Rick Warren and Rwanda

This article was extremely moving and inspiring to me. It's about Kay Warren and her husband Rick (the more famous of the two) and how they got involved with Rwanda and have a vision to end poverty there.

Now, I'm not a big Rick Warren fan. I don't think The Purpose Driven Life is the answer to all the church's and world's problems...but I was very very pleasantly surprised by what he's doing, and just by the bigness of his vision. I have no idea if it will work in the way it's supposed to, but one thing I will say, if he can mobilize Evangelicals to local and global social justice work in the same way they got behind his books, the world will be a changed place. Really, I think this could change the shape of the American Church.

If you don't want to read the whole article (though I think it's worth your time), I'll just put a few of the things that struck me:

• "With this newfound affluence and influence [from the popularity of his books], the couple says they made five decisions: They did not upgrade their lifestyle. Warren stopped taking a paycheck from Saddleback. He repaid 25 years of his salary to the church he founded in 1980. They created three charitable foundations. They started "reverse tithing," meaning they live on 10 percent of their income and give away 90 percent." [Amazing witness.]
  
• "God gets the most glory when you tackle the biggest giants. When David takes on Goliath, God gets glory. What are the problems so big that no one can solve them?"
  
• I (Rick Warren) went to Bible college, two seminaries, and I got a doctorate. How did I miss God's compassion for the poor? [All too often, I think this is common especially in Evangelical churches--how AMAZING would it be if Rick Warren sparked a new sense of committment to this in the more conservative churches in our country?!]
  
• "A country (Rwanda) that was abandoned by the world has been adopted by the church," he says. [Beautiful. That's how it should be.]

God, bless this effort. Only with you is it possible--please transform our Church and our world. Transform us so we can take part in that work too. Amen.