What if you could get a glimpse of the future? Would it
change the way you would live?  Remember
the Back to the Future movie and the mean kid Biff who drove his car into a
manure truck?  In one of the sequels the
adult Biff takes a sports encyclopedia, sneaks onto the time machine, and goes
back in time to give the book to the younger Biff.  Of course the younger Biff bets on all the
sports events already recorded in the future and makes millions, changing his
life forever.

Here I am on the plane flying back to Swaziland trying to
manage the long hours of travel it takes to get there.  I was walking down the isle and I saw the
future. There was an African man dressed in traditional garb with his Bible
out.  While waiting for the bathroom to
open up, I could overhear him telling a middle aged white man about Jesus.

I find irony in that. 
Here I am a middle aged white man going to tell people in Africa about
Jesus and on the plane there is an African telling another version of me about
Jesus.  And that my dear friends is the
future!

Did you know there is a global shift in the power centers of
Christianity?  The church is growing
leaps and bounds in the southern and eastern hemispheres of our little
globe.  The church in the north and west,
where we live, is shrinking at an alarming rate.   As the US becomes more European in terms of
our post Christianity every day, I sometimes wonder as time goes by - who will
come to tell us (the north and west) about Jesus?

Let me fill you in on some behind the scenes plans I believe
God has for His world.  He is going to
raise up an army of orphans from places like Swaziland and He is going to use
them to reach the world for Jesus.  This
is His redemption plan for the AIDS pandemic the enemy is trying to use to wipe
out the entire country of Swaziland. (The UN says Swaziland will not exist by
2050 if AIDS is not curtailed)

So you can see why I get excited when I see an African
sharing His faith with a white man. God has taken me back to the future on this
airplane.  I want to be a part of what I
believe to be His redeeming plan.  How
about you?

I am going back to Africa betting on the future of the 2600
orphans being fed and discipled through the work of a handful of incredible
people on the ground and a whole lot of givers and senders back home.  I think that bet could change not only their
lives but in fact literally change my world.