12/28 - The year of Remembrance

It is thoroughly astounding to me that God always remembers us. At no point is He distracted so that His focus deviates from His children He has meticulously created. There is unspeakable comfort in knowing that we are remembered. There is a confidence in knowing that when we cry out to God, He remembers to listen and to act.

The very act of crying out infuses every life and may well be endemic to the human condition - men, women, young people, even children. Not every cry is ridden by anguish, but every life has its own cry or has heard the cry of another who is struggling with emotions or passions in need of explanation and relief. I think of the particular cries of vulnerable children in southern Africa who desperately need advocates for their survival. Every person, in the midst of life´s various seasons, raises their voice to express the pain or injustice of the present situation. However, some, for a variety of reasons, are better able to cope more readily with such pain or are better able to handle the general vicissitudes of life.

Forgotten Voices is not simply a movement to apply some healing balm to the bitter pain of an unheard cry from an African child; rather, it is a movement that seeks to face squarely the reality that all of us in our private moments deal with deep cries of anguish and need. Some of you have experienced the pain of losing a loved one. Many children and in Africa know this pain in the form of a dead parent. Some of you have felt the pain of loneliness. Many children in Africa know the loneliness of separation from friends and family due to the stigma attached to the AIDS virus. Some of you have known what it is like to trust in God for the provision of your physical needs. Many children in Africa depend daily on God to sustain their lives. We all have a lot more in common than we think.

It is for this reason that I need your help to share in the cry of an African child. These deep, unheard cries of loneliness, fatigue, loss, and anguish are the same in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania as they are in Harare, Zimbabwe. Remember that you are not alone. Likewise, there is a child in southern Africa that needs to know that they too are not alone in their cries for help.

In my personal life, I am making this new year the ¨Year of Remembrance¨. I want to remember the cries of these children each day. Please join me in becoming an advocate for their lives in 2009.

In remembrance and with blessings,

Jesse