I had the chance to hear from Dr. Ana Aspras Steele in Chapel this morning.

Her life has been wrecked.

And now, so has mine.

Why?

Because she took Jesus seriously when he said, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Dr. Steele is now the President of the Dalit Freedom Network — which is not a position she ever set out to attain.

In fact, she confessed that her passion is teaching college students — consider her resume:

Before advocating for Dalit justice and joining the staff of Dalit Freedom Network, Dr. Steele taught at Harvard University for 10 years, where she received several distinctions for excellence in teaching. For eight and a half years of her Harvard appointment, she taught foreign leaders, physicians, corporate executives, journalists, scholars, and researchers at Harvard Law School, Harvard Business School, Harvard Medical School, the Kennedy School of Government, and the Harvard Nieman Foundation of International Journalism. She holds a bachelor’s degree, Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, in Russian and Chinese, two masters and a Ph.D. in Italian, and has studied Greek, Latin, and Spanish. In addition to teaching at Harvard University, Dr. Steele has taught at Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, Loyola, Notre Dame, the Smithsonian, and the World Bank.

Wow!

By the world’s definition of success she had it made.

She was living her dream.

She was doing what she was passionate about.

But as she followed Jesus, and continued to immerse herself in God’s Word — while paying attention to what was going on in the world around her, God gave her a burden.

You can almost feel the weight of it.

As she tuned her ear to what God was saying, Steele began to understand how God was wanting to use the gifts, talents, passions, intellect and influence she had been blessed with — to make a difference on behalf of the Dalit people in India.

Here is some more of her story as found at DalitNetwork.org:

Dr. Ana Aspras Steele has directed government relations and the social justice movement for Dalit Freedom Network in the United States since 2006. In the 110th Session of Congress, she spearheaded the team efforts that resulted in the first legislation of the U.S. government to address the practice of untouchability perpetrated every day in Indian society against the Dalit people, House Concurrent Resolution 139, passed on July 24, 2007. In January 2009, Ana accepted the role of DFN’s Executive President. In November of 2009, the DFN Board of Directors appointed Ana as the President of Dalit Freedom Network USA.

Ana also dedicated ten years of her career to international humanitarian and faith-based initiatives and directed, monitored, and assessed multiple global programs that tackled poverty in Peru and the slums of Nairobi, AIDS in Africa and the Bahamas, clean water in Mexico, early childhood education in Hungary, the orphan crisis in Romania and Uganda, the health needs of displaced Tibetans in China, and the trafficking of children and women in the Philippines. She has spoken at conferences and mass gatherings in India, England, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Italy, Germany, France, Holland, China, South Africa, the Bahamas, Mexico, Croatia, and the United States.

Ana is currently leading DFN’s advocacy work in the Executive and Legislative branches of the U.S. Government with a goal to increase the awareness of our nation’s leaders and lawmakers about the trafficking and enslavement of Dalits. She is also working with members of Congress on efforts that will require greater accountability on all stakeholders’ part to end the human trafficking and all forms of modern-day slavery still scourging the nation of India.

The final portion of her story — about working with Congress to require greater accountability of India’s leaders to end modern-day slavery — was the focus of her message today.

And as much as I hope students will get involved in this work, in even the most simple of ways  (here’s a simple way YOU can make a difference), I personally hope they walk away challenged by her message about burden.

Steele didn’t have to totally give up her passion to take on the burden…

But she did have to rearrange her life.

She did have to reconsider her priorities.

She did have to sacrifice some of her time, energy and efforts that had previously been directed towards her teaching — so that they could be used in some specific ways that were beyond the scope of Steele’s original thinking — and passion.

Steele confessed that it’s hard work.

Not because she’s not getting to teach as much…

But because she sees first-hand what breaks the heart of God.

She now carries this burden with her — hoping one day to see significant change, because the “least of these” are people — like you and like me.

So I wonder:

• How do we challenge our students in this area of passion and burden?
• How do we challenge those of our students who are driven be the ‘American Dream’ to consider how God might want to use them in a hurting world?
• How do we come alongside those of our students who are already living in the tension of expectations (their own, their parents, the worlds) and a call to something that seems so radical?