I’m Going To Africa.

March 5, 2013 / Erin Kirk / 18 Comments

Three years ago, I decided to quit living my life theoretically. I knew probably half of it was over, and while it had been amusing, the impact I grew up wanting to make on the world, was negligible.

So I picked up The Bible and read it, twice, and began doing what it says. The book changed me.

As such, I’m going to Chongwe, Zambia, in July, to work with SCRUBS Medical Mission in a school with 100 children, bad plumbing, a failing well and five unpaid staff.

On top of feeding and educating 100 kids, from their own shallow pockets, Founding Pastors Jasper and Zion Mutale are raising ten orphans. When SCRUBS shows up, pregnant women and new mothers walk for miles for well baby care and health education. There are chicken coops to build, plumbing to fix, kids to hug and medical needs beyond counting.

I grew up wanting to be a person like Jasper and Zion, but at home in Texas, I think about it, get overwhelmed and then go shopping. So I’m going to Zambia for two weeks to learn what faith in action looks like from people who pray “give us this day our daily bread” and mean it literally.

I’m so far outside my comfort zone, I can’t even see it anymore. The Africa part doesn’t scare me. I’m overwhelmed that I have to raise $4200 by April. I’m overwhelmed by the medical, construction and agricultural support this little community is pleading for. I’m overwhelmed that I may be the one to shepherd 20 Texans, some on their first trip out of the United States, through Zambian customs.

So I just keep saying this:

I am determined and confident! I am not afraid or discouraged, for the Lord my God is with me wherever I go. Joshua 1:9 (adapted from GNT)

Maybe you’re looking for something too. Are you looking…

…to do, not everything, but something to bless people who need it?
…to sow into proven, fertile soil?
…to love, as Jesus said, not with words and speech but action and truth?
…to support someone you know whose hands will be dirty on your behalf?

If so, will you help me? Will you consider sending a check (tax-deductible) to:

SCRUBS Medical Mission
15434 Brittain Court
Lindale, Texas 75771

Please make sure to write the check to SCRUBS and put Erin Kirk in the memo line.

SCRUBS is a registered 501c3 Non-Profit. You can check them out at scrubsmedicalmission.org. Sam and I know them. They are good eggs, doing it right: Board, independent accountant, etc.

I’m taking an iPad to Zambia because you all know I’ll have plenty to say about this. Though we’ll be in a bush village, we are only 45 miles outside of the capital city of Lusaka. We can connect there, so I can introduce you to our new friends.

Thank you for considering this. The rest is up to God.

On Taking Things For Granted

March 4, 2013March 4, 2013 / Erin Kirk / 3 Comments

The other night, Tim Garland of SCRUBS Medical Mission described what it is like to be peed on by a child that isn’t yours, knowing a shower is nowhere in sight.

“Somehow, it doesn’t bother me.”

At the Light-Hope School in Chongwe, Zambia, a child, who is literally and figuratively hungry, is likely to crawl into your lap to be held. Sometimes they fall asleep and pee.

Victoria Falls (Photo credit: tonymz)

Why am I desperate to go on this upcoming medical mission trip to Zambia? Why do I want to sleep in a crowded grass hut, in a village with dirty water, hungry children and people who walk for miles for help with an infected tooth. Why do I want to go somewhere for two weeks and make a negligible dent in human suffering?

Because I believe the gospel, but I take it for granted.

What if you never heard of a God who so loved the world he sent his son to save it? What if you never heard of Isaiah who predicted a savior would come and announce:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Isaiah 61:1

Jesus showed up 700 years later and said: “I’m Him, I’m the one you’re waiting for.”

Doesn’t that sound like good news? Especially if you’re broken-hearted, mourning, captive or poor?

It’s unbelievable of course, and yet here are a bunch of his followers, rich Americans not eating overpriced hot dogs at Disneyland but kneeling in the dirt, hungry and unshowered too, cleaning a wound on a child they don’t know. Why would they do such a thing?

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

Initially, I believed going to Zambia was about bringing my skills to them, but that’s silly, I’m not that skilled. Rather, I think God just wants my faith, so he can show me miracles. He wants to show me what He can do among people – African and American – who will believe Him without disclaimer.

Why can’t I do that in Texas?

Because I don’t know how. I’m stupefied by my own excess, the petty tyranny of my first world problems and what passes for Christian behavior in our culture. I don’t have enough faith to say “give us this day, our daily bread” and mean it literally.

So I’m planning to take what little I’ve got and lay it before God, and do what he asks:

Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:8

Keep Working and Be Awesome.

March 2, 2013 / Erin Kirk / 5 Comments

Today, I stumbled on The Art of Non-Conformity: Unconventional Strategies for Life, Work and Travel, a blog written by writer/entrepreneur Chris Guillebeau. This guy writes 1,000 words a day, six days a week and plans to stand in the dirt of every country on the planet. He’s got 150 down.

He’s awesome and he wants you to be awesome too. So he’s published a few e-books that you can download free here!

Chris’ philosophy is this:

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1. You don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to.

2. You can do good things for yourself and help other people at the same time.

3. If you don’t decide for yourself what you want to get out of life, someone else will probably end up deciding for you.

4. There is usually more than one way to accomplish something.

I just finished 279 Days to Overnight Success which you can get here. It’s chock full of practical life advice for creative types and entrepreneurs. A Brief Guide to World Domination: How to Live a Remarkable Life in a Conventional World is next.

I need people like Chris. As I grope my way into a new creative life, the shape of which I can’t quite fathom, it’s nice to hear from explorers deep in the territory. And rather than guard their trade secrets, people like Chris are wrapping them up in lovely internet packages and handing them out for free.

That trend feels Christ-like and I support it. So I’m spreading the goodness.

Happy Saturday.