

"A Jeep! Wow, only the rich people here have Jeeps."

"But mine's about 12 years old," I replied in an attempt to convince myself and him that I wasn't one of those 'rich people.'

But I am one of those rich people. I am of the top 1% of income earners in the world.....the top 1%! I am that rich guy down the street. I am on the top end of an incredible disparity of wealth distribution in the world. Something all the sudden doesn't feel right. Why am I here and they are there? Is this the way it is supposed to be? A scripture comes to mind;

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."

2 Corinthians 8: 13-15

So, what if the coin was flipped? What if we were there and them here? How would we think of them? How would we want what they had? Why don't they use some of what they have to help us? Why wouldn't they just make a small sacrifice to help us....to help us feed our families and provide medical care for our children? Why won't they just see how we are hurting and how challenging it is to live like this? Why don't they just understand that this life isn't just about themselves? Why don't they live like the Christians they say that they are?

Whoa.....that's something to chew on.

So, yeah, re-entry culture shock is quite a bit more challenging than the initial imersion culture shock. Please pray for me a God continues to work on my heart in this regard.

Well, I think this is it for now.

In closing, just remember to think for yourself and follow what the Lord is leading you to do....not what the world is misleading you with.

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

2 Timothy 4: 1-4

In HIM>
kevin.