I just came from Point Loma's showing of Invisible Children: The Rescue. It's a new Invisible Children movie supporting a massive campaign to set free the children abducted by Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army of northern Uganda. The Rescue event takes place on the 25th of April and there are various events and means of supporting the event that precede it. But the rescue itself is a day much like the Night Commuters or Displace Me campaigns run by Invisible Children where participants dramatize and attempt to empathize with the effected children of Uganda, except the Rescue event ends with us actually being rescued. The rescue comes from politicians, celebrities, and I suppose various other people of authority involved in the issue.
And maybe that's why I am struggling right now with making a decision to be involved or what to do to be involved. And I mean, how can I say that, right? Being given this information, watching this movie depicting people with disfigured faces and bodies, of course I should do something. Maddie, you've always wondered how you would have reacted to the Holocaust and now you have one right in front of you and you are reluctant? I mean it's only three dollars a week, it's only 2 nights, and I can do more than that!
It's just that as I fill out the form stating that I want to be involved with this Rescue, I can't help but think how foolish it is that this Rescue is coming from politicians and celebrities. We've got to stop thinking that Bono is Jesus.
But it happened before. World War II is over. Jesus didn't come down here and stop that, people got involved and it was really messy, but in the end, Nazis stopped killing Jews (in a mass, organized way anyway). It took politicians to end WW2. Have I no hope? Have I no hope that God can use our generation, our celebrities, our politicians to end something that God hates?
It's just so big. I like what I am doing now at church. I like that I can see the way things are changing for Jose, Precious, Yacksi, Burto. I like that I can see something that I am involved in change these kids a bit. I want to support everything that brings God's justice to the world, that preaches Torah, that preaches the gospel. But can I support everything? And is this supporting it?
I don't know why I feel so unsure of this. I wrote a blog to sort it out, but please, please offer me any advice, thoughts, or words.
http://www.invisiblechildren.com/ to get more info.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Hi Maddie.
I miss seeing you girl! I like your blog. I like that you are willing to ask tough questions and that you are open to sharing these questions out loud on here. I'm not always brave enough to do that myself. Welllll, I wish I had an 'answer' for you. Heck, I wish I had an answer to offer myself. Can I at least offer to you that I'm glad to see you are thinking? Actually, you are someone who is always thinking and asking these tough questions, and I appreciate that about you. Keep dialoguing with people that agree with you and who don't agree with you as you determine the level of your participation in this event... I need to look more into what this latest IC event is all about... I don't know enough to really have an opinion. I will say that I appreciate the fact that Invisible Children continually raises awareness and responds to injustice with much more creative means than just more violence.
I'm really happy for you that you are in a place right now where you too are seeing change happen in lives through creative means as well. That's my hope for life, always.
But, one thing that I did want to mention from this blog -- when referencing WWII, I would be careful with how you phrase things... Specifically, it's not fair/accurate to say the "Germans" killed the Jews. Many of the Jews who were massacred in the Holocaust were German themselves; I'd imagine some were more tied to the German culture than others, but they were still German. Of course there were multiple nationalities of Jews who were killed, but it is way too big of a generalization to say that the "Germans killed the Jews." There were countless Germans who were also rescuing (intentional word choice there -- because it was a literal rescue) both German and non-German Jews. I would just change that phrase to: "Nazis who killed Jews." At least we are talking about a specific group of people then, with a specific agenda -- rather than grouping a whole nationality of people together. I've seen many examples of how reconciliation has come to this land (I'm living at the German-Swiss border right now), and it is my prayer that it will continue to... that healing will still take root -- even years after the tragedies of the Holocaust. Let us be aware that a particular group of people (Nazis) do not represent the ethics of an entire nation... so many Germans grieved & mourned (and still do) the atrocities that took place in their land and in the surrounding areas - and many Germans took action as well. Some used violence and some used more creative measures...
thanks marte. sorry about that; it was a thoughtless comment. hope things are going well for you!
Hi --
I know you don't know me and honestly I stumbled upon your blog and because it was about IC I decided to read it. I totally know how you feel. Might I offer some insight? I think God is bigger than this world and He has the ability to use us all as a tool to work good things out of this event. If you wonder if you should go only because your not sure if it will work, don't worry. Even if it doesn't you stood up for something you feel passionate about - and God can use that to minister to your heart as well as others around you. Be encouraged! The best advice I can give is pray about your participation...if God leads your heart to attend then don't miss the opportunity to be a part of it. If, however, He leads your heart to do something else then follow that path. God is good and God is big and even though he isn't going to show up "in person" he will show up in spirit.
Flaigg,
I know you asked me to toss my two cents a long time ago when you wrote this, and I don't know if this is even something that you are wrestling through. But here we go.
I have been thinking about this a fair amount lately and have recently decided to stop my monthly support of the "tri" campaign and move the money God has entrusted me with to a different ministry that I know is ministering to the spiritual needs of people, not just the physical. I've come up with an analogy, cause that's the way my brain works, and it make it easier to process through. I picture this world like a sinking ship, and on this ship are all types of different people; rich, poor, persecuted, dying, thriving and so on. No matter who a person is on the ship, they are still on a sinking ship.
Now, there are groups that are trying to fix the wholes in the sinking ship, and other groups that are trying to give whatever amount of limited medical attention to the sick and dying on the ship. The problem is all the repairs are taking place deep in the hull, and the medical center is deep in the ship as well, and no matter how much work is being put into the ship, it is still sinking, and people are still dying.
The good news is, there are life boats. Life boats with LOTS and LOTS of room. And there is a group of people trying point people in the direction of those life boats. And they'll take anyone who wants to go, and they can get off the sinking ship, and make it safely to shore.
So here's the question, would you rather support the people who are making the sick and dying more comfortable with their life on the boat as it continues to sink? Or do you want to help people escape the certain death that they face buy staying on the ship, and relying on it and it's resources to save them?
So yes, I think your desire to help people in need is a God given pang in your conscience. But, as you continue to follow and pursue Christ I think you will discover that there are plenty of people who will support big popular movements like IC, but I think we are called to think about the eternal implications, and that may mean helping support groups that are spreading the gospel, and serving the spiritual needs of people, like what you are doing now in AZ.
I hope this helps, I feel like I should use some scriptural references to support my understanding of Christ's ministry, but I have none, so maybe my points are void.
PS: In your defense about the WWII Statement, you said that the Nazis were the killers, not the Germans, and that is a fair statement, since it was the Nazi party that lead the holocaust.
Post a Comment