Sorry, I didn't intend to tease video, and then not be able to deliver...but that seems to be the case. Apparently I can't attach video to the blog. So no video today.
Here is what I was going to say on that video. Saturday I will be stepping off the airplane (Lord willin', as my father used to say) into one of the hungriest countries on the planet. With estimates of up to 5M humans living in either malnutrition or starvation, it is difficult for an American - let along an Iowan - to imagine that. We simply have plenty of food here. And most of us have enough wealth to even have a level of surplus food. That is simply not the case in Zambia. With few government programs and no current safety net, especially for those living in remote villages where we do most of our work, there are lots of brothers and sisters in Christ who are trying to figure out how to feed their family today. This isn't a problem for the future (ie. I might lose my job, or I might not have enough money next month to pay all my bills, etc.), but it isn't literally the issue of this day. How do we eat? That is deficit, as defined by 2 Corinthians 8:14. Those are the people our surplus is intended to help...at least that is what the Apostle Paul told the Corinthian church. That is also destitute, the best rendering of the word that most english Bibles transate "poor". Unfortunately the word poor comes with all kinds of interpretive license. Destitue is more precise. It is someone who doesn't have what is necessary to live: food, water, shelter. Lisa and I will be spending some time with folks who are destitute.
Here is the irony. Before I get on that airplane tomorrow morning, I'm going to visit the Iowa State Fair tonight. If you know the Iowa State Fair, then you understand that irony. The fair is about one thing primarily, food. There is an abundance of food. There is food from all over the world, but more importantly, I will enjoy some of the fantastic food that is grown and prepared right here in Iowa. And it will be fabulous, and it will be abundant. There is food at every turn at the fair, and my biggest problem will be not eating too much of it. Again, that is a rather extreme image of this surplus that Paul is addressing. So I get to find some acceptable balance to enjoying my surplus tonight and then sharing my surplus with others in Zambia. What a challenging and fun exercise for us in the western world to wrestle with. If you would, please join me in that exercise.
2 Corinthians 8:13,14 It is not that there should be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality. At the present time your surplus is available for their need, so that their abundance may in turn meet your need, in order that there may be equality.
Good luck for all of us Americans trying to find a level of equality...I wonder how the Corinthians felt about that?
Hopefully I'll have something to say from an airplane or an airport over the next 36 hours...talk soon!
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