"Why are you here?..."

Regardless how hot it was anywhere else, it always seemed to be hotter around Nyero Nyero, a small mountain in Mozambique. In other communities we were able to drive to some patients’ homes as well as walk, not here. To get there, we drive down a dirt road for an hour, then parked our car for the day. The rest of our time is spent walking from “house” to “house,” often 15-20 minutes between houses.

One day, after seeing patients for about 3 hours, we came to a home at the base of the mountain. Brooke and I noticed that there was something written in Shona on the side of a mud hut. Adao translated the writing: “why are you here? The poor man wants to know.”

May I never forget this question. May I never forget to stop what I am doing and answer.

Perhaps my answer would change according to my audience. If my family asked, perhaps I would give a different answer than if my pastor asked why I am here, at this patient’s house, at this time. Perhaps. Regardless, the most important answer to this question is the answer directed to this poor man. How would I respond while looking clearly into “the poor man’s” eyes?

Because I care.


Last week I visited many friends and co-workers from Baylor. A friend asked me “What drives you to do what you do?” “How do you know what to do?”

In the craziness of being home, I have spent much time thinking of these questions.

My mind is brought back to the moment that I experienced God’s love stronger than at any other time in my life. I FELT Him next to me. I HEARD Him singing His song of love over me. I was not shaken in that moment, because the Lord was at my right hand. Psalms 16:8

This love compels me to love others. This love gives me the desire for others to experience His love.
“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NKJV

Finally (until the Lord adds a new level), the Lord takes away all of my fears. “I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4

He will take my fears, if I give them to Him. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out all fear…” 1 John 4:18

As I surrender fears to the Lord, He fills me with His love for His children. He gives me His perspective. This is where Henri Nouwen’s books speak loudly to me about the unconditional, forgiving love of the Father.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love asking questions that promote thought. I look for these questions in the Word as well. The Lord often asks questions to cause people to reflect on where they are and what they are doing.

Why am I here (in Africa)? Because I have been so deeply touched by the Lord’s love for me, I long for others to know his touch in their lives. While I realize that I can only express His love to the measure that I surrender my fears to Him.