Worldview, poverty and health.

  
Worldview, poverty and health.
This week we have been learning about biblical worldviews. It is so interesting to see how one’s view is shaped. The lecturer started the class by asking us the simple question: “is the world changing for the better or is it changing for the worse?” I think as westerners our natural inclination is to say that the world is getting worse. By just being inebriated by the scandals of the world via the media, there really is not another way of viewing the world.
What about a black person from South Africa? Certainly since the fall of the Apartheid their lives have gotten better. Yet a white South Africaner who left the Country years ago, on the other hand, may state that the country is going to the dogs. We, as westerners have a worldview different from other parts of the world. Therefore, we must be open and willing to hear other points of views if we are to be effective servants of Christ.
As a health school, there is a huge focus on serving the poor and needy – in other words the sick. Often our worldview instills in us the false belief that these impoverished people are also stupid and inept at life. It is thus easy to even subconsciously have a superiority complex. How we have forgotten that these people are also created in God’s image? Our God does not make mistakes.
One aspect of training this week was on poverty. Poverty is a unique issue in that it not only incapacitates the individual physically through lack of food and water, it also destroys the individual mentally and spiritually through feelings of powerlessness, hopelessness, and loneliness.
This week’s teaching has been an amazing. I feel as if my eyes have really been opened up to various aspects of health that I would have otherwise never even welcomed the thought of. If anyone is interested in community health initiatives as a means of evangelism I highly recommend the book Jamkhed.
Once a week the base comes together to worship. But once a month there is a larger worship session in the evening with invited guests from friendly churches and such. This week was when we had the monthly meeting. At the centre of the room was a cross. Through my time here God has been slowly ebbing away my walls of comfort. So often I find that I desire for God to change me, yet more often than not it is myself that hinders these changes. This week I was praying for God to truly break me and to reshape me. I was emotionally and spiritually high (perhaps relying on these euphoric feelings too much). But God asked me to bow down to Him first before He would initiate such a change in me from the inside. I thought to myself “Bow down? I don’t ever speak up in church or do things that would bring attention to be like that in church. That is for other types of people, surely not me. I just like to sit in the background.” But God was adamant. How was he going to bring about change in my spirit if I wasn’t even willing to bow down in surrender to Him? I think God wants to bring about change in so many of us, but we just need to fully surrender to Him before his is willing to do so. The simple act of bowing on my knees is really nothing if you think about it. Yet my initial reaction was to say ‘No!’
How often in my life I have wanted change, but have not surrendered. This concept of surrender is not new to me either. It is kinda funny… or I guess I should say odd. I know that as soon as I surrender to God that He will bring about change. Yet everytime God asks me to surrender I hesitate. You’d have thought that I would have learnt my lesson by now.
Getting back to the story I finally did surrender. The simple act of bowing down was more difficult than I had expected. I think that it is the difficult things we do truly bring about change. As soon as I bowed down a peace came over me – a peace I can only describe as the peace of God. I was able to surrender to God various issues and worries in my life that had really bound me.
I don’t want to preach to people but rather share that we have a God that wants to change us from the inside. We just have to be willing to initiate that change ourselves and he will gladly take over!
For those of you who are laboriously reading my blogs each week I thank you. I hate asking for prayer, but please pray that God would continue to renew me in His image, and that I would be open to this and willing to obey. For those of you who LOVE to write letters I must admit that it is a real joy here at the base to receive a letter from abroad. If you feel so inclined to share what God is doing in your life or just to send a letter of encouragement I would be most appreciative. My address here is:

James Mullen
c/o The King’s Lodge
Watling Street
Nuneaton
Warwickshire
CV10 0TZ
England