walk with a purpose.

[I wrote this in my journal a number of months ago but felt like sharing again]

26 october 2008
So earlier today, I attended Gulu Walk 2008, a march from downtown Manhattan to the front of the United Nations, to bring awareness to the 22-year war in Northern Uganda and the child soldiers that are plagued by it. 'Twas a fun and really great experience, but there was one thing in particular that struck me this afternoon.

We gathered at 12pm in Washington Square Park, where we had two speakers before we began the walk -- a man who was born and raised in Gulu, Uganda before he came here to become a lawyer, and Melissa Fitzgerald from The West Wing.

When Melissa was speaking, she mentioned how she worked with 14 teenagers in an internally displaced persons camp in Gulu. Before she left, one of the boys asked her for a favor. He didn't ask for money or food or a ticket to America, but he asked her for a book. I waited in anticipation, hoping that Melissa would say that he had asked for a Bible. Instead, he said he wanted a book on Gandhi. He said how he had heard that Gandhi was a great man of peace, and in all the war and suffering that this teenager had seen in his country, he wanted to one day become a man of peace as well.

Most people know that I am a huge Gandhi fan. Gandhi is my boy. I love him like crazy. But I couldn't help but think, why hadn't the boy asked for a book on Jesus? I thought Melissa was going to say that that one, single book that he asked for was the Bible because he had heard of great stories from it about hope and peace. I don't know exactly why he didn't ask for anything about Jesus and I can't even say if he does or does not know if such a book exists, but my mind did wander to the thought that maybe he doesn't know Jesus. Maybe he's one of those 2 billion in the world who have never heard of this name before. And I became pained a bit. Then a worse thought occurred -- what if he had heard of him before but we, as Christians, have not portrayed him very well so that other leaders of peace and revival, such as Gandhi, seem to be a better model or answer to look towards? Regardless of whether he has heard or not, the point is that he didn't say anything about Jesus.

And when those present today heard this story about this boy looking to Gandhi and desiring to be more like him, they were touched at how influential this man was in this boy's life. People nodded, people applauded, people teared up.



We aren't doing enough of whatever it is we are meant to do as Christians.