africa

have a read of some of these articles from the bbc on various situations in various countries in Africa:

• Clinton - reducing the cost of aids drugs
• Ethiopia - winning the tussle with starbucks
• Liberia - the comfort of a rusting roof
• Uganda - someone's story

also, I'd like to take advantage of the fact you're reading this to just say how good God is. how good it is to be a Christian, and how good it is to be a part of the church I go to. a man I know from town who doesn't have a house got beaten up on thursday. some 'youths' dislocated his arm, kicked him about, urinated on his sleeping bag and through his passport, driver's license, photos of kids and £1.50 into a pond in the park.

he regained conciousness in hospital. he checked himself out the next day to discover he'd lost his stuff, and has nothing. he turned up at my church this morning, and to the credit of people there, he was cared for. a few people who knew him welcomed him, and he left not only having heard that God loves him, but havin been bought a blanket, a sleeping bag, and food for the next 5 days or so. he's coming back this evening, too.

to hear one lady say to him "I'd let you stay with me, but it's just me and my daughter" was incredible. that is the heart of God. as humans, we can't do everything. in fact, more often than not, all we can do is make a tiny difference to perhaps as much as one whole person. it's only God who will be able to fix the whole world and put things right, but that shouldn't stop us trying.

it shouldn't stop our hearts from breaking for others. it shouldn't stop us from crying at the state of things, but it should encourage us to press on through this life, knowing that there is a God who cares for us more deeply than we will ever know. it should inspire us to 'love', even when that doesn't mean 'convert'.

my God is good. all the time.