so its been really exciting to see who has been following this blog. i'm not going to lie, it makes me feel pretty special when someone comes up to me and says, "hey, i've been reading your blog and i liked..." fill in the blank with some random recent post. nathan and i were talking about this and it made me realize what an impact i can truly have just by posting to the world my thoughts, affections, and interests. so thanks for reading!!
as i was thinking about this, i started thinking more about what i hoped people were getting out of this blog. its cool that i have influenced what kind of nail polish they should buy or encouraged them to bake a certain recipe, but at the end of the day, am i conveying and promoting the things that matter most to me?
one way i really want to do this is by sharing another interest of mine and encouraging you to get involved. ever since high school, i have been passionate about the world. i love to travel, love to eat new foods and meet new people and go different places. i love to be found in a land where i cannot communicate on my own, and i love the sounds of the multitude of languages. i eat hummus and feta and appreciate different types of chocolate and room temperature cokes with no ice. i love hijabs, saris, maasi patterns, and soccer jerseys. in school, i studied anthropology because i think culture is extremely fascinating. i drink turkish coffee, and from time to time love a good gyro, or shwarma, or burrito.
i have had the privilege of seeing a lot of parts of the world. i have been to dumps and orphanages, monasteries and seminaries, castles and villages. i have visited four continents, have delivered christmas presents to the fatherless and discussed disney channel with kids in multiple countries. i love the nations.
our home is full of nick-nacks and odds & ends from around the world- an arabic bible, a figurine from south america, a blanket from kenya....i could go on and on.
so is it just that i love culture? well, partly, sure. i am intrigued by "different." but its more than that.
in all my travels, in all my studies, in all the times i have consumed ethnically diverse meals and discovered cultural norms other than my own, i have seen the desperation of the world. i have seen the hunger for hope, the longing for love, the panting for purpose, and the cravings for christ. see, because i love the nations, my heart breaks for them on a regular basis.
its pretty trendy to talk about how many children don't have access to clean water or mosquito nets. we've all bought [red] items and given to the red cross and seen, maybe even supported, a world vision or compassion international child. while thats all well and good, what are we doing about their eternity? what does it matter if they have a nice glass of water on their death bed if once they pass, they end up in the place where they will eternally be thirsty for the Living Water?
don't get me wrong, i'm all about meeting physical needs. but we can't stop there.
that's why i'm bringing in another new feature. you'll find it in two spots- on the left side bar, you will find a daily people group to pray for, and then every tuesday i'm going to focus in on one group. i want to ask you to join me in praying for the nations. maybe this will inspire further action from you- and i'd love to hear about that for sure! but at least once a week, i want you to join me in stopping and taking a break from the exciting world of pictures and nail polish and join me on my knees, praying for the lost.
in order to do this, i am going to utilize an awesome resource. for a learner like me, this website is awesome. called the joshua project, this side prides itself on being "a research initiative seeking to highlight the ethnic people groups of the world with the least followers of Christ. Accurate, regularly updated ethnic people group information is critical for understanding and completing the Great Commission" (from here). their site is full of info on all people groups, and their standings in regards to their knowledge of the gospel.
a people group is defined as the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance
there are 16,719 people groups
there are 6,933 "unreached" people groups
there are 6,929 living languages
the largest unreached people group is the shaikh group that contains over 215,000,000 peoples
therefore, tune in tuesday to see the first group. if you cant wait until then, then check out the people group of the day on the left side.
"therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest..." -matthew 9:37-38
This is cool. Thanks for sharing! Hope you guys are doing well!
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