For What Cause Are You Living?

Two boys go fishing.  One is on a guided trip on a Texas lake and will catch 37 fish in his four-hour trip.  The memories of this trip will last for a long time.  The other boy is working at the hands of his master in a wooden boat on Lake Volta in Ghana, Africa.   He will work somewhere between 10-12 hours today catching fish that we would throw back here in Texas.  He has memories too but most he would be fine to forget. 

The similarities between these two boys go beyond fishing.  Both are 7 years old. Both were created by God and both aware, deep in their bones, that boys love to run and play and laugh.  But their differences are obvious as well.  One fishes for fun.  The other fishes because he was sold to his master and is forced to work long hours – cleaning nets, picking fish out of the nets and setting the nets for the next day’s catch. The latter boy would love to have the opportunities that the former boy has but he doesn’t have a say in the matter.  Yet. 

This past May I had the opportunity to visit the second boy and dozens like him on Lake Volta.  It is estimated that around 7,000 children are in slavery on Lake Volta at this moment.  Several years ago two friends of mine, Chris and Stacey Field started an organization called Mercy Project (www.mercyproject.net) that is working to rid the earth of slavery beginning on Lake Volta.  In addition to making the trip to Ghana in May, one of the great privileges of my life is serving on the board of directors for Mercy Project. 

As you meet with the people in the villages surrounding Lake Volta you see that they grasp that slavery is wrong but you also sense that they are operating in a cycle that has not given them much choice.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is that God is using the ministry of Mercy Project to announce “that God’s kingdom has come and that his will is to be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  Mercy Project has a plan to help and is inviting people to live for a cause that is bigger than any one person by joining in this world-changing ministry.  And if it isn’t this ministry then find other ways to make an eternal difference.  7-year-old boys need grow up in the way God intended and the world is looking for answers. 

This Sunday, September 2^nd, Chris Field will be speaking at Kaufman Church of Christ at 10:30am.  We would love have you join us to hear more of the story and the plan for how God is using Mercy Project in Ghana, Africa.