A few years ago I was doing an event in Panama City Beach and got to see all the debaucherous mayhem of Spring Break firsthand as it crept down the main drag. There were thousands of them all gleefully throwing away inhibitions and embracing sin with reckless abandon. It was overwhelming. My first thought was one of despair. "How do you even begin to fight that?" I asked. A worship leader friend with me had a much clearer head. "We start with him," and began walking toward the first person we saw.

It's easy to get overwhelmed in the world we live in. Humanitarian crises flood our TV's and computer screens literally every day. It's overwhelming. Where do you even begin to tackle the problems facing millions of people? One response is to be paralyzed, to simply sit and do nothing. I mean, what impact can you really have? The other response is to begin somewhere. To realize that this is exactly why Jesus has left us here for a time. For THIS time. We are His hands and feet. We are His vessels for reaching out to the lost and hurting. Which means we must get involved. Somewhere. Somehow. The time of sitting in the dust is over.

If you're not significantly involved in bringing hope to a lost world somewhere let me offer a few places where you can get started. Today.

• Give money. Don't have any? Raise money.
• Go on a mission trip, see it all firsthand. There's more to the world than your suburb. Go see it.
• Pray. Get in touch with missionaries on the ground and build a relationship with them. Find out their needs and pray your guts out. Your support is more valuable than you can imagine.
• Sponsor a child. You have resources, food, medical care, education, and you already know Christ. They have none of these things. And you can provide it for someone. You literally can save a life. It's worth more than your Starbucks tab.

At this point you are mentally rehearsing your excuses. That's normal. But read your Scriptures. Think it through. Do any of those excuses really hold weight? Do any of them really stand up to scrutiny? It's time for you to get involved. Don't put it off any longer. Here's how to get started:

Mission of Hope Haiti (www.missionofhopehaiti.org)

C3 Missions (www.c3missions.org)

International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org)

Compassion International (www.compassion.com)