Archive week: Why We Fight (pt 1)

This week, as we lead into the new year, we are choosing some of our favorite past posts… reflecting on what we know and how far God has brought us. This blog was originally posted in July of 2009…
Reason #9: Leadership Council in Dupatis a community near the Segera Mission. A group of Pastors and Christian Leaders within the community.
Reason #9: Leadership Council in Depatus a community near the Segera Mission. A group of Pastors and Christian Leaders within the community.

Many of you may remember the HBO mini-series “Band of Brothers.” It was a terrific ten-part World War II mini-series produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks that followed the 101st Airborne’s “Easy Company” from D-Day to the end of the war.  The 9th episode is called “Why We Fight” and provides perspective, albeit horrific at times, on why the war was necessary.

We’ve sort of adopted the phrase “Why We Fight” at The 410 Bridge as a way to remind us of the importance of our mission…  especially in the midst of the chaos, conflict, business, and distractions of our everyday lives.  We can too easily lose sight of the incredible work God is doing in Kenya.

James Ward was recently leading a Service Team in Kenya and sent us his Ten Reasons Why We Fight…  We’ll post all of them over the next week or so, but here are the first three.

10.  Americans just don’t get it!
We just don’t know what we don’t know.  We take for granted how blessed we are, and so often miss our opportunities to leverage those blessings to serve the kingdom and the people God loves.  Through trips we help people to see that,  and open their eyes to a reality they would otherwise never experience.

9.  We help bring the body of Christ together.
Today I sat in a room with five pastors from different churches in the same community.  All of them were sharing about the work that God is doing in their community through The 410 Bridge.  They all work together, pray together, and dream together.  They celebrate success and failures together!  As a result their churches work together, do events together, and are all fuller.

8.  Women need to be loved and adored.
I watched a group of Kenyan women receive manicures from a group of American women who wanted to serve them and help them feel beautiful.  The faces of the Kenyan women absolutely lit up as they had their hands messaged and fingernails cleaned, filed, and painted.  For a day these women who have very little, felt loved, adored and beautiful.

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