Sample of Commitment-Chapter 1

Chapter 1


Papua, New Guinea, looked serene from 12,000 feet above sea level. Even from thirty miles away, John could make out the rain forests beyond the strand of the southern shore. Light wisps of steam hung over the island, revealing the high humidity common to this area of the world. The changing waters of the Arafura Sea and the Gulf of Carpentaria graduated beautifully from light green at the tip of Cape York Peninsula, Australia, to a beautiful azure and back to light green in the billowing waves on the shores of New Guinea.

So this is home. John pressed his forehead against the cool cabin window. The island in view was roughly the size of Greenland with the tall Puncak Jaya, rising 5,030 meters above the ground. Neighboring peaks perched above the haze like pyramids.

Instinctively, he reached for his flight bag as he had done five times throughout the flight. He unzipped it and sighed with relief at the two familiar slim books. Approvingly, he nodded as he flipped through page after page of his first flight log, recalling his hundreds of hours of experience behind the controls of planes and helicopters. He tucked it back into his bag then pulled out the second book. The pages he flipped through were blank reminders of experiences yet to come. Just a thousand more hours, that should do it.

What Commitment Means

   In Commitment, Marta has lost her husband, but not her desire to serve the Lord in Indonesia. In spite of tremendous hardships, she has trusted God and relied on the love of the people she serves. Life doesn’t get easier for her because she became obedient to her calling. It becomes more rewarding as she realizes she is making a difference.

     This level of devotion reminds me of the many friends who serve the Lord in other countries. They have decided to faithfully minister full time and teach others what they themselves know about God. They are committed to living a life honoring God as they try to introduce Jesus to many who have no idea. It sounds easy, but such commitments are tough and stress a person’s dedication, focus and desire. Continuous prayer, bible study, support of friends and family and a deep faith helps them overcome the toughest of obstacles. 

     To put things in perspective, I reflect on a recent disaster that affected much of my state, Alabama. A few months ago, a tornado swept through killing many. It’s impact also destroyed homes and knocked out our community’s electricity for a week. We had no lights, hot water, air conditioning, gas, food or television. We were otherwise unscathed and therefore had many options to escape the inconveniences. One such plan included heading to stay with family in the next state. However, we made the choice to stay and join our church in helping neighbors and community recover.

     Since we had no direct impact, our days were spent volunteering with tornado recovery, trying to keep frozen food from spoiling, cooking food that we could rescue, gathering with neighbors and sharing food until it got too dark. We went to bed as shadows blanketed our homes and woke up with the sun creeping into our   windows. After a week, we were well into the rhythm of survival when the power was suddenly restored.   That week of inconvenience turned into a wonderful time to get closer to our families, friends and gather closer as a community. But this was a onetime experience, one that we quickly recovered from.

     In contrast, I'm reminded of friends in foreign places. Some locations are remote and electricity only runs for part of the day. Intermittent electricity is the norm, transportation is unreliable, language translation is fallible and customs are strange. Dinner may take several hours as meat has to be bought, water has to be sanitized, vegetables have to be cooked and ingredients have to be gathered that day. Businesses, stores, government services and doctor’s offices may not be available every day.  

     If family members get ill, there is no immediate visit to a doctor’s office. If foreign government services are needed, it may take days or weeks of waiting in a faraway city. As missionaries they have choices. They can return to the comfort of living in the US or they can remain where they are. My suspicion is that they have a strong pull to serve God right where they are. This desire far outweighs the convenience that they could be experiencing. Like Marta, they are right where they should be, enjoying the impact they are making.

Making it work

I've been doing a lot of newspaper reading, information gathering, volunteering with praying to better understand who my neighbor is. After reading The Hole in the Gospel by Richard Sterns and Radical by David Platt, I realize that my "neighbor" isn't just around the corner or the next house over. These two books helped explain that our world's population is our neighbor.

Christ's message is to love our neighbors. That sounds easy until we learn that love is more than simply an emotion of our hearts, but a call to action. You're probably familiar with the term "make the punishment fit the crime." If you are, then allow me this analogy, "make your reward fit your heart". It's not enough to say, "My heart goes out to these people". Even their enemies feel compassion. But neighbors rise to the occasion to help. In my case, I've often felt distant and unaffected, blaming it on poor governments and people needing to "take care of their own problems".

Last week my neighbor's trees blew over into my yard. It was a huge mess and I fretted over how to clean it up without a chain saw.
Will I buy a chainsaw and take care of it myself?
Should I bother my neighbor and ask him what he plans to do about the trees?
Alas, I didn't have to do anything. Saturday morning I was overjoyed to hear the guttural and powerful growling of a chainsaw. Like a claxon, it called me and the surrounding neighbors to pitch in. Within hours we had both yards cleaned up.

Our neighbors near and far need our help. I received the message loud and clear and gladly spring into action. For me, it meant finding a local charity and supporting it in service and finances. It also meant joining Mr. Stearns in adopting a child, providing clean water, and donating to abused children through World Vision.

This week my heart breaks over the refugees from Somalia. Our neighbor's children are starving. Their mothers walk miles to feed them only to be abused. This is not their fault as they are born into their misery. What can we do? Are we powerless to help?

Let's start by praying for them, writing our leaders, donating money and using our talents to let our neighbors know we are doing our best for them.

If you are looking for ways to join in loving your neighbor, consider these points as addressed in Radical.

• Become active in your church through service and tithing
• Join a local charity organization and give of your time and money
• Find an international charity and do the same
• Plan to visit a foreign country to help where needed

If you are looking for a place to start, why not help me raise funds for abused children. I am partnering with World Vision.