“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” —Romans 12:2

As Christians, it’s easy to do things that aren’t wrong in themselves, for no reason other than that they’re familiar to us. It’s easy to get caught up in the culture. But if we take Romans 12:2 literally, the patterns of this world are at odds with biblical truth. If that is true, then the question for us becomes what are we doing to be countercultural?

What does it look like to examine our choices and habits in light of Scripture? It’s our responsibility as Christians to hold our lives up to the standard God gives us in His Word. But discernment is an active part of the Christian life; it shows up in the way we live.

These are some of the thoughts and questions that led us to start our first Children’s Home in Haiti. The Bureau for the Protection of Minors (BPM) is a government department that functions similarly to Child Protective Services in the US. When the police receive a call about an abuse case, they call BPM who then performs an investigation—in the past, the children they removed from bad situations were housed in a large warehouse indefinitely. They had no permanent place for them to go.

It started with our pastors building relationships with the police in their communities. They would bring abuse cases to the local authorities, sharing about our Children’s Homes in the process. And it wasn’t long before BPM was bringing children to us for care directly.

We have a similar opportunity today in the US. What would it look like if Christians and churches asked their mayors, district representatives, and local governments, “What are the major struggles we can help with in this community?” Whether it’s homelessness, drug addiction, or broken families—what would it look like for us to partner with people in authority to be a solution in the crisis?

We need to recalibrate our outlook in light of eternity. We know Jesus will come again, and we will stand before God to give an account of our lives, but it’s often not a present thought in our minds. Remembering our eternal reality will radically impact the way we live. On this World Day Against Child Labor, I pray we all commit to being the hands and feet of Jesus in a world desperately in need of hope.

It’s amazing to see what God will do with the ordinary faithfulness of His people.

—Greg

To learn how you can be praying with us for the ministry in Haiti, visit Prayer Requests.