Wrong choice?

I had a customer at work the other day tell me that I was wrong for going to help out in Africa and that I should help the children here in America first. Interesting thought. I didn't get an opportunity to discuss indepth his charge, but I did think about it a lot.

How rich do we need to get before we are willing to help others in need? Seriously. Does he not realize how many organizations are functioning at this very moment with the exact mission of helping our nation's underprivileged children? I did try to shoot back a quick and dignified response. I chose to compare the situation in Uganda to America. I pointed out how there were children in the land where we are going whose parents have been hacked to death by machetes in front of them. Leaving the oldest child to care for his younger siblings, most of which are too young to work and are extremely susceptible to disease. I mentioned that over HALF of the population of Uganda was age 15 and younger and had very few parents, let alone mentors, to help them grow up into their full potential.

He paused for a moment and then changed his thought on the matter by encouraging me to come back here to help the kids when I was finished with those in Africa. I smiled and he left. It seems odd to me that people who don't know me would immediately judge my motives as being poorly placed. This customer has not been the only person to say such things to me.

I did learn something however. I learned, again, not to judge people off the cuff. It is so easy to do and I do it all the time. In this example, I judged him right back and thought him to be ignorant and misinformed, thus elevating my pride and making me feel better about myself. But all that served to do was give me an overinflated ego. It would have been good to have actually entered into an intelligent conversation on the matter had time permitted.

So how did I end up responding? I prayed for both him and I that God would grant us both bigger hearts to love the children both in America and abroad whose needs are great. I still feel my heart pulling me to serve in Africa rather than, say, inner city Chicago. And this was the final conclusion that I rested on. That we all serve work together as a body each doing his or her own part, wherever each person's individual gifting is.