Mission Matters Max, Michael, tobyMac, third day... united and on a Mission By Caroline Lusk For just one second, throw out all your presuppositions and ideas about the phrase “starving children in Africa” or Ethiopia or Somalia or any country that’s been interjected into flippant and often apathetic conversations. Throw them out. And instead, think about your child… or a child you know—a friend’s child or a niece or nephew or church friend. Now, imagine that that child was so starved that his or her hair began to turn red as protein leached from their tiny body. Or the belly protruded from a bony frame because of malnutrition. Or this child contracted a case of diarreah—a normal case that we would treat with Pebto or some other convenient elixir—and died. Can you see it? Can you see your baby, your friend, that sweet child in your life suffer so much? What would you do to stop it? To fix it? How much would you pay? What would you give? If we look to God for an answer, it’s fairly straightforward—everything. Because when our sin caused us to become disfigured and distorted and dying, God sent His son to pay a way for us to become well. Today, you and I have the opportunity to also help someone else in desperate need of care and attention. In fact, it is that specific reason that Max Lucado, Third Day, Michael W. Smith and tobyMac have partnered with World Vision to create the Make a Difference Tour. The idea emanated from Max Lucado, who celebrates his 25th year as a writer in the publishing industry and has just wrapped up a book called Outlive Your Life. “I called the book Outlive Your Life, because just by doing a small thing, you can do something to outlive your life,” says Lucado. “You can understand why people are poor. Some are lazy. Others were born in the wrong latitude with no access to clean water or paved roads or 34 CCM