Where Do We Go from Here?

Decisions about the church today should be made with an eye toward people’s needs tomorrow.

“It was getting hotter.”

That’s what Frank May noticed at sunrise, as he looked out the window of his apartment in India. Taking a deep breath, he felt like he was in a sauna. “He was thirsty and the jug by his bedside was empty. All over town the stressed hum of window-box air conditioner fans buzzed like giant mosquitoes. … Wails of dismay cut the air, coming from the rooftop across the street.”

The next day, the temperature rose to 107 and the humidity to 60 percent. People were dying all over the place. Frank walked with a group of neighbors to the lake and found a desperate scene. “There were many, many people in the lake, heads dotted the surface everywhere around the shores. … It just felt better. … They could sit on the shallowest part of the lake bottom, heads out of water, and try to endure.”

Frank shut his eyes, fully immersed in the shallows. The night dragged on, feeling like years, and in the morning he...