So what will you do?

I get this question a lot. And I must admit, it's not my favorite. Not because it isn't a good question. It's perfectly reasonable.

It just isn't the easiest question to answer.

First, we want to be more about being than doing. As followers of Jesus, I think we've frequently lost our calling to be. To sit with, to listen, to understand, to feel with and suffer with. Instead we jump to doing. We are called to be children of God, to abide in Jesus, to be with and for people. While these things lead to action, I think we sometimes lose sight of the fact that they are primarily about identity. About being.

Next, our "doing" starts with listening and learning. We're going to do our best to humbly set aside our thoughts on the best way to do things, our understandings that come from the West, our cultural and personal preferences.

We need to do this because we're moving into a context we don't understand. While we might have some knowledge, we are outsiders, and will miss things that aren't always readily apparent. Important things like the values, concerns, tensions, and dreams of a community. Many before us have confused their culture and their values with the Kingdom. Without listening and becoming friends and neighbors, we will probably do the same.

Often westerners are the ones with the knowledge, the skills, the resources, and the initiative. So we act. We give, teach, build, create, organize, and distribute. And while many of these things are good, they frequently relegate the poor to recipients, passive receivers, or "objects" of our charity.

But loving people doesn't mean just meeting their needs. It means empowering them to meet their own needs, to change their situations, their lives, their communities, and their future.

Another aspect of this is our desire to be "servants" not to do "service". Service is choosing what you want to do, when you want to do it. Service is on our terms. But servants don't choose the terms. Servants serve when and how others choose, even when it's inconvenient. Are we really radically available to our neighbors whenever they might need it?

All of this means what we do will depend a lot on the people and community we join. It will depend on the friendships we build, the hopes and dreams and goals of the community, their resources and problems... and hopefully not so much on us.

So what will we do?

We will listen. We will do our best to learn, to be humble, to be friends, to be neighbors, to be followers of Jesus. To reach out to our neighbors and hopefully empower them. And, God-willing, we will learn, listen, and understand enough to be able to act in ways that are truly loving.