risks

this is from a book i have been reading and wanted to share it with you. it's from a guy in his twenties who actually worked with mother theresa a little and started his own inner city ministry in philly:

"Some Christians take such few risks, its no wonder people have a hard time believing in heaven. Sometimes people ask me if I'm scared living in the inner city. I usually reply I'm more scared living in the suburbs. The Scriptures say that we should not fear those things which can destroy the body but destroy the soul (Mt. 10:28). While the ghettos may have their share of violence and crime, the suburbs are the home of the more violent subtle demonic forces -numbness, complacency, comfort-and these can eat away at our souls.

Whenever people asked Mother Theresa about her work in Calcutta, how it was going, what life was like, she would say, 'Come an see'. I was ready to see Christianity lived out. I did some homework and figured out that i needed to call (her) at 2AM and that call would cost $4 a minute. (I called). I was expecting to hear a formal greeting: 'Missionaries of Charity, how can we help you?' Nope. I just heard a raspy old voice on the other end mutter 'Hullo'. Thinking I had the wrong number with the tab rolling at $4 a minute, I said, "Hello I'm calling from the United States trying to reach Mother Theresa or the Missionaries of Charity.' On the other end I head the muffled old voice say, "This is the Missionaries of Charity and this is Mother Theresa'. My initial reaction was 'Yeah right and I'm the pope.' But I held back. She asked how long we wanted to stay and I told her we'd like to spend the summer. "that's a long time" she said. Or two to three weeks I said. Heck, two to three hours (with her) seemed nice. She said, 'No, come for the summer. Come." Come? Where would we eat or sleep? So, I asked her: "Mother Theresa, where would we eat or sleep?" She didnt worry a lot about that. She said, 'God takes care of the lilies and the sparrows, and God will take care of you. Just come.'

-Irresistible Revolution