On Saturday, 7 of us from Grace piled into my van and headed to the White Swan Reservation in Central Washington. White Swan is home to many of the Yakama people, who have lived on or around the reservation since 1855.

Here are some brutal facts about life on the reservation:

• 100% of the Yakama people are affected by alcohol and drug abuse
• The average life expectancy of a member of the Yakama tribe is 39 years
• 70% of the teenagers on the reservation are homeless
• 65% of the kids on the reservation will drop out of middle school or high school
• Only 2% of Native Americans (nation-wide) claim to be Christians

In other words, we’ve headed straight into a culture that is marked by a lot of pain.

Why are we doing this? We are doing this because we think this is exactly the kind of thing God wants his people to do. We think that God has a deep, strong love for those who suffer in this life. And, he consistently calls his people to honor him by moving towards pain and suffering. Loving our neighbors often requires us to wade into a lot of messes.

This is a consistent theme throughout Scripture. What does God really want from his people? One very clear answer to this is that he wants us to care for the poor. Consider this text from Isaiah 58:

“Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of wickedness,

to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover him,

and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”

This text was written to people that thought relationship with God meant merely going through religious practices like worship services and fasting. But, God tells them if you belong to me, you must care for the poor in some way, shape, or form. And here’s why: we must care for the poor because God cares for the poor. God uses his power to serve the weak, not to crush them. And God wants his people to do likewise.

Finally, it almost goes without saying that Christians are to care for the poor in a gospel-centered manner. Gospel-centered care for the poor is not the self-righteous posturing of a morally superior activist. Like every Christian, I am a redeemed trainwreck who is just trying to “do unto others” as God has done unto me. Caring for the poor is a natural outworking of how God (the strong) has treated me (the weak).

If you’re the praying type, please pray for me and the other team members this week. It’s a great privilege to be able to join God in this work.