This week I'm participating in the Unchartered Conference which is hosted by Unearthed Ministries. This year's conference is about global missions, which is obviously very close to my heart. One speaker shared her experience about post-mission trip stress. After returning from Ethiopia she would weep every time she went in her room and saw her possessions, sat down to eat a meal, or did anything revolving around the material. She would get angry with those who were wasteful or who didn't understand how she felt. It got to the extreme point where she was depressed, angry, and thankfully, sought counseling from a Christian friend. I must admit that I felt this when I returned from Honduras. "Why do I have so much & they have so little? I don't need all of this stuff. Hundreds of children don't get food, so I shouldn't eat either." I look in the mirror and I feel incredibly guilty because I'm a middle-class, white, American. Though it comes from a pure and compassionate heart, this is a distorted way of thinking. We don't need to feel guilty about the things God blesses with. All things are from God. Nothing belongs to us anyway. However, we to have a responsibility to take care of those in need. Rather than destroy ourselves with guilt, we need to take advantage of our blessings to help those in need.
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