(ABP) — Americans’ obsession with celebrities seems inexhaustible. The ubiquity of the Internet and the rise of social media have added a whole new dimension to this social phenomenon. Today, one can read about, watch and “follow” a favorite celebrity — or try to achieve celebrity status themselves — on everything from cable television to Twitter to YouTube.  

For every bona fide celebrity (by whatever definition), there are thousands of wannabe celebrities craving the spotlight and thousands more momentary celebrities angling for ways to stretch their 15 minutes of fame into something bigger.

So-called "reality" TV feeds the appetites of celebrities and celebrity wannabes while entertaining the masses — including the curious, the bored and the voyeuristic. Network and cable television are densely populated with “docusoaps,” game shows, talent searches, makeovers and cops-and-crime reality shows.

Between bites of raisin bran in a hotel breakfast nook earlier this week, I caught a glimpse of a network-TV-news host interviewing the host of the “Celebrity Rehab” cable reality show and the VIP-nightclub-hostess-turned-instant-celebrity sho is the alleged mistress of golfer Tiger Woods. She said she checked into the clinic for “Celebrity Rehab” because she’s “addicted to love.”

That was enough to make my bland breakfast truly tasteless. But it got me to thinking about celebrities and non-celebrities.

A few days earlier I heard a presentation by David Oliver Relin, co-author of Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time , the New York Times bestseller about the remarkable adventures of an American mountain climber and nurse named Greg Mortenson. After an accidental, life-saving encounter with the residents of a remote village in Pakistan, Mortenson has devoted his life to building schools and promoting education and literacy, especially among girls, in the rural communities of Pakistan and Afghanistan.  

I had read the book and knew about Mortenson. I did not know much about the journalist who helped tell Mortenson’s story.

When he graduated from Vassar with a journalism degree, Relin’s gift from his parents was an airline ticket to anywhere in the world. He chose India, he recounted, because it was completely outside his frame of reference, and he wanted a challenge. On his third morning in Bombay, he arose early and nearly stumbled over a family sleeping in the doorway of the guesthouse where he was staying.

That encounter planted the seeds of a fierce determination to write about subjects — both topical and human — that are truly important.

A few years later, Relin attended a workshop where writer and social activist Grace Paley boldly asserted that “the first step” for writers who want to make a difference in the world “is to get over themselves.”

“The duty of a writer,” she added, “is to listen to the stories of the powerless and to tell those stories to the powerful.”

Relin heard those words as “orders to try to follow.” Along the way, the award-winning investigative reporter, editor and author has discovered repeatedly that “people with the least offer the most.”

As a journalist, Relin is familiar with America’s infatuation with celebrities and with countless magazines that cater to celebrity coverage. Even organizations committed to addressing critical global issues such as hunger, poverty and HIV/AIDS, he noted, increasingly rely on celebrities to promote their causes.

Relin recalled an incident that solidified his resolve to pursue important stories while steadfastly sidestepping celebrities. After repeatedly and unsuccessfully pitching to magazine editors a story about a worldwide social-justice issue, he was suddenly given a green light to travel overseas for a publicity event where an American film star was to make a much-hyped appearance in support of the cause.

The star backed out at the last minute. Relin decided then and there that other journalists could track the celebrities.

A few years later he was trekking across the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan with Greg Mortenson. Relin signed on to the book project, he said, because of Mortenson’s passionate and unique approach. Rather than dealing with age-old symptoms, he was “treating the disease itself — the poverty and ignorance from a lack of education — and the people in power who were taking advantage of the powerless.”

During this Advent season, as Christians once again await the birth of the Christ child, there is much to ponder in the biblical story about the powerful and the powerless, about the celebrities of this world and the ordinary people God chooses. Few of the characters in the story of Jesus, told and lived through the centuries, would fit our contemporary American culture’s idea of a celebrity.

But there’s a better, more apt description for these women and men of faith. We call them saints.  

–David Wilkinson is executive director of Associated Baptist Press.

But we usually try to fight it off and stay on our sleeping mats until 7 a.m. This morning was different, though. My partner, David, and I had been invited by our local friend, Tyson, to go fishing. So, as the sun was just coming up, we were heading out in Tyson’s boat with two other guys. 

Fishing here is definitely not a rod-and-reel exercise. These guys are spear fishermen. We parked our boat a couple hundred yards off the coast, and they went to work. Dave and I had brought along our own masks, snorkels and fins to watch the action. 

The guys were incredible. They had old masks and one homemade fin each and homemade spear guns. They would dive down to a depth around 50 feet and then just hang out at the ocean floor until they spotted a good one. Then, they would shoot their spear guns with deadly accuracy. It was pretty incredible to watch. We stayed out in the water for about two and a half hours, and all three fishermen got about 20 fish each.

Later that evening, all three of them came to our house for a Bible study. We taught out of Luke 5, where Jesus asked Peter to go back out on the water after he had not caught any fish all day. Peter obeyed, and he ended up almost sinking his boats because of all the fish he caught. We were able to share how sometimes Jesus will ask us to do things that don’t make sense, but we need to be able to trust him. 

It is always exciting when you can see a piece of the gospel fit in culturally and personally to people. The guys really related to Peter and the other fishermen, and they could see how it related to their lives.

Jared Jackson, a student at the University of Texas at Arlington, is serving with Go Now Missions in the Philippines.

The purpose of the camp was to love on the kids—and in doing so, show the Father’s immense love for them. Most of the children in the village of Rooigrond only have one parent, and most are alcoholics and indifferent as to whether the kids even are present. Many have never been told they are loved.

My purpose on this trip was to love on them and tell them of a Father who knows each of their names and loves them so much he would trade the life of his only Son for them.

I was so privileged to be allowed the opportunity to set a spark of hope in these children—hope in the truth that they are loved by Christ and have a purpose in him.

Melanie, a student from Dallas Baptist University, served as a student missionary worker in South Africa. Her last name is withheld for security reasons, because she anticipates possible future missions service in a restricted area.

Do you feel conflicted this time of year?

We can recite a ream of reasons why Thanksgiving/Advent/Christmas makes people feel rotten. It’s the most overly romanticized season, and reality rarely reaches expectations. We remember loved ones who are not here to celebrate with us. The stress of myriad events, shopping, paying for the shopping, planning get-togethers and so much family time drives folks to distraction. You can think up a list of causes for Christmas anxiety that could stretch from Nazareth to Bethlehem and back.

But I’ve been thinking about how often we feel conflicted about giving gifts at Christmas.

The tradition of Christmas gift-giving began with the magi. They brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the young Jesus, expressing their adoration with luxuries far beyond the means of a first-century carpenter’s family. Gift-giving also traces its roots to our hearts. We’re wired to show our love by lavishing new things upon the objects of our affection. If you’re like most people, you get thrilled watching your spouse or children or special other open that well-thought-out gift far more than you enjoy opening your own gifts. We’re gift-givers by nature, and when we follow that nature, our motives are pure.

Unfortunately, the genesis of much of the world’s evil is corruption of the pure. And so it is with Christmas gifts. History does not record the first time someone spoiled Christmas gift-giving. Maybe it was a merchant who convinced people the only way to demonstrate their true love was by buying and then giving whatever he was selling. Or perhaps it was a peddler who assured people the secret to pure bliss was receiving what she was pushing. And it could have been the very first occasion when someone thought, “Well, I better give her a gift, because I know she’ll give me one.” Somewhere along the way, we corrupted Christmas gift-giving and lost control of our celebration.

We think these thoughts this time of year, especially when someone laments the “commercialization of Christmas.” The easy answer, which some propose, is to quit buying gifts. Of course, that’s too simplistic. A significant portion of our economy depends upon the steady ringing of cash registers between Thanksgiving and Christmas. If everyone stopped buying gifts, businesses would fail and thousands would suffer. So, what can we do? Some ideas:

• Shop thoughtfully. A studiously selected gift—based upon close observation borne of love—reflects a level of care and emotional intimacy in short supply today. If you give thoughtfully, the people you love will appreciate the “fit” of their gifts, but more than that, they will be delighted by the love, attention and intention those gifts represent.

• Benefit others. The primary package in this edition of the Baptist Standard focuses on fair trade practices. If we think and plan in time, we can purchase gifts that help support some of the world’s under-privileged artisans, farmers and micro-entrepreneurs.

• Give yourself. Time is a precious commodity. The busy-ness of life may be pulling you away from the people you love most. So, how about giving the people you love the gift of your time. Make a coupon book filled with gifts of time—a long walk, a trip to the lake/woods/park, 30 minutes on the porch swing, an evening without distractions.

• Put yourself into it. If you’re crafty, or a cook, or good with almost any skill, turn it into a cornucopia of hand-made gifts. The people you love will love having a piece of you.

• Multiply ministry. This time of year, Christians collect offerings to support missions and ministries. Think about how you can give the gift of faith, food, healing and mercy by participating in and supporting missions and ministries. What would happen if we all matched what we spend for gifts in contributions to missions and ministries? The world—or at least our corner of it—could be changed.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard. Visit his FaithWorks Blog.

A gaggle of good buddies and I recently witnessed an oxymoronic football game.

Knowledgeable fans don’t associate “defensive powerhouse” with “six-man football.” But we managed to choose a defensive donnybrook for our Second Annual Six-Man Football Outing.

OK, truth compels me to admit I chose this particular game during the second weekend of the Texas high school football playoffs.

The same weekend a zillion fellow football fans gathered under the glistening dome of JerryWorld—aka Cowboys Stadium in Arlington —to cheer on several of the top-rated large-school teams, we took the road less traveled.

For decades, I dreamed of watching high-quality six-man football. I first glimpsed that dream when I was a child growing up in Perryton, in the far north Panhandle. A kid in our church went to school in Balko, Okla., just across the state line and home of the Balko Bisons, the premier eight-man football team in Okieland. I loved eight-man football. It’s fast and furious, and teams score a mighty lot of points.

So, when I moved back to Texas 15 years ago, I started tracking six-man football in our dear Lone Star State. I figured it was even faster and more furious than Oklahoma eight-man.

A couple of years ago, I told my friends about how opponents in a state semi-final game combined to score 200 points. “Wanna go sometime?” I asked. They signed up on the spot. So, last year, we watched Walnut Springs win an offensive duel, 65-55. We weren’t disappointed.

This year, we decided the weekend before Thanksgiving would be best for our outing. So, I studied the playoff bracket carefully and then did what most men do: I let my stomach decide.

I’ve never been to Milford or Newcastle. But they were set to play in Hico, home of the Koffee Kup, which serves some of the best burgers, chicken-fried steak and pie on the planet.

Well, driving across Dallas-Fort Worth on any Friday is a chore, and a two-hour trip stretched to three. We were running late, but we still stopped for dinner, and we almost weren’t disappointed. If we’d had time for pie (I lost the “eat pie” vote, 5-1), the meal would’ve been perfect.

We got to the game late, and Newcastle was up, 16-0. When I studied the playoff bracket, I failed to account for the fact that, while these two teams scored a combined 98 points the previous weekend, they held their opponents to a mere 6.

“Yeah, these guys are defensive stalwarts,” a Newcastle fan who kept screaming, “No. 2’s offsides!” explained when we complained about the dearth of touchdowns. Well, great. We came to witness a touchdown a minute, and the final score was only 22-16, with Milford advancing.

Next year, maybe I’ll pick the game between the teams that give up the most points. But knowing me, I’ll probably just choose the game in Hico. And order pie before I eat my burger.

A Barna survey revealed an extraordinary percentage of Americans no longer attend church because of some painful experience. What has happened to cause the place identified as “a hospital for sinners” or put forward as “sanctuary” to be avoided by so many people? What can we do?

Churches should, at times, inflict pain. Just as hospitals conduct painful surgeries that result in healing, so “hospitals for sinners” are operating theaters on the souls of worshippers. Too often, people who avoid church do so because they want to avoid the discomforting dimensions of the gospel. That said, there are too many instances in which Christians suffer “church abuse.” 

Church people—laity and clergy alike—can be mean, narrow, small, power-hungry, sick, judgmental, callous, proud and angry. We sing that “the church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.” The reality is congregations are human institutions possessing all the foibles and failures of the people who populate their rolls.

Some church members have good reason for staying away. They are witnesses to the hypocrisy of Christians. They are disappointed when the church does not acknowledge the death of a loved one with a call, card or visit. They assume duties that require time and energy, but their service is taken for granted. They confide in others about their doubts, only to learn they have become the object of rumor or criticism for lack of belief. In worst cases, they are subject to unwanted advances from a fellow church member or clergy. 

Churches are not always to blame for the pain. Some people get stuck in personal crises and do not allow the church to love them through their pain. I once had a church member who never returned to church following her husband’s funeral because she was certain she would visualize his casket in the chancel. The congregation wanted to walk with her in her grief, but she could not allow it. She saw church as a lonely place, but it was not the church that made it so.

What can we do about it? First, develop reasonable expectations about church. Don’t expect your church to be perfect. Re-read the Apostle Paul’s letters. For 2,000 years, Christians have struggled with what to believe and how to act, never with complete success. Lose your illusions.

Second, practice forgiveness. Jesus’ bad experiences with his disciples and people in general could have put him off of his mission. He forgave and moved on.

Third, take Jesus’ advice and “shake the dust off your cloak” if your experiences are more than you can stand. Not every church is for everybody, but some church will be God’s people for you. 

Mike Clingenpeel, pastor

River Road Church, Baptist

Richmond, Va.

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.

No one wants to be called a liberal these days, especially if you are a politician or a Baptist preacher. You will be blogged and possibly flogged. You will not be elected unless you are in San Francisco, where they want to outlaw Happy Meals and legalize drugs—at least marijuana. If Sen. Joe McCarthy were alive today, he might call his opponents liberals instead of communists.

However the Apostle Paul called the Macedonians liberals. He was not referring to their view of Scripture; they were deeply committed to the word, especially in Berea. They had a contagious evangelistic fervor. The testimony of the Thessalonians was circulated widely. The church in Philippi demonstrated joy in the midst of difficult times. But they were liberals in their generosity.

“Now brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality” (2 Corinthians 8:1-2).

Thanksgiving is a cultural holiday that leads right into Advent. This is one of the greatest times of the year, when Christians can prove we love God by lavishing gifts on the least of those among us. We have the opportunity to give liberally to those who have nothing to give to us in return.

The Christmas story is the gift of Christ. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (8:9). Generosity should be at the heart of the announcement of Advent, just as consumerism is central to society’s message.

The Macedonians begged Paul for the opportunity to give. “They first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God” (8:5). It isn’t enough to just give presents; we must give ourselves.

When we visit our grandsons or they visit us, we give them gifts. My son chided us for doing this because he obviously doesn’t understand the role of grandparents. It is our job to spoil them and the parents’ job to train them. My father once said if he had it to do over again, he would skip children and just have grandchildren. I told him he might have enjoyed us if he had treated us the way he did them.

After we give our grandchildren gifts, we then give them ourselves. Our two grandsons, ages 4 and 6, were staying with us for a couple of nights, and while they were with us, we played football, basketball, hide-and-seek, cowboys and Indians and Legos, and we swam, read books and watched cartoons—while they took turns sitting on my shoulders. The gifts were far less exciting than the experience.

What is a holiday activity where we can give ourselves in serving others? Generosity is one aspect of ministry where I hope Texas Baptists will be called liberals.

Randel Everett is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.

When Jesus stood in the valley and taught his disciples, he stood among many who were sick and lost and troubled by evil spirits. He called them “blessed.” In this large assembly, he also saw some who were rich, well-fed, happy and held in high regard. To these winners in life, he said, “Woe to you,” for hard days lay ahead. He wasn’t threatening them, as much as speaking the truth that nothing lasts. Good fortune comes and goes. Empires rise and fall.

North America had a century of unparalleled strength and prosperity, but now even we are fading, as power and prosperity shift to Asia. We thought our ascendancy would last forever. But that is always the case mid-glory. We thought we had mastered the forces of history and God had ordained our nations for eternal greatness. Not so.

When an empire and its way of life collapse, people thrash about in confusion and fear, lamenting what has been lost, wondering whom to blame, feeling betrayed, turning vengeful and setting themselves up for demagoguery.

Religions struggle, too, as their own ascendancy fades, and the seemingly eternal turns brittle and shabby. Much of Christianity’s golden era in North America ended just as our national economies got strong. People had so much else to do that they didn’t need our homespun talent shows and potluck suppers. They had more pleasing ways to explain success.

It could be that Christianity in North America will be “dust in the wind,” reduced to tourism, window dressing for politicians and a steadily aging cadre of people who remember better days.

Or it could be something better, something holier, something more in keeping with God’s desire. We will never restore the golden era and all become young again and prosperous. No, our future is something far better, and far scarier. It could be that our four decades of woe and gradual decline have prepared us to be useful in the collapses now happening around us:

• As people lose their jobs and their homes, we can assure them neediness isn’t the end of life, but the opening to God’s grace.

• As people wonder where the glory days went, we can say from our own experience that greater glory lies ahead because God is with us.

• As people turn against each other and question tolerance and openness, we can tell them hope and joy lie in opening doors even wider.

• As the rich and powerful exploit distress to amass even greater wealth and power, we can speak truth to power.

It could be that our travail has prepared us to serve, that our time of woe has given us the humility and the grit to make a difference. Because we have been broken and yet we live, we have hope to share and healing to give. We have learned to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land. We have learned to dance, even as our hearts were breaking. We have learned to speak in other languages. We have found life in death.

And now we know, perhaps with a clarity and depth that we never knew before, that God is with us. We are not surviving this present wilderness by the works of our own hands, but by the grace of God.

Just hear the song we can sing to a broken world.

Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and minister. He is the author of Just Wondering, Jesus and founder of the Church Wellness Project. His website is www.morningwalkmedia.com. His column is distributed by Religion News Service.

“The universe is 17.3 billion years old, and evolution is established as scientific fact. Scientists dislike doubt about scientific truth. Studying natural science doesn’t take anything away from God. Christians believe faith was induced by revelation from God, and I also believe the Bible is fundamentally the answer to a full life.”

Daniel W. Foster

McGarry Distinguished Chair in diabetes and metabolic research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School (D Magazine)

“When you make up your mind that you will do whatever it takes to get people to come to church, then you will get just the kind of church you deserve—a congregation of fickle religious consumers who will leave you just as soon as the church next door opens an espresso bar.”

Jim Somerville

Pastor of First Baptist Church in Richmond, Va. (When the Sand Castle Crumbles)

“I would guess most churchgoing Protestants in America have never even noticed if there is a Christian flag in their own sanctuary. It’s just kind of there, unless there’s a controversy, and suddenly people pick it up.”

Elesha Coffman

History professor at Waynesburg University, about the controversy in King, N.C., where veterans groups have launched a round-the-clock vigil to keep a Christian flag flying at a war memorial (AP/RNS)

“It really weakens our witness when Christians can’t even agree on the same day to proclaim the resurrection of our Lord.”

Ronald Roberson

Associate director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ ecumenical office, on the differences between Catholics and Orthodox, who typically celebrate Easter on different days (RNS)

‘United we stand’

It was so refreshing to read the article about Stephen Colbert’s testimony before Congress (Oct. 25), especially after so much criticism was directed his way.

So many seemed to have missed Colbert’s reference to Jesus’ concern for “the least among us” and his desire to reach out to them.

Isn’t it a sad commentary on where we are in America now with so much anger and hatred in the air that it is left to two comedians with a rally—to restore sanity and/or fear—to bridge this chasm back to some wisdom and understanding?

Hatred and fear divide, and love, once again, will unite us.

“United se stand; divided we fall” are not just empty words, but full of promise and hope and destiny.

Mary Burleson

El Paso

Deism & Founders

Contrary to the assertion that “half (the Founding Fathers) were biblical Christians, while the rest were deists or nonorthodox,” if deism is a belief that there is a Creator but he does not intervene in the affairs of men, none of the Founding Fathers fit that description.

Jefferson and Franklin, oft cited as the least-religious of our founders, both claimed to be Christians, regularly attended Christian worship and supported Christian churches and missions. Even Thomas Paine believed in Providence (a God who intervenes in the affairs of men and nations, to whom all will one day give account) and supported Intelligent Design in science class, condemning as foolish teaching the laws of science without teaching about their Creator.

The Northwest Ordinance, the first legislation under the Constitution, required territories applying for statehood to provide schools to “promote religion, morality and knowledge.” Benjamin Rush, father of American education, lobbied for government-funded education, saying Congress could spend billions on police and prisons or teach children to read the Bible.

Faith in and obedience to God was considered a matter of homeland security. It was unconstitutional until the 20th century for government to fund a school or university in which the Bible was not taught.

Brian Burgess

Haskell

Grape by any other name

In the Old Testament, there was not a name for grape juice other than wine. Grape juice had the name of “new wine.”

“So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine” (Proverbs 3:10).

Presses squeezed grapes that were not fermented. Grape juice was a blessing of God and like manna was good for only a while.

“Woe to him that gives his neighbors drink … making them drunk, in order to look at their nakedness” (Habakkuk 2:15). This is a warning against using wine as a weapon to manipulate someone.

Weapons hurt, mangle, and kill. Wine has the potential of making a person drunk, and binge drinking leads to death. This weapon would be labeled poison.

“Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down. For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper” (Proverbs 23:31-32).

Would Jesus make a “weapon of poison” to “sting” the wedding party, or would he give the “blessings of God” with freshly squeezed grapes?

Rex Ray

Bonham

What do you think? We value hearing from our readers. Send letters to Editor Marv Knox by mail: P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267; or by e-mail: marvknox@baptiststandard.com. Due to space considerations, limit letters to 250 words, and only one letter per writer per quarter.

We arrived Sunday morning, were welcomed into Dilli’s house, and found his entire family dressed up in Nepali dress or at least new clothes packed into the living room while the kids watched Scooby Doo. Shortly after we arrived, Grandma and the eldest couple set about lighting incense and preparing a plate of rice, money and flowers, which they sat on the coffee table.

The eldest couple and Grandma began blessing each person, beginning with the oldest and going down the line all the way to Umish. They sang in Nepali over each person, applied a Tika (a mixture of rice, yogurt and plant-based dye) on each forehead, and placed leaves or flowers behind the ears of each participant. Before we took part, we learned that the one being blessed should bow to the ones blessing; and, after being blessed, should place palms together and exchange “Namaste” with each person in the room. We took our turns, then joined the family around the table for a meal.

Dasara celebrates the defeat of demon giants by a Hindu god. The blessing, I later learned from Dilli, is for long life, happiness, and wealth.

As Christian missionaries, we have to ask a few questions. To what level do we participate in such rituals, if at all? Do we speak out against idolatry at the first mention of foreign gods, or do we learn about their customs and worldviews before we tell them they are wrong? Do we simply hold our tongue in order to be open-minded and tolerant, or do we hold our tongue in order for strategic purposes, awaiting the right time to share the gospel? Do we verbalize our objections at first opportunity for fear of being syncretistic? Or do we critique our Hindu brother because we love him and don’t want him stuck in idolatry and false ideology?

Jude 15 describes judgement of the ungodly as the Lord judges. In the same way, we should place judgement on that which goes against God. However, maybe there is a time and place for this. For missiological reasons, as well as in accordance with 1 Corinthians 9 and Romans 14, maybe we should first “become like” those to whom we are trying to reach and “stop passing judgement,” at least until we actually understand our friends.

We are still struggling through these questions at Segue, but are striving to live like Christ and share the good news as best we can.

Matthew Johnston, a student at Wayland Baptist University, is serving as a Go Now missionary with Segue, a ministry to refugees.

Those I am speaking of are the victims of human trafficking, or modern-day slavery as the mainstream media has named it. As I was there to share the freedom that is found in Christ and to witness God’s work in South Africa, I was confronted with the reality that 27 million victims in the world will never know freedom, life, or the love of the Father. I realized their cries often echo into silence, because there are few people working to battle one of the greatest human atrocities of our time.

I take comfort in the truth that God knows their pain and hears their cries. What I took from that experience is a challenge for me to give them a voice, to stand in the gap for 27 million lives and dare others to come alongside and lift them up in faith, hope and love.

Melanie, a student from Dallas Baptist University, served as a student missionary worker in South Africa. Her last name is withheld for security reasons, because she anticipates possible future missions service in a restricted area.