Time is Short

Monday Morning.  Good thing I brought my Starbucks Travel Mug and plenty of Tazo Awake Tea with me to Nicaragua.  I feel a bit sluggish this morning, but I also feel a sense of urgency.  In fact I almost vetoed the blog this morning to get straight to work.  When the sun sets today I enter into my last fifty days as a Missionary Associate.  The time is short, but the work is much. 

Nicaragua is the second poorest nation in Latin America and the Caribbeans.  According to the World Food Program Website, http://www.wfp.org/content/country-programme-nicaragua-2008-2012, 48% of the population in Nicaragua is below the poverty line and 17% live in extreme poverty.  The statistics says that 1.5 million people here are undernourished.  They believe that 20% of the children under the age of 5 have chronic malnutrition and it may be as high as 50% in some of the most food scarce regions.  It is said that the median income of the poor covers only 24% of the cost of the basic foods needed to live ( http://www.wfp.org/countries/nicaragua ).  As is with most third world nations the richest 20% own 60% of the wealth and the poorest 20% only own 3% of the wealth.  That is only the economic side of poverty.  The stats on these pages don't show those who are poor in spirit.  Those who are in need of a kind word or smile, those who are in need of a Savior, those who need to hear the word of God - the Love of God!

The time is short and the work is much.  This is what pushes me as I enter into my last days here in Nicaragua.  To work hard to support the work that the missionaries are doing here, to work hard to help create a way to assess and evaluate compassion projects here in Nicaragua.  This morning I feel urgency for the work ahead.  I encourage you to feel the same urgency where you live and work and play.  For the time is short, the work is much and the harvest is here.

I leave you with this verse:  "Let me give you a new command: Love on another.  In the same way I loved you, you love one another.  This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples - when they see the love you have for each other".  John 13:34