lifeasmission

I could never do justice in a blog post to all that I have seen, felt, and been a part of for the last 10 days or so as I traveled with a small team of others to Kabul, Afghanistan. So, rather than giving you my journal of the trip, let me try to catch the highlights.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Aside from being a 3rd world country with no money, few resources, and a corrupt government, Afghanistan suffers from 30 years of armed conflict. Beginning with the Russian invasion of 1979, peace is not something the current generation of Afghans knows much of. Everywhere you go you see bullet holes, bombed out buildings, and people devastated by war. Kabul is home to about 4 million people, 3 million more than the city is built for. Everything is covered in dust, much of which is feces due to a lack of sanitation. The streets are lined with shops - metal shops, wood shops, meat shops, fruit shops, and every other sort of shop you can imagine. Driving is utterly maddening. Imagine driving in NYC with no lanes and no stop lights or stop signs and you will start to get a picture of what maneuvering the streets of Kabul is like.

Armed police and military patrol the streets. While we were there a suicide bomber struck within the city limits and someone fired a rocket on the airport. Security is tight everywhere. We could would never stay on the street very long as the phenomenon of kidnapping is on the rise.

There are redeeming glimmers of hope and light however. I met a man who, against great opposition has started a provate hospital, offering quality care (often for free) to many Afghans, most of whom would otherwise have to go without it. Another group we are acquainted with has adopted a village of refugees who were tossed away like garbage by the government in the middle of the desert. A healthy number of Afgans responded positively to a presentation on the practice of hospice care, a brand new concept in Afghanistan. Finally, what I was most directly involved with was teaching servant leadership material. Those in the class represented various businesses and sections of the government. The average Afghan has absolutely no confidence in their government or hope for their future - whether personal or corporate. Bribery and extortion are such regular occurrences within the government that people can scarcely imagine a future without them. So, teaching servant leadership principles, especially to younger leaders is perhaps one of the most meaningful contributions to the future of the country that I can imagine.

There is so much more I could say about the trip - the great value of my teammates, the wonderful hospitality of the folks who housed and served us, the delicious food we enjoyed. But mostly I feel overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the suffering and despair of the Afghan people. Overwhelmed by just how inconsequential and perverted the life and faith of the church in the West has become given the gravity of global affairs and the persecution of the global church. Overwhelmed, ultimately, by desire for God to act quickly and decisively in the world for sake of God’s name and God’s Kingdom.

I was more than happy to travel to Afghanistan and serve alongside others who similarly desired to use their skills and gifts to make a difference in the lives of others and the fallen systems of a country, but mainly I am excited that God has furthered my passion for the continued conversion of the church in Western culture - a church who, like Israel of the First Testament, has mistaken its responsibility for privilege, only to be scandalized by God’s great work amongst the very people we have abandoned and neglected. How terribly frightening, how magnificently wonderful, it is to realize that the very nature and essence of our salvation is bound up with the salvation of those on the margins of society!