A few photographs from the World Prayer Assembly stadium event in Jakarta Indonesia

There are about 100 thousand people gathered in the Jakarta Stadium tonight for the World Prayer Assembly stadium prayer gathering- amazingly there are another 373 stadium gatherings throughout Indonesia at the same time. It is estimated that about 9 million people have gathered for prayer tonight across this nation. It is always a wonderful experience to pray together with so many people from all over the world!

Our broadcast will be seen by a few more million people across the world tonight and another 400 million people when we rebroadcast this event on Pentecost Sunday, 27 May 2012 (which is also the Global Day of Prayer).

We set up a studio to do interviews with parter ear organizations in prayer, ethics, justice and mission work across the world. Here are a few pictures of some friends doing their interviews among them Jason Mandryk from Operation World, Pete Greig from 24-7 prayer, and a host of others.

It is so great to share in this event with so many great friends! I will have the joy of highlighting the work of our Ethics campaign (Unashamedly Ethical - http://www.unashamedlyethical.com), and our corruption and poverty campaign (EXPOSED - Shining a light on corruption - http://www.exposed2013.com) in a 10 minute interview at the end of our broadcast this evening.

A reminder to live as a servant

I struggle to serve. I frequently pray that I would serve others with much more grace and intensity - I seldom get it right! Yet, I know this is the way of Jesus - kenosis leads to theosis (self emptying love is an aspect of the character of Christ).

This quote encouraged me in my quiet time this morning:

To weep with those who weep, to accept the role of a servant, to give up anger when we have a right to be angry — to do these things is to acquire the character of a person who fits in with Jesus Christ.

- Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. (via mshedden)

At the World Prayer Assembly in Jakarta this year I experienced that great inner dichotomy between love of self and love of others. I am far too quick to want to 'get things done', to be involved in organizing and orchestrating events and situations. I am far too slow to listen, to wait, to be unseen, and to truly serve.

Today I pray that God would continue to transform my character and make me more like Jesus.

Staying in touch from the World Prayer Assembly in Jakarta

Day 1 of the World Prayer Assembly was great. I was so deeply moved by the rich diversity of cultures and nations represented at the conference. There are quite a few South Africans here which is a joy!

This evening I managed to Skype home to Courtney and Megan. I am always amazed at how accessible communication has become in the last few years. It is wonderful to be able to talk to them at home and not be watching the cost - free wifi = free call! I miss them so much and this helps me to stay in touch.

Our talk during the marketplace track with Ed Silvoso went well today. He is a passionate and energetic speaker whose passion is matched by his intellect! I'm sure there were about 2500 people in the hall. I only had 10 minutes to talk about ethics, corruption and the role of Christians in standing for justice (mainly focusing on the Unashamedly Ethical movemeng). I think it went well.

Tomorrow I am sharing a session with my friend and mentor Joel Edwards. We will be talking on the role the Church in the Millennium Development Goals, and addressing poverty. I am looking forward to that session (this one will focus on the work of Michael Challenge and the EXPOSED campaign). Joel is a real gift!

On the 17th we will be at the Jakarta stadium where a prayer gathering will take place with about 120 000 people! We will have a studio there and do a live television broadcast as well as pre-recorded interviews for our broadcast on the 27th of May. Please spare a prayer for all of these events!

God bless bless,

Dion

World Prayer Assembly in Jakarta Indonesia

I leave for Jakarta (via Dubai) in a few minutes.

This time I will be at the World Prayer Assembly - a very special global gathering of Christians from across the planet (about 6000 or so). See http://www.wpa2012.org for details

I have the privilege of having 3 speaking slots at the conference (all around poverty and corruption / ethics), and a slot on the Global Day of Prayer studio broadcast on the 17th of May on GodTV.

At this conference I'll representing the work of our 'EXPOSED - Shining a light on corruption' campaign (see http://www.exposed2013.com for more), and the Unashamedly Ethical movement (see http://www.unashamedlyethical.com for details).

Please could I ask for your prayers for this journey and work? My desire is to activate many more Christians and Christian movements for God's work of justice and mercy.

Please also pray for Megie, Courtney and Liam at home. I miss them already!

The mission of the Church and the world.

I have been rediscovering Leslie Newbigin - this quote from him is wonderful! He captures the evangelical responsibility of Christians and the Church beautifully. The person and ways, and will, of Christ brings healing, wholeness and blessing to every sphere of life.

We have to call all people to come this way with us, for we shall not know the full glory of Jesus until the day when every tongue shall confess him. And we do not know the fullness of what the service of Jesus means until we have struggled to bring all the manifold works of learning and industry and politics and the arts into obedience to him. So mission is not a one-way promotion but a two-way encounter in which we learn more of what the gospel means. We are learning as we go. This is the only way we affirm that the gospel is not just “true for us” but true for all. The missionary action of the Church is the exegesis of the Gospel.

- Lesslie Newbigin, Truth to Tell: The Gospel as Public Truth pp34-35.

When God speaks what do you do?

This week I have been at a very significant conference of influential global business leaders. It was a wonderfully inspiring time to listen to now many of these persons prevailed against significant odds to achieve what it they believed they had heard God calling them to do. Some took risks to start new enterprises and ventures, some gave up power, prestige and wealth to take up a life of service, others took a stand against an issue of corruption or abuse.

There was a fairly common narrative - God has a will for the world. God graciously invites us into His wonderful will and work in the world. However, it takes faith, courage, and obedience (and perseverance!) to faithfully achieve what God wants to do.

I am is servant - that is my calling. I am called to serve God. In doing so I have discovered that it most often means that I am called to serve God's people. This is blessed and rewarding work.

During this week I heard God speaking to me. It was very clear! Some may ask how I know that God was speaking to me - all I can say is that God spoke, I perceived it clearly and convincingly. I can only assume that this is similar to how someone like Wilberforce was encountered by God in order to give his life to fighting slavery. It takes courage to go against reason and seek to be obedient - I am trying to do that in my life.

So, I shall be spending time praying, thinking, reading, listening, engaging in community, watching the world, reading the scriptures and figuring out what it means to be obedient to God's gracious call to enter into God's loving, gracious, and just will for me and world.

I'd love to hear from you whether you have ever heard God speaking to you? If so, what did you do in response to that encounter?

Loving God and loving one another - Dorothy Day

This is a profound thought:

We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet, too, even with a crust, where there is companionship.

- Dorothy Day, The Long Loneliness (via invisibleforeigner)

Pray that the moments of your life are filled with opportunities for loving God and loving one another. Pray that even where there is 'a crust' with companionship that your togetherness in Christ would be a sustaining and nourishing meal of grace.

I am experiencing the grace of togetherness this week as I get to know sisters and brothers from all over the world at the Global Kingdom Partnership Network conference in Orlando Florida. Indeed, God has placed a rich blend of diversity in the body of Christ. We discover aspects of God's gracious diversity as we encounter one another in love.

Kenosis is theosis...

A last ride in Paradise before heading to the USA!

Yesterday I had an absolutely stunning mountain bike ride on Lourensford with the Cycle Addiction club. We are blessed with amazing riding here!

Tomorrow I head to the United States to participate in a significant Christian business conference (where the 8 Millennium Development Goals will be the central discussion points - so thankful that they have taken this important discussion on board!) The Church must learn to engage business if we are to be God's agents of renewal and transformation in the world.  We can halve global poverty by 2015 if we each just do our bit to witness, advocate and act on behalf of the poor.

In many cases Nation States are no longer the most influential and powerful regional influencers. This quote from Lesley Newbigin made sense in this regard:

[W]e may well be coming to the end of the era of the sovereign nation-state as we have known it for the past three centuries. Economic, financial, and technical forces have created a global system that is far more powerful than most existing states. The secular powers shaping human life are increasingly transnational If the Church is to speak the truth to Caesar, it is these powers that must be more and more in our sights.

— Leslie Newbigin, Truth to Tell: The Gospel as Public Truth p89

After Orlando I head to New York for some meetings regarding EXPOSED (see the EXPOSED2013 tab at the top for more information regarding this corruption and poverty project). I will be at the United Nations meeting some friends in the UNDP and also at the Salvation Army meeting Christine MacMillan, their general in charge of social justice initiatives. I will also be at Redeemer and a few other significant meetings.

Please pray for me (and for my family back home)! I get back on 3 May and then head off to Indonesia on the 12th of May. So it is a little hectic with travel at the moment. Skype is a wonderful blessing to stay in touch with Megie, Courtney and Liam.  But I always miss them so much!!! My goodness, these three people truly do occupy my life!  I am already filled with a little sadness at having to leave.

As for cycling - I will dream of the trails of Cape Town! But, keep an eye on my twitter and facebook feeds. You'll see me doing some running!

Please follow @EXPOSED2013 on twitter.com and on facebook at http://on.fb.me/exposed2013

God bless,

D

Cover the Night! Cape Town's Kony2012 event - a short video

My friend Shane Vermooten (@just_shane) made this great little video of some of us participating in Cape Town's Kony2012 'Cover the night' advocacy event.

Megie, Courtney, Liam and I went through to the City for the evening, met up with some others, and helped put up the Kony2012 posters.  See the video here:

There has been quite a lot of debate about the approach that Kony2012 has taken - i.e., to make Josephy Kony (the leader of the LRA) so famous that he has to be scrutinised and arrested for his horrific crimes in Southern Sudan and Northern Uganda.  

I feel that it is important to hold onto the fact that our liberty is interdependent.  We share a common humanity, and as a Christian, I believe that God holds us responsible for one another.  We are all His children (some who know him and some who don't).  We cannot be free while others are in bondage.

So, we did our bit!  It was also a wonderful opportunity to introduce our kids to the world of 'advocacy i.e., acting and speaking for those who find it difficult or impossible to do so for themselves.  We spoke to them about Uganda (where I have just been), the kids who are being killed, captured and maimed, and said that we can do something small that can help to make their lives better.

Let's pray that the little slogan comes to pass - 'Keep Calm and Catch Kony!' - Cover the Night took place all over the globe on 20 April 2012.  This was our Cape Town contribution.

You'll see Megan, Courtney, Liam and I in this video above.

Rwanda to Bryanston, and the Passion Narrative of John

It is Good Friday - by God's grace I woke up early this morning and have been given the gift of quiet time to pray, read, and reflect.

Since my last post, from Kampala Uganda, it feels like a lifetime has passed.  It has only been a week. 

Last Saturday I flew from Rwanda to Johannesburg.  Megan and our children flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg as a gift from one of the members of the Bryanston Methodist Church.  Such gifts are truly an expression of God's love for us as a family through the goodness of others.  By Saturday afternoon we were all together at Megan's sister's home in Bryanston.

I had come here at the invitation of this wonderful Church to preach the Holy Week services, based on the theme of Jesus' High Priestly Prayer (John 17.1-26).  The High Priestly prayer is normally only considered after Easter in the lectionary.  However, in its placement in the text it fits nicely as a build up to Easter, since it is likely that the prayer itself would have been prayed at the conclusion of the Last Supper, or on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane. 

It is a wonderful text to shape one's thoughts on Jesus love for the Father, the Triune God's love for the world (although there is no direct mention of the Holy Spirit in this text), and of course Jesus' prayer for his disciples and the Church that would come (that is you and I).

You are most welcome to download the 4 sermons that I preached from Sunday evening from my dropbox account here on the following links:

• "1 Refocusing your gaze s31 March 2012 number 1 knowing God.doc" in my Dropbox: http://db.tt/r6S7lEgz
• "2 Rediscovering your true identity 1 April 2012.docx" in my Dropbox: http://db.tt/U3NlAlWi
• "3 Recapturing your life’s true calling 3 April 2012.docx" in my Dropbox: http://db.tt/HA3OGrBk
• "4 Repurposing your relationships 4 April 2012.docx" in my Dropbox: http://db.tt/anBMx4f2 

If you don't already have a free DropBox account please sign up: use my referral link, and I will get an extra 250MB storage, a great help to me.  Thanks!

As I was preparing the reflections for this week I found the following quote.  It is quite thought provoking:

Indeed, Saint John’s whole Passion narrative is built on this connection between humble service and glory (doxa): it is in Jesus’ downward path, in his abasement even to the Cross, that God’s glory is seen, that the Father and, in him, Jesus are glorified. In a brief scene on ‘Palm Sunday’ - in what might be termed the Johannine version of the Gethsemane story - all this is summed up: “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again’” (12:27-28). The hour of the Cross is the hour of the Father’s true glory, the hour of Jesus’ true glory.

Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, Part Two (via invisibleforeigner)

So, let me take a step back to Rwanda. I only had the privilege of visiting Kigali, the Capital City, of that beautiful nation.  I was struck by the beauty of the place and its people.  It is hard to imagine the horror of the genocide that took place there when one encounters the current beauty!  I wrote the following short reflection on my Tumblr blog while waiting for my flight from Kigali to Johannesburg.

 

(Source: peacerockandnature)

Rwanda is so beautiful. This morning all of the citizens of Kigali work in the city from 8am - 11am to clean and tidy this beautiful place. It is hard to imagine the horror that transpired here with the Rwandan genocide. I am left with a host of conflicting emotions - the conflict between the horror and depravity of human sin, and the possibility and beauty that God has placed within people and creation. I recognise that I carry that same conflict in my very nature. I am prone to sin, anger, selfishness, self-righteousness, pride… Yet, at the same time God gives the gift of empathy, the faculty of reason and the frailty of needing to depend on others… Without my kind French speaking taxi driver, who had to explain to police in a roadblock why he was driving me to the airport instead of working in the city, I would not be returning home to my wife and children for whom my heart aches with longing. I am dependent, dependent on God’s grace, and dependent on the good will of others, and dependent on love and beauty. This is a good place to reflect on the value of dependence.

It was good to be back in South Africa, a country to which I came as a young 'refugee' from Zimbabwe.  Here too we have immeasurable beauty, incalculable wealth, and wonderful opportunity.  I am blessed and thankful to be a citizen of this nation.

However, I also recognize that this privilege comes with a great responsibility.  South Africa is one of the most inequitable nations in the world.  We have the 27th largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the world.  The province of Gauteng has the 3rd largest economy on the continent of Africa (if I am correct, the largest economy is the nation of South Africa, then Nigeria, then the Gauteng Province, then Egypt).  Yet, there are some signs of concern.  Last year Rwanda rose about 4 places on the Transparency International Corruptions Perceptions Index (CPI) to being perceived to be the 4th least corrupt nation in Africa (behind Botswana, Cape Verde, and Mauritius).  South Africa, however, dropped 16 places in their CPI score in 1 year!  This is a grace concern.

So, this week was spent preaching in the evenings, and during the day I used the opportunity to meet with some of the most influential business, political and Church leaders of South Africa who live and work in and around Johannesburg.  In each instance I shared the challenge to stand for values, ethics and clean living, by joining us in the Unashamedly Ethical campaing.

I also asked these persons to book the dates of 14-20 October 2013 for a week of witness, action and advocacy on behalf of the poor and the corrupt, by joining the 100 million others who form the EXPOSED - Shining a light on corruption campaign. By the way, EXPOSED is featured as the lead story on the World Evangelical Alliance website this month - I met with the vice chair of the WEA here in Johannesburg, Ndaba Mazabane.  I will be meeting with the chair of the World Evangelical Alliance in the USA in about three weeks time (Geoff Tunnicliffe).

This Easter Friday morning I am considering the fact that the passion of Christ is intricately linked to His glory. What some would consider a defeat, death at the hands of his adversaries, was the greatest victory in all history. Because of His sacrificial love the world is saved.

In John 17.4 Jesus says that he brought Glory to his Father by completing the work that he had been sent to do.  It is my desire to bring Glory to the Father, Son and Spirit by completing the work that I am sent to do - and I ask for your prayers in this task.

Please join me in the work of healing and transforming the world for the sake of God's Kingdom.

A blessed Easter to you!  It is Friday, but Sunday is coming!

Uganda - from the pavement to the palace

It is just after 6 am in Uganda. Graham Power and I have just returned from speaking on Power FM, the radio station of Watoto Church.

This truly is a Church that is being salt AND light! By this I mean that they have a consistent Christian witness, giving expression to God's love in ways that are traditionally associated with being 'the Church' i.e., preaching the good news of God's love for people and the world, gathering for worship, discipling their members etc. However, they are also being salt (in the sense that this phrase 'salt and light' was used in the New Testament). Salt was used to prevent the decay of food stuffs in the days before we had refrigerators. Watoto Church is a Church that is actively 'salty'. They serve the poor, they care for the orphans and the vulnerable. It is truly a remarkable thing to see how they give expression to the Good News - they not only preach what the 'gospel sounds likes', they also 'show what the Gospel looks like'.

In a few hours Graham and I will be speaking at the Makerere University on Unashamedly Ethical and EXPOSED. We end our time in Uganda by speaking at a Watoto Church to a group of about 1000 business people tonight. From there we fly to Rwanda for some more speaking engagements and the grand finale of the East African reality TV series - Inspire Africa (a show that is quite similar to Donald Trump series 'The Apprentice').

What prompted this post, however, was a series of experiences I had yesterday.

After arriving in Kampala just after midnight I slept for a short while before going to a business breakfast at the Africana Hotel. A couple hundred entrepreneurs had gathered to hear Graham Power and Mrs Janet Museveni - the First Lady of Uganda. It was a wonderful time. It is always deeply inspiring to hear Graham's testimony, and it was wonderful to see so many passionate and talented business people with an interest in Ethics and business. It is a great honor to share some encouragement and challenge with them. Mrs Museveni is an inspiring woman of faith - her love for God and her people is deeply moving.

Later in the morning I needed to walk into Kampala to buy some supplies. My friend Graham Vermooten and I were walked through the busy streets, dodging the boda boda motorcycles and taxis! Kampala is a bustling city with a great deal of emerging wealth and a seemingly growing economy. The familiar sights of South African retail and commerce are evident here - MTN, Standard Bank, Nando's, Mr Price etc.

However, as we rounded the corner I saw a little girl, no more than two and a half years old sitting all alone in the middle of the pavement begging for food or money. I was arrested in my steps. I felt such a sense of pain and shame rise up within me. How sad it is that a child of that age should be begging for enough food just to survive! Poverty is frequently associated with laziness and poor choices in adults. However, a young child, in fact a baby, is a victim of poverty. There is no other way to put it.

As we walked a little further there was a group of four or so women and girls - clearly street people - sleeping in the grass on the pavement. I wondered if the baby belonged to one of them? Regardless, I was so moved by what I had seen I could not get it out of my mind. Rounding the corner there once again signs of emerging wealth, an upmarket shopping mall with a parking lot filled with luxury 4x4 vehicles, busy shoppers, stores filled with food, clothing and all sorts of unnecessary distractions. The contrast is just so stark!

What shall we do with the poor? I choose that phrase deliberately 'with the poor'. I am certain that the solution to poverty is not to keep a person enslaved and dependent on others. That thought had crossed my mind - the little girl, if she survived into her teens, would most likely become enslaved in sex work, or at best dependent upon the alms of others. It is highly unlikely that she would end up differently from the four women fast asleep on the grass.

Indeed, what shall we do with the poor? How shall we work alongside them, with them, to engender a change of heart and mind that will break the cycle of poverty?

This post is entitled From the pavement to the palace because the day ended on the opposite extreme - our team was invited to dinner at the Presidential residence in Kampala. A beautiful compound with lush gardens. Not extravagant by any means (I have certainly seen more ostentatious homes in Bryanston, and Somerset West where I live). The President and First Lady live in a beautiful but modest home. Of course security was extremely tight and no cell phones or cameras were allowed. However, we did take our camera crew (with permission) to film Mrs Museveni for the Unashamedly Ethical and EXPOSED campaigns.

It was Mrs Museveni who stated so clearly that poverty is frequently entrenched in the mindsets of individuals and upheld through structures in society. Injustice and corruption are frequently the primary cause, and the ongoing catalyst, of poverty. However, a solution to poverty is not only to be found in handouts and charitable work. She eloquently stated that the solution is to be found in restoring human dignity and worth, in helping persons to see and discover their human potential. In releasing untapped ability, creativity and opportunity in both individuals and communities. Enterprise development, education, and spiritual and moral formation are all necessary elements in working alongside the poor for transformation and renewal.

I am still haunted by the sight of that little girl.

However, I am encouraged and thankful that God is placing persons throughout the various strata of society to partner with Him in bringing renewal, healing and transformation in the world. From the ordinary person like me, to the first lady of a nation, God has planted within us the capacity for care. The ability to make difficult and sacrificial choices about our time, our money, our space, and our energy. The Watoto Church is a testimony to that! These are not wealthy people, but the wealth of their love is extravagant for the poor!

Please can I ask you to pray with me for those who awoke today hungry? Please will you pray for that little girl? Graham and I fed her something as we walked back to our lodgings. It was something small, another little bit of sustenance that would take her a step further in her life. Please pray that she would not only have food today, but be nourished in her body, mind and spirit so that she may grow to become just like the first lady of her nation. God's desire is that we should all become fully human. We can be a part of that wonderful work!

Please join us in shining a light on poverty - a positive light of care! Please join the EXPOSED campaign and start planning what you will do during EXPOSED week 14-20 October in 2013. Share your story on our Facebook page and encourage others to join you in God's work of renewing the earth and its people.

Uganda - from the pavement to the palace

It is just after 6 am in Uganda. Graham Power and I have just returned from speaking on Power FM, the radio station of Watoto Church.

This truly is a Church that is being salt AND light! By this I mean that they have a consistent Christian witness, giving expression to God's love in ways that are traditionally associated with being 'the Church' i.e., preaching the good news of God's love for people and the world, gathering for worship, discipling their members etc. However, they are also being salt (in the sense that this phrase 'salt and light' was used in the New Testament). Salt was used to prevent the decay of food stuffs in the days before we had refrigerators. Watoto Church is a Church that is actively 'salty'. They serve the poor, they care for the orphans and the vulnerable. It is truly a remarkable thing to see how they give expression to the Good News - they not only preach what the 'gospel sounds likes', they also 'show what the Gospel looks like'.

In a few hours Graham and I will be speaking at the Makerere University on Unashamedly Ethical and EXPOSED. We end our time in Uganda by speaking at a Watoto Church to a group of about 1000 business people tonight. From there we fly to Rwanda for some more speaking engagements and the grand finale of the East African reality TV series - Inspire Africa (a show that is quite similar to Donald Trump series 'The Apprentice').

What prompted this post, however, was a series of experiences I had yesterday.

After arriving in Kampala just after midnight I slept for a short while before going to a business breakfast at the Africana Hotel. A couple hundred entrepreneurs had gathered to hear Graham Power and Mrs Janet Museveni - the First Lady of Uganda. It was a wonderful time. It is always deeply inspiring to hear Graham's testimony, and it was wonderful to see so many passionate and talented business people with an interest in Ethics and business. It is a great honor to share some encouragement and challenge with them. Mrs Museveni is an inspiring woman of faith - her love for God and her people is deeply moving.

Later in the morning I needed to walk into Kampala to buy some supplies. My friend Graham Vermooten and I were walked through the busy streets, dodging the boda boda motorcycles and taxis! Kampala is a bustling city with a great deal of emerging wealth and a seemingly growing economy. The familiar sights of South African retail and commerce are evident here - MTN, Standard Bank, Nando's, Mr Price etc.

However, as we rounded the corner I saw a little girl, no more than two and a half years old sitting all alone in the middle of the pavement begging for food or money. I was arrested in my steps. I felt such a sense of pain and shame rise up within me. How sad it is that a child of that age should be begging for enough food just to survive! Poverty is frequently associated with laziness and poor choices in adults. However, a young child, in fact a baby, is a victim of poverty. There is no other way to put it.

As we walked a little further there was a group of four or so women and girls - clearly street people - sleeping in the grass on the pavement. I wondered if the baby belonged to one of them? Regardless, I was so moved by what I had seen I could not get it out of my mind. Rounding the corner there once again signs of emerging wealth, an upmarket shopping mall with a parking lot filled with luxury 4x4 vehicles, busy shoppers, stores filled with food, clothing and all sorts of unnecessary distractions. The contrast is just so stark!

What shall we do with the poor? I choose that phrase deliberately 'with the poor'. I am certain that the solution to poverty is not to keep a person enslaved and dependent on others. That thought had crossed my mind - the little girl, if she survived into her teens, would most likely become enslaved in sex work, or at best dependent upon the alms of others. It is highly unlikely that she would end up differently from the four women fast asleep on the grass.

Indeed, what shall we do with the poor? How shall we work alongside them, with them, to engender a change of heart and mind that will break the cycle of poverty?

This post is entitled From the pavement to the palace because the day ended on the opposite extreme - our team was invited to dinner at the Presidential residence in Kampala. A beautiful compound with lush gardens. Not extravagant by any means (I have certainly seen more ostentatious homes in Bryanston, and Somerset West where I live). The President and First Lady live in a beautiful but modest home. Of course security was extremely tight and no cell phones or cameras were allowed. However, we did take our camera crew (with permission) to film Mrs Museveni for the Unashamedly Ethical and EXPOSED campaigns.

It was Mrs Museveni who stated so clearly that poverty is frequently entrenched in the mindsets of individuals and upheld through structures in society. Injustice and corruption are frequently the primary cause, and the ongoing catalyst, of poverty. However, a solution to poverty is not only to be found in handouts and charitable work. She eloquently stated that the solution is to be found in restoring human dignity and worth, in helping persons to see and discover their human potential. In releasing untapped ability, creativity and opportunity in both individuals and communities. Enterprise development, education, and spiritual and moral formation are all necessary elements in working alongside the poor for transformation and renewal.

I am still haunted by the sight of that little girl.

However, I am encouraged and thankful that God is placing persons throughout the various strata of society to partner with Him in bringing renewal, healing and transformation in the world. From the ordinary person like me, to the first lady of a nation, God has planted within us the capacity for care. The ability to make difficult and sacrificial choices about our time, our money, our space, and our energy. The Watoto Church is a testimony to that! These are not wealthy people, but the wealth of their love is extravagant for the poor!

Please can I ask you to pray with me for those who awoke today hungry? Please will you pray for that little girl? Graham and I fed her something as we walked back to our lodgings. It was something small, another little bit of sustenance that would take her a step further in her life. Please pray that she would not only have food today, but be nourished in her body, mind and spirit so that she may grow to become just like the first lady of her nation. God's desire is that we should all become fully human. We can be a part of that wonderful work!

Please join us in shining a light on poverty - a positive light of care! Please join the EXPOSED campaign and start planning what you will do during EXPOSED week 14-20 October in 2013. Share your story on our Facebook page and encourage others to join you in God's work of renewing the earth and its people.