Tears.

My tears have hardly ceased for the past two hours.
As I was watching "Hotel Rwanda," the reality sank in
deep into my soul of how ashamed I am. I walk around
here in the United States as I watch images of genocide
and war everyday, and do nothing. Boldly I have stayed
in my home, enjoying the luxuries of America while they
still last yet millions go hungry, millions are forced
to do labor, and even worse millions are killed.

The genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994 took
the lives of nearly 1 million people. And here we are,
reading this blog, and saying to ourselves, "oh no, that's
so terrible!" Let me stop you right there, and I want
you to listen very closely to the following words.
Shut your mouth. And if you intend on opening it, my
suggestion to you is to do something with it. "Yes, yes
I know Aaron, but what!?" There are resources and
organizations around the WORLD that should be overflowing
with volunteers and people willing to help, but we
are fine here. We have our jobs, we have our failing
economy, we have our families. But what about them!?

What about the hundreds of thousands of children in slavery
today, kidnapped by the militia that are brainwashed into
believing killing as many people as they can will be honorable.
These are children! Many of whom haven't even reached double
digits in age! And what gets me is, America, the police of
the world, haven't done anything to stop all this. And for
Rwandans, no voice was heard, the cries of the oppressed were
heard by God but certainly not by us.
So, Katrina hits us and it's the end of the world; a
natural disaster that couldn't be stopped. But instead
we have the power and resources to end things like this
from happening and we turn a deaf ear.

My days of sitting back and watching are over, I swear
to you this. I will never sit back and say to myself again
"I wish I could have done something." I serve a God who
is far greater than for me to think I am helpless. He has
told me I can move mountains if only I have the faith of
a mustard seed! I would stand in the midst of fire if it
meant one child go unharmed. I will be strengthened by my
Heavenly Father who transcends any life or death on earth.
I will take the gospel to the far reaches of the earth,
because when I die I do not want to look down and see my
pocket book empty from all the giving I did over the years.
I want to look down and see the scars I've accumulated from
putting myself in the way of tyrants and warlords and I want
to see a household filled with children whom had no home.

I want to look down and see the bruises on my legs from
sleeping on the ground with people forced out of their
homes, I want to see dirty mangled feet from walking with
my brothers and sisters in Christ in foreign countries to
stop the bleeding. I want to see this, all of this!
Let it only be for the sake of the Kingdom. I am filled
with rage at apathy, filled with grief from the lives
lost at the hands of sinister men, and filled with shame
that I did nothing for so long.
Enjoy your recliner, I would much rather die for the Kingdom
than gain weight in my chair!

P.S. Yes, I know, the truth is difficult to bear. It's easy
to hear truth that challenges us to the little "get your
life together," workshop series life renovation plans.
But this is a real call.