I still struggle to understand what kind of twisted worldview allows for the casual killing of so many innocent people for any reason. Ironically, on Tuesday, just as these attacks were occurring, I was making my final report for the President’s Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in Washington, D.C., to administration officials. In describing the NGO community I noted that “not insignificant is the reality that each year, our community of aid workers loses staff members to violence”—something very few other non-profits ever face. The next day, after the tragedy became public, President Barack Obama has also passed along his condolences to us through his senior staffers.

I returned to Seattle Wednesday and immediately walked into our weekly chapel, which had been quickly re-purposed as a prayer meeting for our staff in Pakistan and the families of our fallen coworkers. Words do not express the shock and horror of what happened. We live in perilous times, and yet all of us at World Vision believe that our work offers a powerful alternative to violence and hatred. Jesus’ simple command to “love our neighbors as ourselves,” continues to motivate us. In the end, love will win more battles than violence, and so we continue our work to love our neighbors—even those who choose to hate us.

Why did the earthquake that struck Chile early Saturday morning—500 times more powerful than Haiti’s earthquake seven weeks ago—cause so much less death and destruction? Why are the people of Haiti mourning 200,000 dead, while the death toll in Chile likely will not exceed 1,000?

The media has consulted plenty of experts to attempt to explain why. CNN featured Dr. Colin Stark of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University. “Poverty is what ultimately kills most people during an earthquake,” he writes.

Dr. Stark gets it.

More than half the population in Haiti lives on less than $1 a day; the average annual income is $1,300. Nearly one-quarter of Haitian children suffer from malnutrition. Only half of Haitians over the age of 15 can read and write, and less than 30 percent reach the sixth grade.

Chile has a literacy rate greater than 95 percent among its residents over age 15. Boys and girls, on average, are in school 14 years. In addition, only 2 percent of Chile’s people are living on less than $2 a day; the average Chilean earns nearly $15,000 annually.

As I said in an op-ed earlier this week in the Seattle Times, both earthquakes have brought immeasurable tragedy in people’s lives. I visited Port-au-Prince a few days following the earthquake, and I met many individuals whose lives were changed forever. I left four days later with a mixture of sadness and anger, the latter because most of the deaths would have been prevented—if Haiti hadn’t been so very poor.

In the aftermath of these tragedies, Chile will need support, but Haiti will need intensive investment, not for months, but years.

World Vision has made a long-term commitment to walking alongside Haitians as they renew and revive their country. What is God calling you to do over the long haul for the poor?

My speech to hundreds of Christian college and university presidents on Wednesday was old news. Centuries old: How do we challenge young people to love the world that Christ died for?

On Wednesday evening, I delivered the opening keynote at the International Forum on Christian Higher Education in Atlanta, hosted by the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Preceding my speech, Bishop Desmond Tutu said in a videotaped greeting, “Your institutions exist to raise up servant leaders—a generation committed to justice and mercy—the next generation of salt and light in the world.”

University presidents will influence 1 million Christian young people graduating over the next decade. Many of these schools are already committed to equipping their students for service.

I challenged them to do more—starting with believing their students can change the world. Christ asks no less. He invites us to be change agents, “salt and light”—preservers of good and dispellers of darkness.”

What does that mean today? It means challenging racism and ethnic hatred wherever we find it. It means offering hope to homeless Haitians. It means entering the stench of the refugee camps in Darfur; rescuing girls forced into brothels in Cambodia; and ministering to the millions dying from AIDS in Africa. It means challenging preventable diseases that kill 25,000 children worldwide each day.

It’s tempting for graduates to enter fields such as business, medicine, and law and live safe, insulated lives. But there’s so much at stake in our world, and this generation has unprecedented opportunities to tackle it. More importantly, Jesus poured Himself out for the world, and His love empowers us to do the same.

How are you praying for the young people in your life? How can we encourage them to lead passionate lives that embrace Christ’s revolutionary movement to change the world?

We can’t miss the countdown to Christmas, especially the ubiquitous ads reminding us how many shopping days are left. But our culture pays little attention to the lead-up to Easter. The biggest signs, Mardi Gras and marshmallow Peeps, have nothing to do with what we Christians celebrate on this amazing day.

Easter celebrates the central belief of our faith—that Christ conquered death so that we might live. This deserves some contemplation. Many denominations achieve this through Lent, 40 days of preparation for Easter. This year’s Lent season started on Wednesday of this week.

What does Lent mean to you? Giving up chocolate or caffeine? Or is it a special time for you?

Last Sunday I spoke at Marine View Presbyterian Church in Tacoma, Wash. The congregation is fired up to focus their Lent observance on The Hole in Our Gospel Six-Week Quest, an interactive study based on my book. Thirty small groups are working through the curriculum and DVD. The Gospel Quest turns the major themes of The Hole in Our Gospel into a visually engaging, what-will-you-do-about-it call to understand how our individual salvation gives us new life—and draws us into God’s mission of redemption and justice for the whole world.

Lent is a good time to prepare not just for Christ’s resurrection but for God’s call on your life. And the Gospel Quest is a good tool to help you do that.

As it turns out, Lent is about giving something up: ourselves. Easter can be an opportunity to dedicate all of ourselves to Christ, to live as ambassadors for Him—right here, right now, in a world that desperately needs Him.

What are you doing to prepare your heart and our world for Easter’s miraculous message?

Flowers. Candy. Greeting cards. Last year, American consumers spent more than $17 billion on Valentine’s Day, according to the National Retail Federation. Men spend an average of $163, while women spend an average of $85. (Who said chivalry is dead?)

I do have plans on Valentine’s Day to show my wife that I love her. One of the reasons why I love her is because we share in a bigger love story: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (I John 3:16-18).

Christ showed us a different kind of love—one in which you pour yourself out without expecting anything back. There’s plenty of need for that in our world, with more than 1 billion people living on less than a dollar a day and 25,000 children who die every day in ways we could help prevent.

Child sponsors are part of God’s love story. For only about $1 a day (less than the cost of a rose on Valentine’s Day!), sponsors show that God cares for children in tangible ways. And the children know it for what it really is: love.

“My sponsor’s name is Dan; he is a wonderful father and he means a lot to me because he loves me so much. That’s why he has done so much for me,” says Pathias, 12, a sponsored child in Zambia who lost his father to AIDS and lives with HIV himself.

“You’re my inspiration,” writes Sheen Mae, 16, from the Philippines, to her sponsor. “I treasure your love. I wish you could feel my happiness and see my smiles. Thank you.”

What’s your sponsorship love story? Or what are the ways you love “with actions and in truth”?

I’ve been touched by Americans’ big-hearted response to the earthquake in Haiti, especially the tremendous concern for children who lost family members in the disaster. The impulse to do something to lessen these children’s suffering is a beautiful thing.

One question I began hearing a lot early on was about whether adopting Haitian children is a solution. This issue arose when I was in Haiti. I did an interview about it with MSNBC on the roof of a Port-au-Prince hotel, while strong winds and passing helicopters threatened to blow over the video tent—quite a wild experience. Trying to focus, I expressed the position of World Vision and other organizations against rushed international adoptions (other than adoptions that were already in progress before the earthquake).

Past experience informs us that the chaotic period following a major disaster is when children are most vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking. Haiti’s earthquake struck at the end of the work day when many children were not with their parents. It will take time to sort out which children are orphans and which are merely lost or separated from family. The best course of action now is to keep children in their home country and protect those who seem to be on their own while working to locate any surviving relatives.

People who yearn to rescue children from the midst of devastation do have wonderful intentions. They want to provide these children with a new start in a good home. It seems like the right thing to do. But the right thing at the wrong time can have unintended consequences. And we should take care to spare Haitian children any further pain. Find more information here, and please continue to pray for Haiti’s children.

Since the devastating earthquake in Haiti, who of us has not asked the question, “Where was God?” The sudden deaths of so many innocent people and the staggering human suffering that persists seem to mock the very notion of a loving God. Where is God in Haiti?

There was another time that God was mocked in the face of suffering and evil. It happened on Calvary as Jesus Christ, God’s own son, was spat upon, beaten, and hanged on a cross. And people asked, where was God then? If he was God, why didn’t he save himself?

God had another way. On that cross, Jesus faced all the evil that ever was or ever would be. He took upon himself the sins of mankind, the evils of injustice, the pain of suffering and loss, the brokenness of the world. He felt every pain and took every punishment for every person who would ever live.

Where is God in Haiti? Christ is not distant from us in our times of suffering. He lies crushed under the weight of concrete walls. He lies wounded in the street with his legs broken. He walks homeless and hungry through the camps. He weeps uncontrollably over the child he has lost.

Where is God in Haiti? He hangs bloody on the cross: “A man of sorrows, and familiar with our suffering” (Isaiah 53:3).

“But where is hope?” we might ask. Here, alas, we need to see something not easily seen from human perspective. We, not God, are trapped in time. We, not God, see only in part and cannot yet see the whole. We, not God, must wait for that day when “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

What then must we do? Unlike God, we live in the time between the already and not yet, and we must wait until then. Until then, we are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. Until then, we are called to comfort the afflicted; give food to the hungry and water to the thirsty. Until then, we are to shelter the homeless, clothe the naked, and grieve with the grieving. Until then, we are to care for the widow, the orphan, the alien, and the stranger.

We are to let our light so shine before others that they might see our good deeds and give glory to our Father in heaven. Until then, as the apostle Paul wrote, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors … as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Until then, we must show forth God’s deep love for Haiti.

I’m back in Seattle after last week’s whirlwind: four days in Haiti, then a busy day in Miami talking with donors, media, and congressional staff. To those of you who prayed for me, thank you—I felt those prayers.

Images of what I saw in Haiti keep replaying in my mind, as the plea I heard over and over echoes: “Don’t forget us.” That’s my fear, too—when the media spotlight turns off, what happens to Haiti’s suffering people? Their nightmare is ongoing—I got to wake up and leave.

In Miami, I met a Haitian cabdriver who was understandably heartbroken over his country’s devastation. He’s convinced that the international community must take over the rebuilding process for it to succeed. I think he’s right. This earthquake struck Haiti at its heart, affecting at least a third of the population, so it’s unlikely that the country will be able to recover by itself.

Last week, I was so moved to be among World Vision’s hardworking team on the ground in Haiti, people from many nations working together around the clock. For nearly two weeks, they have been carrying out distributions of food, water, medical supplies, and shelter supplies, and now they are setting up “Child-Friendly Spaces,” safe zones for children to play. Soon they will draw up plans, in coordination with other nongovernmental organizations, for how World Vision will participate in long-term recovery.

Soon, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and the latest political news will dominate our attention. But please don’t let yourself move on to “business as usual.” Find a photo of a Haitian child and post it where you can see it often. Pray daily. Continue to give to your favorite charity.

As Kim Hjelm commented on my Facebook page “This is not just a reaction to an event … this is a new way of living. I will be part of the marathon relay team that will continue to help for years to come.” So will World Vision. Please join us!

This morning I woke up in a bed and had a shower, albeit a cold one. Ordinarily these developments wouldn’t rate a mention, but here in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, I’m one of the lucky ones. Up to 2 million people are homeless, sleeping out in the street, with limited clean water.

We can’t do anything more for the dead, but it’s imperative we help survivors who have lost everything—and time’s running out. Crowds of people packed into makeshift tent communities set the scene for the spread of diseases like cholera. People need food, water, hygiene.

But today, help arrived. World Vision distributed food from the U.S. government to 500 families in Port-au-Prince. The rations included lentils, bulgur, corn-soy blend, and oil—not gourmet, but life-giving. There were some tense moments as desperate people crowded the truck. But we managed to keep control, and people got food.

The first man to receive his rations looked at me and saw “World Vision” on my shirt. He smiled and said, “Thank you.” I want to pass those words along to many of you who have given generously to Haiti emergency relief. Millions of dollars have poured in at World Vision. We will use those gifts wisely over the weeks, months, and years it will take Haiti to recover from this disaster.

People will rebound, and I’ve seen small signs of this already: children laughed and danced; street vendors began to sell their wares again. Haitians are resilient, having gone through so much in the past. Their spirit amazes and inspires me.

My first day in Haiti was an overwhelming mix of surreal images, turbulent emotions, and uplifting moments. I’m still trying to make sense of it.

Driving through Port-au-Prince from the airport, the city’s devastation was unbelievable, almost apocalyptic. Imagine if our White House, plus the Capitol building, the National Cathedral, the Supreme Court, and the police headquarters in Washington, D.C., collapsed. Hard to get your head around that, isn’t it? That’s Haiti’s reality. In mere seconds, the earthquake changed the capital city forever.

I visited one of Port-au-Prince’s struggling, overburdened hospitals to help distribute medical supplies. It looked like a war zone. There were wounded people crowding the courtyards and hallways, with doctors and nurses working feverishly to treat them. As shocking as it was, I was told that this was a vast improvement from last week, when the parking lot was littered with corpses.

The hospital staff were happy to receive the medical supplies, as they’d run out of even the most basic items. A human chain formed to unload supplies from the truck to the hospital storeroom — volunteers passing boxes of antibiotics, tetanus shots, and gauze.

Then, at 4:45 p.m., the time when the earthquake struck exactly a week earlier, everybody fell to their knees and prayed and praised God. People sang “Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art” in French and English.

What an unforgettable moment. That people can praise God in the midst of such suffering is a tremendous testimony to the power of God in Haiti.

May this encourage you, as you pray. God’s hand is on this broken country and its grieving, wounded people. God is moving among those who are here to help. God is here.

As you read this, I will just be getting my bearings in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a place brought low by poverty—then crushed by last week’s earthquake.

On the way over, I was pretty apprehensive. The closest I’ve been to a major disaster was the Asia tsunami. I visited affected countries a few months after the crisis, and although the grief there was still fresh, stability and order reigned. In Haiti, I don’t know what to expect. The situation on the ground is highly fluid.

I hope to convey a simple message to suffering families—that World Vision, faithful donors, and the international community are all ready to help them as they climb from the rubble and rebuild their lives. World Vision has worked in Haiti for 30 years, and we’re not going anywhere. We will help communities recover over the coming months and years.

Please continue to pray for Haitian families who are grieving, for children separated from their parents, for exhausted relief workers toiling around the clock. I’ll write when I can to share what I see and experience.

I’m sure you are seeing the news about the devastating earthquake in Haiti—and like me, praying for the thousands of people left injured and homeless.

With more than 300 World Vision staff on the ground in Haiti, I’m also concerned for colleagues. There were some tense moments Tuesday night when we heard that the national director in our office in Port-au-Prince, an American named Frank Williams, could not locate his wife and two daughters. By Wednesday morning, we learned they were safe—praise God!

I fear the news will not be so good for Haitian families who were already struggling in this poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. These are the people “caught in the web” of poverty’s harshest problems—the last thing they needed was to lose loved ones, homes, jobs, hope.

And yet, Haiti is loved by Christians. There’s a significant presence of Christian organizations and mission agencies in the country, and many U.S. churches send volunteers and short-term mission teams there. Previously, nothing dampened these believers’ dedication to Haiti—not political unrest, high HIV infection rates, floods and hurricanes, or even spiritual darkness. Certainly they will now work even harder to help this beleaguered nation.

What’s your connection to Haiti? Are you or your church involved in an outreach there? Share about this in the comments section. And let’s all pray for each other—for churches, for missionaries, for World Vision’s relief efforts and those of other organizations, and for the many other brothers and sisters who just won’t give up on Haiti. Let’s commit to surround them all in prayer.

Have you noticed that the Christmas displays in stores have been replaced by sales on exercise equipment and self-improvement tools?

As we dive determinedly into our resolutions, how have you resolved to build up your faith muscles—not just your stomach muscles—this year?

I’m still surprised by the variety of people who have told me God has used this book to bolster their faith. From prominent executives at a reception hosted by Secretary of State Clinton last month to friends at a wedding just a few weeks before, people tell me God is using this book to challenge them to a renewed commitment to serving Christ in life and deed.

One of the most dramatic stories recently was from Steve Vines in Arizona. A little over a year ago, Steve had a six-figure salary, a Mercedes, and a Rolex. But his job was requiring a sacrifice of integrity that he couldn’t make. He quit to open what he hoped would be a lucrative consulting business with a small non-profit on the side. But when the consulting contracts didn’t materialize, Steve said, “I read the book and, for all intents and purposes, gave up the dream. Instead of working 80 hours a week, I’m going to work 35, and put God where he should’ve been all along.”

Beyond his job that merely “pays the bills,” his non-profit is wildly successful. In Pakistan, Steve worked with local Christians to start a sewing school that offers young women a safe and dignified way to earn a living. He also distributed 15,000 meals to the poor and homeless at Christmas, and he’s now working on opening another school.

How is God calling you to act out your faith this year? It doesn’t have to be as dramatic as Steve’s story. But could this be your time to take action?

Will you set a New Year’s resolution this year? Or several? Maybe shoot for “10 goals in 2010”?

Sounds good, but I’ve noticed—based on personal experience—that resolutions often don’t work because we seem to put more energy into making them than in carrying them out. We often want different results in our lives, but we aren’t willing to make the necessary changes.

But whatever your goal, there’s always something you can do, from a small step to a big move. If you want to lose weight, for instance, you can give up your nightly bowl of ice cream—that’s fairly easy, right? Or you can sign up for “The Biggest Loser.” You just have to know what you’re ready and willing to do.

If your goal is to do more to serve God and love your neighbor, the same principle applies. You already have what you need: a willing heart. Now, you just need to take a step. “God can’t steer a parked car,” to quote my former pastor.

To get you started, here are some examples of big and small things you can do this year to fight poverty:

Simple: Buy a world map and post it where you will see it frequently, find countries mentioned in the news, and pray for people affected by dire poverty, war, or natural disaster.
Advanced: Look into how you can leave your favorite charity in your will.

Simple: Volunteer for a few hours at a local soup kitchen, food bank, or AIDS hospice.
Advanced: Sign up for a short-term missions trip with your church or an organization like Youth With a Mission.

Simple: Use your Facebook profile to share a cause you’re passionate about with your friends.
Advanced: Organize an effort in your church, campus, or with friends to write letters to Congress advocating for increased government funding for poverty alleviation.

Hopefully, some of these ideas will spark an idea for you. If not, keep looking, talking to other Christian servants, and praying for God’s direction.

What will your resolutions be?

This is a time of year when we tell stories—the same stories, over and over again. There’s the one about Rudolph, the reindeer with the radioactive nose who becomes a hero on a foggy Christmas eve. There’s the cranky introvert, Scrooge, who made everybody miserable until a tag-team of ghosts scared him out of it. And let’s not forget the one about another cranky introvert, the Grinch, who tried to steal his neighbors’ holiday spirit.

These are fun tales, but the best story of all, of course, is the account of Christ’s birth. And as many times as I’ve heard it (let’s not do the math), some element of it always amazes me. I’m struck by the unlikely characters: the young, unmarried woman chosen to birth the Son of God; the shepherds, no education or social connections, chosen to be among the first to stand in His presence.

I’m struck by the setting—a place foretold in Scripture, but arranged through a census, of all things. And of course there’s the stable that becomes the makeshift birthing room. Mothers, can you imagine delivering your first baby on a bed of straw?

All of these details tell us something about Jesus. He arrived among us in the humblest of ways, promising from the very start His affinity with the poor, the homeless, the persecuted, the “left out.” He chose people without the right sort of résumés to play a role in His birth—telling us that any of us can love and serve Him. He turned our whole notion of what a king is by coming not to conquer people, but to conquer sin.

The Christmas Story is also our story. We are the same “weary world rejoicing” at our Savior’s birth. The thrill of that day long ago becomes tangible to us right now. This Christmas, may you feel fresh exuberance in the coming of Jesus—and your heart filled to the brim with His life-changing presence.

Ask a child what he or she wants for Christmas, and most have a specific (and long) list. I hear that the sold-out toy this year is an electric hamster.

Jacob, an 8-year-old boy from California, wrote to World Vision about the list he made this Christmas—a special kind of list. Jacob sponsors a child in Bangladesh. After receiving the World Vision gift catalog, Jacob told us, “I wrote down the animals I wanted to buy. I asked mom if she would go with me around the block to collect donations.”

Jacob’s mom, Kimberly, said she was hesitant for Jacob to ask neighbors for donations, but, “If God put this on his heart, I can’t stop him.” She didn’t think they’d get much. She watched on the sidewalk while Jacob went up to the door. He told them about World Vision and the special animals he’d selected from the catalog.

Jacob collected $1,875.

As parents, we want our kids to have a heart for giving, and a heart for being grateful for what they are given. One of the greatest joys of working at World Vision is to see how God gives our donors a desire to give to the poor. It’s what God did long ago in my heart, and I see it everyday in our donors, whether they have the means to give a few dollars or a million.

What does your Christmas list look like? If you are still looking for meaningful gifts, check out our gift catalog at www.worldvisiongifts.org.

Do you ever get frustrated by holiday commercialism? If you’re like me, you might struggle to keep your focus on the true spirit of Christmas.

World Vision sent a small team around the world last month with a mission: If we believe that Christmas is more about Christ’s presence than presents, could we find examples of that?

In Cambodia last week, our team met Leap, a 14-year-old who ran away from an abusive family and was living on dangerous streets before he came to the World Vision center for street children. Leap described how his life changed: “I have enough food to eat; I have clothes; I have everything that I want, especially education.”

What Leap received went much deeper. Motivated by our faith in Jesus Christ, World Vision serves alongside the poor and oppressed as a demonstration of God’s unconditional love for all people. We hope the depth of our faith is evident in our lives, words, and deeds. At the center, the teacher’s Christian faith influenced Leap. “I started to believe that Jesus created the earth and sky and even me,” he said. “[Now], because I believe in Jesus, He’s the one who guides me though all of the hard life.”

To borrow an advertising phrase, what Leap received is priceless. Have you noticed that the best gifts you’ve given (and received) at Christmas have nothing to do with how much they cost, but with how much they mean? Have you ever given a gift that changed someone’s life?

There is still time to celebrate the true spirit of Christmas. What kind of Christmas will you have this year? How can the gifts you give reflect a Christ-centered Christmas?

P.S. Follow the True Spirit of Christmas tour through Ecuador, Cambodia, and Zambia on Facebook (find stories, photos, and videos under the Notes tab). The team heads to Ethiopia next week. And you can find the type of life-changing gifts that Leap received at www.worldvisiongifts.org.

Here we are in the peak shopping season of the year. How long is your list?

I’m trying to approach things differently this year, tough as it is in our consumer culture. A few months ago, Reneé and I had a clean-a-thon after our youngest child left for college. We emptied the attic, closets, and garage, gathering up an astounding volume of stuff we no longer needed. Our Prius looked a bit like the Grinch’s fully loaded sleigh as we headed to Goodwill. There were eight cars—perhaps other empty-nesters?—in line ahead of us at the drop-off.

Afterward, we drove on to Costco. Yes, I need more stuff (pants for an upcoming trip). I missed the irony in this until I saw people mobbing the checkout with carts loaded to the brim. Then it hit me: We have things we just don’t need, yet we continue to buy more all the time.

This would be funny if everybody in the world lived in abundance, but—as I know better than most—that’s not the case. Tragically, many have only the clothes on their backs.

How do we cure this insatiable desire for more stuff? I don’t have any magic answers. My family struggles with this as well. Perhaps it begins with reordering our priorities and paying attention to the disparity between us and the “have-nots” in our world—those Jesus called “the least of these.” I sometimes wonder if I should write, “What would Jesus do?” on the inside of my wallet or on the front of my credit cards.

A great alternative at Christmas is the World Vision Gift Catalog. You can honor friends and family by giving things like goats, clothing, fruit trees, and Bibles to the poor. These gifts address “needs” rather than “wants”—and they won’t end up someday at Goodwill. (See how these gifts are used by following the “Spirit of Christmas Tour” on Facebook.)

Have you given through World Vision’s Gift Catalog? What did you choose, for whom, and how was it received?

It seems like a day doesn’t go by without a reference in the news about the latest scare: the H1N1 or “swine flu” virus. I understand people’s fear; this virus can be deadly. But it reminds me of the alarm raised a few years ago over the avian flu, feared to cause a global pandemic (it didn’t).

Meanwhile, the world’s worst global pandemic is still with us: AIDS. It’s still killing many more people than any flu; about 2 million people died of AIDS-related causes in 2007 compared to between 250,000 and 500,000 flu deaths worldwide. And while it is preventable, many of its victims can’t protect themselves—particularly the 740 children who die of AIDS every day.

These children likely contracted HIV from their mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, or through breastfeeding. Of all the things a mother wants to pass along, a deadly virus is nowhere on the list. And she doesn’t have to. In 1994, scientists developed drugs to reduce mother-to-child transmission.

I saw this myself in Zambia when I visited the Zamtan Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission clinic, one of the most advanced AIDS centers in Zambia. Pregnant women and new mothers can access anti-retroviral therapy, safe delivery measures, and counseling on ways to reduce the risk of passing HIV to their babies—by 80 percent.

This life-saving clinic had an exciting connection to the U.S.—Chicago business owners Jim and Tedde Reid rallied about 30 others to raise $1.4 million to fund it.

World AIDS Day is Tuesday, December 1, and it’s a perfect opportunity to pray about AIDS—and act. If the Reids inspire you as they did me, make it a priority to do something.

One simple thing World Vision is advocating is to call your member of Congress and ask elected officials to keep their promise to provide $7.2 billion this year for AIDS prevention and care. Go here for more ideas on how to help innocent children on this World AIDS Day.

I’m looking forward to some pumpkin pie next week and a chance to reflect on my blessings: God’s grace, family and friends, good health, and meaningful work.

What makes you grateful? I’m not asking what you’re grateful for—but what does it take for us to feel grateful? And how does being grateful change you?

Earlier this week, Warren Watson posted his story on World Vision’s Gift Catalog Facebook page. After losing his job last October, he said, “I looked around my house and my life and knew that I lived better then 90 percent of the people/children around the world.” Rich in gratitude but not in funds, he invited people to help him purchase goats for people in need. He raised more than $2,000—enough for 32 goats!

Warren is still unemployed, and again this Christmas, he’s determined “to take a portion of the abundance that I have” and “forward it to those who have a real life need.”

That’s gratitude in action. That’s moving from thanks to giving.

Think about the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. What have you been given, five talents, two, or one? How many of us have been duped into thinking that we haven’t been given enough? A constant barrage of advertising messages tells us we’re always missing something that we need but don’t have.

Here’s a reality check: Plug your income into www.globalrichlist.com. Then search the Bible for what God has to say about the God-given responsibilities of the wealthy.

What would change in our lives if we truly acknowledged how much we’ve been given? How would a consistent perspective of gratitude change our lives, and our world? This Thanksgiving, how do we move from giving God thanks…to giving God everything?

Have you noticed that “love” is not just a noun for God? It’s a very personal verb. “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son” (John 3:16). “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son” (I John 4:10).

When God says, “For I, the Lord, love justice” (Isaiah 61:8), it comes after an amazing list of what justice—in action—means to God: good news for the poor; release for the oppressed; praise instead of despair; renewal for ruined cities; and other amazing proclamations.

At the Justice Revival happening this week in Dallas, churches and Christians across the city have caught the vision of living out God’s love—love as a verb. And as the conference wraps up, hundreds will head out to serve across the city, proclaiming “I love justice” with more than words, but “with actions and in truth” (I John 3:18).

What Justice Revival is doing is so important because loving justice is not an abstract concept for God—it means changes in individual lives, as well as the world.

For most of my life, loving God and loving justice meant believing the right things, living the right life. Coming to World Vision taught me the richness of loving as a personal verb. I’ve watched wells being drilled—the thirsty given water. I’ve seen the lame walk and the blind given back their sight. I’ve met disaster survivors praising where they were once despairing. I’ve seen widows comforted, orphans cared for, and children freed from slavery and abuse.

Loving justice is not a calling reserved for a subcategory of Christians. It is God’s heart, and so it must be ours.

Please pray for Justice Revival’s Day of Action in Dallas this weekend. In your city, how have you seen God’s love for justice in action? How can you be a part of it?

Last week the famed French anthropologist, Claude Lévi-Strauss, died at age 100. His very long obituary in The New York Times referred to his “imposing legacy” of literature and thought on world cultures.

Do you ever wonder what your obituary will say? Maybe a better question is: Do you ever think about what your legacy will be?

Two weeks ago, I spoke to a group of Christian university students at Harvard. Imagine the legacy possibilities in a gathering like that—future lawyers, doctors, CEOs, media moguls. And I was once just like them, as a student at Cornell, looking forward to a bright future of making lots of money.

In graduate school, I became a Christian, and I’d like to say that everything changed for me then. The seed was planted, but I continued my climb to corporate success, and only later did I realize the difference between career and calling.

God gave me the opportunity to plant a seed in the Harvard students, to remind them that for followers of Christ, there’s a greater end goal than a corner office. We are called to love Christ and love our neighbor.

As Ryan’s comment on last week’s blog noted, Christians and atheists both can be compassionate givers. But our call to love our neighbor is rooted in—and is a reflection of—serving Christ. We are called to be carriers of the gospel, bringing good news to a world that needs it, now more than ever. God has chosen me, those students, and you, to leave a legacy of compassion—an honor and a grave responsibility.

How are you living out your legacy? Are you pursuing a career or a calling—or both?

At the Harvard forum last week with Peter Singer, the influential ethicist and atheist, I was grateful for the opportunity to share with him and those gathered how God has changed my life.

We agreed that, as humans, we are essentially selfish. (Who can deny that?) We agreed that there is a spark of compassion in each of us that compels us to act. Where we respectfully differed was why.

Singer described giving as part of an “ethical life,” that people are much more likely to give when they see others giving and when they realize that it’s personally fulfilling. As a Christian, I added that giving away money is an unnatural act. Only God can make a change in someone’s heart that causes us to overcome our selfishness.

Our reasons differ, but Singer is advocating the same radical thought that Jesus did: That is, to ignore our neighbor’s need is wrong—for a Christian or an atheist.

Many of us are doing something. But compared to what we could do, is it enough? As we enter the main giving season of the year, will each of us—and the American church—heed the Holy Spirit’s urging to be intentional about our giving? Or will we succumb to selfishness or fear of further economic turmoil?

“Rich and I are trying to develop a culture where it should be unacceptable not to give to the poor,” said Singer. Do you think it could happen? Why do you give to the poor? And what will wake up the American church to really care about the poor—and act it?

Want to hear my dialogue with Peter Singer? Listen to the 90-minute audio here.

And, you can see a slideshow of images from the event.

Our books came out just days apart back in March. We drew from much of the same research. And we came to virtually the same conclusion: Now is the time to tackle global poverty and suffering—and it’s up to us to do it.

The main difference? Peter Singer approached his argument in The Life You Can Save from an ethicist (and atheist) point of view; I approached mine from a Christian perspective.

This afternoon, Peter Singer and I are appearing together at Harvard University to talk about our shared call to action. It’s compelling that there’s so much common ground between us, despite our divergent backgrounds. I’m looking forward to our exchange.

Some people might say that I shouldn’t engage with an avowed atheist who has liberal views. But global poverty is so staggering, the issues so urgent, that making a difference will take all of us. We don’t have to agree with each other’s philosophies to collaborate. I believe that people of good faith can work with those of good will to accomplish great things.

But what do you think? Can Christians work alongside the Peter Singers of the world? If so, how? What has been your experience of working with people of diverse viewpoints to fight poverty, locally or globally?

Next week I’ll write about the Harvard event. I’ll try to make a podcast available if you’d like to listen for yourself.

When Jesus said in Matthew 7, “By their fruit you will recognize them,” I doubt he was thinking about Washington state apple trees. But as Jesus goes on to describe, “every good tree bears good fruit,” that’s what this verse reminds me of—especially this time of year, when our world-famous apple crop comes to fruition.

Good works are the natural fruit of a vibrant faith. Not that our salvation depends on these works. It’s the life in the tree that produces the fruit, not the fruit that produces the life in the tree.

This past Sunday I spoke at Lighthouse Christian Church in Bellevue, Wash. It’s not big, but it has a big vision. Mobilized by their “Advent Conspiracy” campaign, the congregation assembled 500 kits for African AIDS caregivers, and they’re giving generously to Asia disaster relief. I’m honored that my book has helped them in these efforts.

Churches like Lighthouse bear good fruit because of the life of Christ within them. As an African pastor once told me, “A church that lives within its four walls is no church at all.”

So what does that mean for each of us and our churches? How is the life of Christ at work in us? Are we bearing good fruit? Spend some time in prayer about this, or ask God to help you expand your crop.

I’d also appreciate your prayers next week when I meet with acclaimed bioethics professor and atheist Peter Singer at Harvard on the topic of fighting global poverty. Our different perspectives on why we do this work should make for interesting discussion.

If you’ve been watching the news lately, you know that there’s a lot of suffering in the world just now: earthquakes rocking Indonesia; typhoons ravaging the Philippines and Vietnam; floodwaters deluging parts of India; a tsunami shattering American Samoa.

It makes me ask, Why, God?

But then I read Psalm 46:1-3: “God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” Apt descriptions for our times. God knows such things shake us to the core. Yet He wants us to put our faith in Him—no matter what.

And if we do that, the question changes: What now, God?

I don’t think God wants any of this suffering. I don’t know why He allows it. But I do know He brings good out of bad.

What if the recent disasters present yet another opportunity to bring good news to the poor—to show the disbelieving how big our God is by helping to save the world He loves? We pray, sometimes every day, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” But how do we live daily as kingdom-bearers, even when the earth seems to be revolting against us?

Let me hear from you. What’s your reaction to calamities? Are you overwhelmed, or do you feel more deeply convicted of your part in God’s plan?

Most mornings I have to check my schedule to know what my day looks like. But not Oct. 1. There’s only one thing on the agenda: prayer.

World Vision sets aside the first day of the new fiscal year, Oct. 1, solely for corporate prayer—thanking God for what He has accomplished through our work and asking for His provision in the year ahead.

Prayer has always been an essential part of World Vision’s ministry. The difficulties we face working in some of the world’s poorest and least stable countries demand our dependence on God. In 1981, former president Ted Engstrom made Day of Prayer official. This year, nearly 40,000 World Vision employees around the world will eschew e-mail and business meetings and devote themselves to prayer and worship.

It reminds me of a quote I heard from Martin Luther: “I have so much to do that I will spend the first three hours in prayer.” For those of us who are wired for action rather than contemplation, it’s hard to literally stop and ask for help—even from God, who we know guides our steps.

I’m always inspired by the story of Nehemiah in the Old Testament, who was a man of both prayer and action. His fervent prayer time with God prepared him to carry out an ambitious plan to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He sought God’s blessing, then he got down to work: securing permission from the Persian king and mobilizing people to rebuild the walls—in just 52 days.

On Thursday, would you join us at World Vision in prayer? We would appreciate your prayers for the children and families we serve. Your devotion time can also be an opportunity to clarify God’s call in your life or to seek His favor on your plans. Like Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s time, much of our world today is in ruins—and every child of God has his or her part to rebuild.

The question I am most frequently asked after people read my book is, “What do I do now?” God has used the book to convict people at all stages of life to live differently. Here’s what people are telling me:

“I am an executive at IBM. I started as a computer programmer and am now [an] Industry Leader… I know that God is preparing [my husband and me] for a change in direction or focus.”

“I am a young graduate (21) and just got a degree in communication… I am still struggling to learn the gospel and what it means to live it out in my life.”

“I don’t think I will be the same after reading it. It brought me to tears more than once…but more importantly my hope is that I will rise in faith to obey Jesus in a deeper way.”

I’m excited to share with you that some talented folks at Cross Section (www.crosssection.com) who also were moved by reading my book have created some challenging materials to help readers discern, “What now?” It launched this week at www.thegospelquest.com.

The Gospel Quest is not your typical small-group study series. In fact, the six DVD sessions are closer to fast-paced documentary “shorts” with hard-hitting information, scriptural alignment, real stories, and a daily journal that will inspire you to go deeper. You can use it in your church, with your small group, or individually.

But you’ll have to want to take this journey. The Gospel Quest won’t let you off the hook with just thinking about living differently. It is specifically designed to motivate you to action. If you take up this challenge, I hope it will give you clarity and energy for the road ahead.

Check it out and be sure to let me know what happens as a result.

What was an Ivy League-educated Yankee doing last weekend in Virginia at the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway? Mostly, I was a fish out of water there, but it was for a good cause: to help tell the story of the world’s suffering children.

In fact, I’ve been traveling around the country quite a lot lately, at least as much as my “day job” will allow. Everywhere I go, I’m talking my heart out about this message, trying to change hearts—one person at a time, or, when I speak at Women of Faith, 10,000 at a time. So, at the NASCAR event last weekend—where World Vision had a strong presence—the setting was more challenging than usual as far as discussing issues of poverty.

But I figure, why not try? Wherever we go, God’s mandate to love our neighbor—and telling their story—remains the same, whether we’re at the NASCAR concession stand or chatting with our friends on Facebook or wherever. Everyone we meet needs to hear what’s happening in the world and how we can help.

Take Lee Mellott, one of the hundred-plus volunteers who helped staff World Vision’s display at NASCAR. Lee, 70 years young, sponsors 16 children in eight countries—and get this: He writes to each one of them every month. For two days at the Richmond International Speedway, Lee stood out in the hot sun, talking to people as they strolled by, encouraging them to stop into World Vision’s display. I can’t think of a better person to talk to perfect strangers about sponsoring children.

If you find yourself in a situation where you can share what God is doing in your life to help the poor, I challenge you to do it boldly. You never know, the person you’re talking to—even the guy with the tire track painted on his face—could go on to change the world.

Eight years after the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, we still pause to remember. Where were you when you heard the news? On that bright Tuesday morning at World Vision’s headquarters near Seattle, we immediately gathered to pray. Shocked and grieving, our staff cried out to God.

It has become trite to say that 9/11 changed the world—but without a doubt, it did. It became definitive proof that what happens thousands of miles away is often painfully relevant to our lives here. It’s not just our foreign friends who have moved closer—our enemies have as well.

Today, the world’s problems can still seem overwhelming. It’s so much easier to retreat and turn away, staying safe in our church pews. But as Christians, do we really have the option of leaving the world’s suffering out of sight, out of mind? Should we only pay attention when the trials and tragedies happen on our doorstep, as they did on 9/11?

As Christians, we seek answers in Scripture. I Peter 3:10-11 quotes Psalm 34: “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.”

“Seek peace and pursue it.” That’s not a passive suggestion. What does it mean to you and me—ordinary churchgoers, not world leaders—to pursue peace?

The majority of us struggle to understand this post-9/11 world, let alone do something about it. But surely there is something each of us can do to pursue peace. For one of World Vision’s former board members, Leighton Ford, it meant making a modest, yet significant, investment. Soon after 9/11, he suggested to his then 12-year-old grandson, Benji, that they sponsor a child together. He explained his motivation by saying: “We wouldn’t change the world, but maybe we could change one life.”

Indeed. As you reflect on and remember 9/11, I encourage you to respond as well. Pray for the “one life” you might have the power to change. Pray that peace may prevail on earth. Pray that we all will open our hearts and minds to “be the change we want to see in the world.”

It’s great to live in a country that celebrates working people with a holiday at summer’s end—a last chance to barbeque or hit the beach with friends and family. By choice, Americans are a bunch of workaholics, and luckily, we’ve got laws and protections around our labor.

But millions of children in the developing world can’t say the same. Worldwide, there are an estimated 218 million child laborers who are 17 and younger, and of these, 126 million work in hazardous conditions. Try and get your head around that: a child as young as 5 toiling in an environment where he or she can be injured or even killed.

Vivian, a girl in Ghana, was even younger than that when she started working at a rock quarry at age 4. Now 7, she’s an expert at wielding a heavy iron hammer to split stones for 10 hours, stopping only to eat. The sharp stones sometimes cut her, and pebbles get in her eyes. “I don’t like the work I’m doing,” Vivian says. “I like to be in school instead, but there’s nobody in the house to help me.”

Where are her parents? Her mom is right there at the quarry—she herself has been working since age 10. History is repeating itself for Vivian.

This is a grim thing to think about on a long holiday weekend, but children like Vivian desperately need our prayers. The plight of these children surely “break the heart of God,” to quote World Vision founder Bob Pierce. Pray for their safety and comfort, but most of all, pray for a way out. Vivian should be in school, preparing for a real job someday.

Also, as you rest or play on this labor-free day, pray for the efforts of World Vision and other organizations working against child labor—especially, helping parents improve their income so that their children are spared back-breaking work and a dead-end future.

“So what do I do now?” That’s the common question I hear from people who have read my book. Maybe that describes you? You’re motivated; you’re convicted—but you’re not sure what to do next.

One way to figure it out, as I suggest in my book, is to look at what you might have to offer in three areas: time, talent, or treasure. In God’s plan, none of these trumps the other—they’re all necessary for helping the poor. Remember, everyone has something to offer.

And then what? Well, here’s some inspiration I found in the media just this past week:

Time: Instead of spending his Thanksgiving leave with his family, Matthew Purkey, a Marine in North Carolina, plans to live among the homeless. Not only that, he’s hoping to raise $2,400—$25 for each of his 96 hours—for a local shelter.

Talent: Right here in Seattle, Rasmus Rasmussen, a professional photographer originally from Denmark, spent a day shooting free headshots for unemployed people to use in job-hunting.

Treasure: A piece in The New York Times highlighted Women Moving Millions, an effort by female philanthropists to improve the lives of women and girls around the world. They’ve raised $180 million so far!

I’m sure there were countless more people pouring out their time, talent, or treasure this week who didn’t make the news. You might have been among them. If not, next week, make a promise to yourself to try some action, however small, to help someone in need. This could lead you to your piece of “God’s great puzzle”—and you just might change the world.

I was 10, shrinking under the covers at my parents’ heated argument in the kitchen. My father had come home drunk again. I suddenly felt that I was the only one I could rely on. And slowly I realized I had one way out: school. My parents were dropouts. But I would excel. I would make something of myself.

Now, as a parent, I’ve seen all five of our children graduate and go on to college. Our youngest, Grace, will be a freshman this fall.

In Zimbabwe, Ayanda, 12, dreamed of being a schoolteacher. But his mother, Rilato, a widow caring for four children and four grandchildren, didn’t have the money to send any of them to school. Neighbors donated enough to send one child. Rilato chose 9-year-old Sibongokuhle. “Because of the drought, I must make difficult decisions,” Rilato said.

Parents shouldn’t have to make these decisions. Children shouldn’t have to bear these burdens. In sub-Saharan Africa, just 71 percent of children of primary-school age are in school. Only 25 percent go on to secondary school.

The poorer the household, the less likely they are to be in school. And that creates a vicious cycle dooming another generation to poverty.

Back-to-school season in the U.S. means aisles of school supplies and fall clothes. But in the developing world, it means parents and children devastated that school is out of their reach.

I am grateful that education was my escape from a difficult childhood. As you prepare your own children to head back to school, take time to pray with them for Ayanda and the millions of children around the world who cannot go to school. Lift up a prayer that doors will open for these boys and girls to get an education. And every day as your children head off to school, breathe a prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of education.

One of my favorite children’s books is Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss. All five of the Stearns kids took a turn hearing the story of an elephant who comes to the aid of the “Whos,” a microscopic community of beings he can’t even see. Despite ridicule and torment from others in the jungle, Horton courageously defends the Whos, believing “a person’s a person, no matter how small.”

I think about how Horton’s Whos are like the poor in our world. They can be right under our nose, but we don’t see them—or, like the jungle animals in the story, we deny their existence. To societies like ours that value wealth, fame, power, and job titles, these “invisible” people simply don’t count.

God asks more of us. He asks us to be Hortons for children, marginalized communities, homeless people. He asks us to do what Horton did: acknowledge people’s inherent value and do what we can to help them.

To the world, this might not look like a great accomplishment. But as Mother Teresa said, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.” Just as a person’s a person, no matter how small, a person’s small action—done in the name of Christ—has great significance in the kingdom of God.

Who are the Whos in your community? Prayerfully consider if God is calling you to Horton duty—to advocate for them or help them. You might not need to save people from total extinction as Horton did; it’ll probably be a lot simpler than that. But remember that even the small things you do for the “least of these” bring joy to God’s heart.

Anthony joined a gang at 13. Brittnee was often homeless as a child. Some of the other young people spent their childhoods in abusive homes. But—amazingly—each has transformed these stumbling blocks into stepping stones.

Last month, World Vision brought Anthony, Brittnee, and more than 100 young Americans from distressed urban and rural communities to Washington, D.C., for the annual Youth Empowerment Summit.

The youth delivered personal, passionate pleas to their congressmen to support the Youth PROMISE Act violence prevention legislation currently before Congress. They asked pointed questions of Joshua Dubois, director of the White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. And they learned what I wish I knew at their age—that they can influence change.

Their actions are a challenge to each of us. Do you believe you can influence change—from the halls of Congress to the huts of Africa?

Next Wednesday, August 12, is International Youth Day. What can you do to encourage our young people—here and around the world—who are growing up in tumultuous times?

1. Pray that God would heal the wounds of children around the world, so that their stumbling blocks become stepping stones to a better world.
2. Tell your congressman to support the Youth PROMISE Act to address youth violence.
3. Make a personal investment in a child’s life—in your own city or around the world. Sponsor a child through World Vision.

When I spoke at Women of Faith last weekend, it was all the more enjoyable because of being on my home turf, Seattle, and having Reneé with me (and Hannah, the only one of my kids who could be convinced to come!).

If you’ve read my book, you know the important role Reneé plays in my story. I try not to miss an opportunity to tell people how amazing she is. Last Friday night was no exception—and better yet, she was right there to hear the applause and affirmation from 4,200 people (mostly women) in attendance.

Reneé is truly a Proverbs 31 woman. I can give countless examples of how she anchored our family during both good times and bad (lots of these stories are in the book!). One of the key moments I like to share is when God called me to World Vision. I was a reluctant recruit. Reneé wasn’t. “If God is calling you, we go,” she said. “The only safe place to be is in God’s will.”

As I told the Women of Faith audience, this meant giving up our dream house in Pennsylvania and uprooting from the community and church family we loved. Not every wife would accept that so willingly. But Reneé had yearned to “open her arms to the poor” (Proverbs 31:20) since she was a little girl. She knew that God was calling us both.

If you’re struggling to discern God’s call in your life, a key source of help might be right there in your own home. Your husband or wife is likely praying for answers, too, and he or she might bring clarity when you’re most conflicted. Listen to your spouse … I always have, and she’s never steered me wrong.

The average yearly salary of baseball’s All-Star players at last week’s game is $7.3 million. New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter is the highest paid—$21.6 million for 2009.

Sports heroes are revered icons. There were 14.6 million viewers who tuned in to the All-Star game.

I’ll admit it was a great game (and I didn’t even notice President Obama’s jeans), but numbers like these leave me wondering: Where are our priorities?

I met a man named Esatu in Ethiopia earlier this year. He’s not famous or rich. He’ll never make millions or be known by millions. But he’s a true hero.

Esatu is a World Vision project manager. His community has an old problem. To avoid paying a traditional dowry for a wife, men abduct and rape girls. The girls, then “spoiled,” have little choice but to marry the man.

One girl was abducted while walking to school. She lost her shoes in the battle, and was marched for miles, shoeless. She was held captive in a dark room for 40 days and 40 nights.

Until the girl’s grandmother went to Esatu for help. Community elders told Esatu to stay out of it. Esatu did something that had never been tried in this community—working with police to take the abductor’s parents to jail.

The girl was freed, and is now back in school. Her grandmother calls Esatu a great man.

We need to rethink our priorities. Do we value people for how entertaining they are? Or do we value people for what they stand for, for the way they love God and love others?

How can Christians change a culture that idolizes people for the wrong reasons?

Last week I was in our nation’s capital, speaking to about 50 people at the offices of the ONE Campaign. This is a hive of advocates for social justice and the poor, located just a block from the moneyed lobbyists of K street on one side, the U.S. Treasury Department on the other, and three blocks from White House. What a neighborhood!

This neighborhood has been shaken up a bit by the new kid on the block. ONE is an advocacy organization with more than 2 million members committed to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. I was one of the “midwives” who helped birth ONE in 2004, so it’s gratifying to see how the movement has grown in just five years.

While the folks in the room with me were like-minded on poverty issues, they weren’t all necessarily believers. But whenever I talk about my book, I can’t avoid sharing the gospel, because that’s what it’s all about. My call to serve the poor comes from God, as it does (or should) for all Christians. The audience was receptive … at least they laughed in all the right places!

One point I brought up was that everyone, regardless of religion, can agree on is that technology and travel have broadened our definition of “neighbor.” Americans can no longer say we don’t know about the suffering around the globe. Whether or not we have taken to heart Jesus’ words to “love your neighbor,” we are now aware that our neighbors are in distress—and we have unprecedented access and ability to do something about it.

This is ONE’s message, and it’s increasingly joined by many voices. But if you’re a Christian, be advised: This is no trend. “Love God. Love your neighbor”—that’s what Jesus asks of us. It’s my “job description”—and yours, too.

I find Luke 6:46 to be one of the most chilling verses in the Bible: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

Last weekend we celebrated the Fourth of July. The convictions of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence drove them to revolutionary action—and it cost them. Some were imprisoned. Two saw their sons captured or killed in battle. Many had homes and property ransacked and looted in the Revolutionary War.

Have your convictions ever driven you to action—even if it cost you?

Luke 6 makes me uncomfortable—and that’s good. We read a verse, hear a sermon, or feel deep joy at worship, and are convicted that God wants more of us. But how deep is our commitment to respond, and what do we do about it?

You don’t have to be a missionary to India to be a completely devoted follower of Christ, but you cannot turn your back on Christ’s call to surrender all.

Christ sent us into the world as His hands and feet to change it, claim it, redeem it and reform it…for Him. But we retreat into our churches and stay in our comfortable routines instead.

Here’s just one uncomfortable question: Is it right and fair and biblical for people in Africa to be starving while people in America are dieting because we eat too much?

It starts with surrender. There are lots of people who care, who are convicted, but then do nothing.

In addition to our free study guide, we’re working to develop more tools to help you, your small group, and your church answer the question many of you are asking: “Now what?” I’ll share more on that in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, what is God calling you to do? It’s a personal answer for each of us, uniquely designed for us. How do you translate conviction into action?

Last week I was in St. Louis to speak at another Women of Faith event. Have you ever been to one of those? Speaking to thousands of women is kind of terrifying to me. Most men struggle to communicate even with their wives, let alone thousands of women they don’t know. I asked the men in the audience to give a shout, and it was silent until one guy screamed at the top of his lungs!

Actually, the Women of Faith speakers—Patsy Clairmont, Luci Swindoll, Sheila Walsh, and Mary Graham —have been very encouraging and supportive. I’m looking forward to joining them again on several more of their events.

In St. Louis I asked the audience the same questions I ask in the book—the same questions God used to change my life: “What does God expect of you? Are you willing to be open to God’s will for your life?”

You see, the gospel is about love. It’s God’s grace, expressed to the world—His love in action. And we—each of us—have been called by God to demonstrate His love to a hurting world. That’s why the gospel is such good news.

If any of you feel overwhelmed by poverty and the challenges in the world, if you think you are too insignificant to make a difference, please think again. Why? Because it’s not about you. It’s about God working through you. That adds up to so much more than we can do on our own. If we give Him everything, then we are firmly in His will. There is no better place to be.

It’s a debate that is as old as Christianity itself: faith vs. works. The Bible says, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save him? . . . faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:14, 17). But the Bible also says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—Not by works” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

I’m not a theologian and certainly can’t solve this age-old question. But I am humbled and surprised to learn how the message in my book has compelled people to put their faith into action.

A pastor in Jacksonville, Florida, called to tell me, “I simply wanted to say ‘thank you’ for reminding me that knowing the gospel, receiving the gospel, telling the gospel, and living out the gospel are inseparable.”

A stay-at-home mom in Pennsylvania was inspired by the book to eat cornmeal for six days in solidarity with the poor and hungry. She blogs about how it made her sick—but also grateful. And instead of birthday presents, her daughter asked party guests for personal hygiene items that she delivered to a local women’s shelter.

A corporate CEO gave the book to every member of management and set a goal to generate $1 million annually by 2013 “to be put to work for the Kingdom of God.”

Wow. These stories are not only an encouragement, but also an affirmation that the gospel itself was born of God’s vision of a changed people, challenging and transforming the prevailing values and practices of our world.

Salvation cannot be separated from service, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10). What do you think your faith is calling you to do?

Last week my daughter, Grace, graduated from high school. What a great Father’s Day gift, to see the youngest of my five children achieve this milestone! Grace, like all of her siblings, will go on to college—Pepperdine University.

I made my own way through school—all the way to a master’s degree—without much parental involvement, so I know it’s tough (see “Dreaming of the Ivy League,” pages 74-76). I made sure it was different for my children. It’s also been gratifying to know that Renee and I are helping the children we sponsor to get an education—something they need just as much as, if not more than, kids in the United States.

But for some, it’s still not easy. One of the children we sponsor, Jackson, a boy in Zambia, became the head of his household at 13, after both of his parents died of AIDS. He quit school to support his three siblings. In my book, I write about meeting Jackson and his brother, Morgan, a few years later on a trip to Zambia (see “A Sharp Elbow in My Conscience,” pages 268-271). I’ll never forget my emotional meeting with Jackson’s grandmother, Mary, who regarded me as a new father for the boys.

I’ve taken this role seriously. When I heard a few years ago that Jackson had dropped out of school again, this time due to misbehavior, and was causing problems for his family, I wrote him a letter expressing how troubled I was. I asked him to make better choices and consider his impact on his younger brothers and sister. And I told him I believed in him.

Since then, my son, Andy, now 27, taken over Jackson’s sponsorship payments. Andy met Jackson in 2008 and arranged to send him and his brother Moses to boarding school. What an amazing thing to see my own son care for my “adopted son” in this way.

British poet George Herbert said, “One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.” I’m glad Andy and I can be there for Jackson, despite the distance. But he also needs those schoolmasters—caring teachers to help him complete the race he began so well when his world turned upside down.

This Father’s Day, I’ll be praying for Jackson and all our sponsored children. Will you pray with me for the millions of children around the world struggling to get an education? And please consider sponsoring a child. You might just be the answer to a child’s prayer.

My Ethiopia trip is still on my mind. I want to tell you about a man I met named Bzuneh Tulema, whose life was changed, in part, by an unexpected thing: bio-gas.

I have to admit, I snickered when I heard that we were going to see a bio-gas project in Ethiopia. There’s something funny about the concept of using waste—cow and human—for fuel. But I stopped laughing when I heard Bzuneh’s story.

Bzuneh, by his own admission, was once a falling-down drunk. I know firsthand what alcohol abuse can do to a family (see chapter 6 in my book, “A Hole in Me”). Bzuneh’s addiction caused misery. He beat his wife and his children, and they left him. His right cheekbone still bears the imprint of a crushing fall he suffered while inebriated.

Then something incredible happened. He was living in a small hut with his second wife, Bilile, also an alcoholic. They fought constantly—with words and fists. One day, their neighbors confronted Bilile, telling her she needed to put things right with God. “They said if you believe, you will become good people,” she told me. “So I went to church and accepted Jesus.”

Shortly after, Bzuneh also became a Christian and began to clean up his life. When World Vision workers met him, they saw a man with potential who needed a second chance. Bzuneh and 25 other farmers were given an ox, a donkey, solar cookers, and training to construct a bio-gas system for their cooking instead of relying on wood for fuel.

Bzuneh is now self-reliant, creating his own fuel and selling the excess as fertilizer. He raises livestock and honeybees. He is respected by his community. “Before the training, I was a poor man. After the training, I am changed. I even assist other people.” Bzuneh’s sons from his first marriage now live with him, and they remark that the difference in the sober father is significant.

What a privilege to meet this man who turned a wasted life into the sweet smell of success! See Bzuneh’s photo on my Ethiopia trip slideshow. And for reflection: What unexpected thing is God using in your life for good?

I’m constantly amazed by how God is using the message in my book to touch people. I’ve gotten so many comments from readers about how they feel compelled to act.

Just last week, I spoke at a Women of Faith conference in Spokane, Wash. Picture this: me as one of just a handful of men in a crowd of thousands of women on Friday night, and I was the keynote speaker! But they bought every available copy of my book, donated part of the profits to a local ministry, and sponsored more than 1,300 children—a new record for a Women of Faith conference.

Such a generous outpouring humbles me, as do your comments about how the book is impacting your lives.

Many have asked, “What’s the next step?” How I wish there were an easy answer! God’s call looks different in every person’s life. God created each of us with a unique contribution to make in the world. The best way I know to discover this is to offer up a willing heart, and turn a listening ear to that still, small voice. It’s also valuable to seek counsel from your pastor and loved ones—they’re part of God’s story, too.

You may also be asking, “Now what?” If you’re in a city where Women of Faith is gathering, please come. If you want to go deeper, we’ve created a free study guide for groups and individuals.

If you’ve already taken some next steps, please share your story. We’re each a piece in God’s great puzzle—when we share, we see how He’s fitting us all together.

The first six hours of my day are intense—a race to get ready for work, prep for meetings, and tackle task after task. Those six hours before noon are some of my most productive.

That’s why it was so astonishing to spend time at a water hole in Ethiopia earlier this month, talking to children and parents who spend the first six hours of their day much differently—just getting water.

At the crack of dawn, with the rising sun as their only source of light, they begin their long journey toward the water source. More than 5,000 people, plus their cattle and donkeys, get water from just five water holes in a place that looks like the Grand Canyon. Baboons peer down from the high limestone cliffs, waiting for humans to leave so they can drink and wash.

I have written much about the need for water in my book—how as many as 5 million people die every year from water-related diseases (see “I Was Thirsty,” pages 135-140). Contaminated water causes deadly diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid, and cholera. It’s not enough to say that water is important to people in Africa—water is life. I am passionate about providing clean water for those who don’t have it.

At the water hole in Ethiopia, I felt that I was witnessing more than a wellspring of health issues. I was watching dreams die. For every moment a young girl spends gathering water—including waiting her turn at the water hole, painstakingly extracting it cup by cup, and then trudging back to her village—she isn’t going to school. She isn’t advancing.

To the list of water-related diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid, cholera, and guinea-worm, I want to add another malaise: water-borne despair. Its consequences are sorrow, irretrievably lost time, and the slow draining of dreams. I saw it all at the water hole.

It’s something to think about as I spend my first six productive hours. In the Pacific Northwest, water is something we take for granted. I cross a lake to get to work, my windshield wipers tapping out a beat in the rain.

What other things do we take for granted? It would probably take more than six hours to list them all.

What do you talk about over a cup of coffee? In Ethiopia, they talk about AIDS.

As you know, I was in Africa earlier this month, with a group that included Christian author and preacher Max Lucado and his family, Women of Faith’s Mary Graham, and Thomas Nelson Publishing CEO Mike Hyatt and his wife, Gail (see Mike and Gail’s beautiful pictures at his site). We all emerged exhausted, mosquito-bitten, and incredibly blessed.

One of our first experiences was a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony. Women dressed in ceremonial white costumes and beaded jewelry roasted coffee beans until they were shiny and black, ground them, stirred them into a black clay coffee pot, and served the aromatic brew with lots of sugar in tiny china cups. Ethiopians don’t rush their coffee. These ceremonies are a place to linger and talk.

That’s why the Hope and Light Association, a World Vision-supported HIV and AIDS advocacy group in Ethiopia, uses coffee ceremonies to bring people together to talk about the disease—to help communities break the stigma of AIDS.

Metages Legesse, the mother of two sponsored children, lost her husband to AIDS and then found that she, too, was infected with the virus. Sadly, her best friend shunned her. Metages says she wanted to die. Instead, she invited her friend to a coffee ceremony at the Hope and Light Association. Sip after sip, the two women reconnected. Metages still lives with HIV, but now she lives with joy. (Read about how a church in Zambia overcame the stigma of AIDS in my book on pages 235-237.)

At the coffee ceremony, we drank coffee, munched popcorn, and broke bread with hundreds of association members, including HIV-positive children. They welcomed us like family in a room that glowed with candlelight.

Now back in Seattle, I’m as busy as ever, starting the morning rush with coffee I gulp quickly so that I can get on with the business of the day. But I admonish myself to stop and smell the coffee—and reflect on the transformation I saw in Ethiopia.

I met so many amazing people I want you to know. I’ll share more stories in the coming weeks, and soon I’ll add a photo slideshow of my trip to the Gallery section of this site.

And, I enjoyed reading last week’s comments from Mike and Anne who both wrote about coming face-to-face with people in poverty and how that affected them. I’d love to hear from more of you. Together, perhaps, we can create an online coffee ceremony where we linger and share our stories. Let’s talk.

I’m home from Ethiopia, where as predicted, connectivity wasn’t the easiest. My traveling companions —Max Lucado, Mike Hyatt (CEO of my publisher, Thomas Nelson), and others on the trip did manage to regularly Twitter, however. Find their tweets at Twitter.com under the #wve hashtag. By everyone’s account, it was a great trip. We all thank you so much for your prayers!

Every trip like this—to meet those living in dire poverty—leaves me changed. I feel a combination of being outside my comfort zone and yet exactly placed in God’s will. I’m fired up to help families in Ethiopia and elsewhere to reach their full potential. I know their names. I see their faces. It’s personal.

But now I’ll get back into my daily life, and Ethiopia’s vibrant memories likely will fade. As I wrote in chapter 9 (page 109) of my book: “I drift back inside my safe and protected world.” I know my traveling companions will struggle with this as well. Mike wrote in a Twitter post during his return home: “I pray that I won’t be sucked back into the status quo.”

When God blesses us with significant—even life-changing-experiences, it’s a challenge to keep the flame of urgency burning over time. How do we build on these experiences to accomplish great things for God?

Max Lucado and Mike Hyatt are well positioned to influence millions of people. My prayer for them, and for the whole team, is that we retain the urgency of those convicting moments in Ethiopia, when the needs were so clear and our hopes so high. As I wrote in chapter 9, may we continue to see every suffering child as our child.

After some sleep and processing, I’ll share more from Ethiopia. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you. After coming face-to-face with people in poverty and need —anywhere in the world, even in your own city —how did it change you, and how do you sustain your passion?

This week I’ll be in Ethiopia, and I will soon meet up with my friend and fellow author, Max Lucado. It’s his first trip there, and he’s gearing up to write a book scheduled for publication in 2010.  He tells me that year will mark his 25th in book publishing, and to celebrate, he plans to partner in an even bigger way with World Vision. While we’re in Ethiopia, we will visit children and families assisted by World Vision.

God has powerfully used the moments I’ve spent with people in their humble homes around the globe, listening to their stories. My heart was broken the first time I met one of the real “poorest of the poor” (read about my encounter with Richard in the prologue, pages 7-11). My prayer for Max in the days ahead is that he will experience a similar life-changing encounter.

I’m told that connectivity in Ethiopia is not dependable, but when or if possible, I will try to post entries, so that you can be among the first to hear what Max and I are up to.

In the meantime, would you please pray for me, Max, our wives, family members, and the others traveling with us, as well as our Ethiopian hosts? Pray for our health and safety. Most of all, pray that our hearts remain wide open to God’s leading-even when we’re hot, jet-lagged, or intestinally uncomfortable.

Last Sunday, I had the honor of appearing with Pastor Bill Hybels at Willow Creek Community Church’s services. Thankfully, it wasn’t up to me to preach to the thousands of people gathered, I was just there to answer Bill’s questions about my book!

Our friendship goes back 11 years, beginning when Bill helped recruit me to World Vision. With hindsight, we can both see how he was part of God’s plan for my life (see chapters 2 and 3—especially Bill’s question to me on p. 45).

I was tremendously humbled Sunday, when he said that he wants “every single person” at his church to read my book, promising they will “hear a story of total surrender.” Even more humbling, two Willow Creek donor families stepped up to fund 10,000 copies to distribute after services.

Bill’s sermon focused on Luke 12, where the rich man with the bumper crop decides to build bigger barns to hold it all. God tells him he’s foolish because he will die that night. Bill asked the congregation: “Are we multiplying our resources to get more for ourselves, or are we leveraging our resources to serve the kingdom of God?”

In fact, Willow Creek Community Church is a model for sacrificial service. They just completed a 5-Day Challenge where they ate and drank similar portions to what the world’s poor consume, and they donated funds to hunger and water projects worldwide.

Such sacrifice always reminds me of another great parable that Jesus told, of the rich young ruler. In Mark 10:21, Jesus tells the man he lacks one thing: being able to give up everything he has to serve the poor and follow him. We may judge the rich young ruler harshly until we realize that we are holding something back from God. We all have something dear that we don’t want to sacrifice. (See chapter 3, “You Lack One Thing,” for further thoughts on this.)

Bill ended his sermon with a challenge: “When was the last time you formally declared to God, ‘I will do your bidding no matter what it costs me or where you lead me?’ ”

For me, the sacrifice is more than worth it. I’ve found myself richer in spirit and closer to God. How about you?