A friend of mine that is involved in ministry at Eastern Nazarene College posted this on his blog today:

"We will never become people of change, until we (as white Americans) become aware (awareness is the key term) of the racism within our traditions and religions and confront it. For example, when white people were going to church, praising God during days of slavery, they probably didn’t see themselves as racist people. We have never seen ourselves as racist people, mostly because we think we have had God’s blessing for acknowledging Jesus as his son. Let me share an example of this in 2005. We have many opportunities to share and take care of others, meeting their basic needs. Through OXFAM alone, $20 buys enough maize to feed a family of four in the Rift Valley of Ethiopia for six months. $30 Buys books to help 10 girls in Afghanistan learn to read and write. Apparently, there are wealthy churches that don’t know this, or maybe they choose to ignore it. I know of several churches that have spent hundreds of thousands, even a million dollars to upgrade the “comfort” of their church, or to install advancements such as big screen projectors. This amount of money could have fed 25,000 families in Ethiopia for one year. When Churches spend money to enhance their comfort, and we as individuals buy cosmetics, excessive amounts of clothes, video games, etc., while 30,000 non-white children starve to death everyday or go without basic education – we are perpetuating inequality - this perpetuation of inequality is racism – meaning, we are still racist, just like we have continued to be throughout history. We turned away those in need, for our own excessive comfort, security, and lust. We hung them with the noose of hunger. Until we acknowledge our ignorance and repent of this sin, reconcile with all those we have oppressed and are oppressing, there will be racism, and this racism trickles down to ENC - however, some of the White People will still deny it, they will say that the non-white people are making an issue of racism where there is none, as if they pulled it out of thin air. Only through brutal honesty and confrontation can there be healing and reconciliation. We must open our eyes, look at inequality and racism in our past, and acknowledge it in the present, and thus begin to be a people of change by humbling ourselves, embracing the concerns, experience, and suffering of all other cultures, backgrounds, and religions that differ from our own."

Another friend, involved in ministry in Columbus, posted this recently:

"Ayedefer, his wife and daughter moved to the United States about three years ago from Ethiopia. We talked about Africa and he told me that he had been a teacher in Ethiopia and with his salary was able to afford three meals a day and rent an apartment with electricity, but no running water, for his family. He said that 70% of the people of his country eat one meal a day, which consist of some fried grains. They get their water from holes they dig in the ground that collect rainwater. He said that usually he was drinking after dogs and cows and that they also cleaned their clothes with this water. Ayedefer works hard and sends much of his money back to support a minister who would not eat without the money he sends. He said that one US dollar a day would make for a very good life for an Ethiopian. I asked Ayedefer if life in this country is one of constant frustration for him. He clutched his chest and said, “yes”. I told him that within the last year I have become very aware of the tragic circumstances in Africa with poverty, hunger and AIDS. I told him that I try to tell others and help them realize that when Christ told us to love our neighbor he intended no geographical limits on that love. He told me that when he moved here he began working at a PetsMart. He said that in his time there he realized that Americans spend millions of dollars on dog food for their pets. Ayedefer told me that he would look at the pet food and think that it would be a nourishing meal for people in his country who were dying of hunger."

I recently led a church through a multi-million dollar building program. I make more money in a week than most third-world men will make in their lifetime. What am I doing about it?

God help me.