Open your eyes, America...

Gary McCaman, one of the missionaries down here, has kindly corrected me whenever I've mentioned that I'm from "America." You see, "South America" is also "America" to its residents.

The next few sights opened our eyes as Jennie and I have been here.

We have seen countless upstart villages, known as "Villas" or pronounced (VEE-shas) - a phrase commonly used to refer to a "miserable village." A place where the impoverished people of the city live in all-too-close, all-too-dirty, all-too-rough conditions. They dig through the trash of the city to find things that are useful in building their own living spaces, and then build them on top of each other, next to each other, however it works.

Open your eyes, Christian.

Many churches are finally starting to wake up to the serious poverty around the world, and finally starting to wake up to the great amount of scripture where God himself calls us to serve the poor. In suburban, materialistic, middle-class America, it's easy to close our eyes - or just not to go looking - when it comes to the reality of those who suffer in our world.

Open your eyes, Christian. Here is a glimpse of one small section of Buenos Aires.






























































These people need more than a Bible. More than a sermon. More than a prayer.

These people - and millions like them around the world - they need us to be Jesus Christ in 2007 and care for their immediate needs too.

Jesus fed the poor, healed the sick, dined with sinners, and crossed whatever culture or boundary was needed. He had no place to rest His head.

Open your eyes, United States of America. We will be called to account for how we have used our wealth. Scary.