Day 4:

There is something about being on the streets in Cite Soleil, PAP that has brought me back to life. It is life in the raw. I know that is selfish b/c it is really not about me… And people are suffering all around. However, this trip has affirmed more than ever that I don’t think I am an American inside. Don’t get me wrong, I love nice things, I love comfort, I love clean. Yet, there is something within my mind that is free here, something that is unobtainable for me in the States.

We were sitting with a guy at dinner who is here on the regular working for an NGO, and he made a comment like this: “I would rather be disillusioned here doing what I do than disillusioned in America…” I love that. Reality is, five steps forward, 10 steps back in the fight for the developing world, and frankly, for The Kingdom of God.

In this fight, disillusionment crept up on me the past months. This feeling of, “I am tired of the fight. It takes too much.” However, even in that feeling, I knew I would not leave the fight. To not fight, to go home every night and sit on the couch numbing my mind with TV in my comfort, I know is not an option.

Today, I was watching this graffiti artist go to work on one of our murals. Who knew these murals would become collaborative creations? LOVE IT. Such a blessing. And, I just was filled with hope for this young man as he wrote out this verse from John on the mural…

Giving up the fight is not an option.