I have had some interesting responses to my post Tuesday regarding why I was choosing to be part of the Invisible Children night and not go to the UNM Men's Basketball game. Some thought it was pointing at them, and some have found comfort in what I said. For the first group, relax I was seriously only looking at my heart and how wicked it is, and for the second, I am glad this rambler can help in anyway.
Today we find ourselves a couple days removed from these 2 events. So do I regret not going to the game, nope I do not. Like I said Tuesday this game was a big one, but really in sports and specifically in college basketball aren't they all this time of year? The Lobos ended up losing by 1 point in overtime, in what appeared from all indicators (newspaper and post game radio show) that this was a great game and a fun atmosphere.
As for the Invisible Children, I think after Tuesday night I am becoming more resolved than ever to within the next few years go out to Uganda and spend time with Lutalo the child we sponsor through Compassion, as well as go to the displacement camps and see first hand what is going on. We had around 90 young adults show up at the Lobo Theater last night, probably 30-40 came from The Well, so that was great! Through the video we met a boy named Sunday who is 15 and living in a displacement camp, which really is just a bunch of straw huts set up side by side. Basically it is like having 30,000 people living on a small patch of land, side by side and really on top of each other. Sunday is a smart kid who wants to be a doctor not because that is where the money is, but because he is surrounded by disease and suffering and wants to be part of the solution, how totally Un-American Dream is that? Both of Sunday's parents are dead, and he was unable to pay for schooling, until he received help from the Invisible Children campaign.
During the filming, Sunday was getting sick, and unlike here in America where we go to the doctor or to the drug store for some meds, he did not have any of that, so he just went and rested. He seemed to recover by the end of the time the Invisible Children people were visiting.
After the showing we got to take out the roadie crew that is touring the country showing these films and spreading the word about the hardships going on in Uganda. It was cool getting to meet these people and talking to them about life on the road, and why they are doing what they are doing. I did get to watch the final few minutes of the game in the restaurant we went to, in fact one of the roadies watched it with me.
So how has life changed 2 days since that movie? I think something I have learned to avoid is romanticizing the situation, in other words, I do not look at my house, clothes, or whatever else and hate it. I do not wish for poverty or to be in Sunday's position, what I see in all the blessings I have is resources to use them for God's glory. Instead of hating my new MacBook I try to use it, to email Lutalo, or to spread the word about these children in Uganda, as well and primarily to share the gospel through this blog. Instead of despising my income I work, and it takes work, to be sacrificial in my giving.
The game is a distant memory, and I doubt lives were changed from it, but I think some of us in the Theater may have been.
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