“The fundamental value at the heart of [the Christian journey] is to do justice,” says writer Natalie K. Watson. Doing justice, unlike many of our spiritual intentions, is neither abstract nor intangible. 

Recently, two of my good friends have made concrete efforts to do justice through their travels in the developing world. They have gone to work and pray alongside the people.

Megan Casey is my dearest girlfriend from high school. Though I am Protestant and she is Catholic, we have shared our faith, families and lives over the years since our time at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh. I visited Megan at the end of the summer. She had just resigned from her good job, feeling that God was calling her in a new way. She signed on to go to Uganda for an extended stay on a Habitat for Humanity build. The following is from an email that Megan sent me:

“Here is what I know - there is a great beauty and diginity to even the simplest of lives, the issues are complex, and kids are universal. The kids were such a tremendous part of this trip.  That is about all I know.”

Going outside of mundane environment can open us to new ways of seeing and of being. 

Rev. Monica Spencer, my beloved sister in ministry (and an  awesome facilitator for the Marble Women’s Ministry Retreat)  has spent the last few weeks doing ministry all over Jamaica. She is part of team of ministers trying to do Christian justice by supporting educational efforts, health improvement and Christian discipleship and leadership. So, Rev. Monica is visiting sick and homebound folks, praying with and for people, leading a women’s retreat, attending worship and more. Stepping back from the U.S. context, her heart has been captured by her Jamaican “neighbors.” She told me that she admires the way that people live with the Holy Spirit there. Their lives are always oriented toward God and yet they embrace the land.
 
Jesus Christ would have been from a developing country, if he were physically present today. Faithful travelling is a way of living more deeply in his footsteps. Experiencing the lives of people in the developing world makes it more difficult to make them “other” or commit violence in their countries. I admire my friends for stepping out and being present with God’s children in developing nations. How can we become signs of the “beloved community” in our usual routine and in faraway places?