A Perspective on Poverty

This is a picture of  Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya.

As I was scrambling to get the kids to an 8:15 well child appointment, my mad scurry was interrupted by a ringing cell phone at the early hour of 7:30 am.  After wondering who in the world would be calling me that early, I rushed to answer the phone.  The director of the International Center in town was calling to let me know that the young child of one of the refugee families we recently met had just been been taken to a children's hospital 2 hours away.  The mother was able to go with him but the dad was at home still working night shift and trying to care for the other 4 young children at home.  As far as we know, they only know one other Somali family here who is able to help them while trying to care for their own 8 children.  He encouraged me that this would be the perfect opportunity to try and help them.  Unfortunately, I was already completely booked up yesterday and unable to do anything but today I got my act together and made them some food.  We plan to visit in just an hour or so to see if there is anything else we can help them with.  As I was preparing the food this morning, I was struck by some very obvious contrasts between our families and situations in life.  I was struck overwhelmingly by just how rich our family was.  I decided write up this list of comparisons to help us take off our blinders and realize the truth of our situation.

This is their 3rd hospitalization in the past 2 weeks.  Even though we were sick last week with cold/flu type symptoms, none of us have ever been hospitalized and we do not regularly take any medications.  We are rich in health.  

When a member of our family gets sick, we know how to get to the hospital or the doctors office and we can understand the directions for medications and the explanation of our health.  Even though it drives me crazy at times, we are rich to have such a good health care system.  

We have cars to take us to the hospital, grocery store, school and anywhere else we need to go.  Even though we recently discovered that minivans cost and arm and a leg, we are rich with adequate transportation.  

Even though we may not have money to eat out all the time or buy things like steaks and fresh seafood, we can still buy all of our favorite ingredients and familiar foods at any number of nearby grocery stores.  There are no Somali or African grocery stores here.  We are rich in food. 

When a we need help, we are surrounded by friends and family who are always ready to lend a hand.  This refugee family needs help and they literally only know one other family.  That's it.  And apparently they aren't even particularly close friends.  We are rich with those who care about us.  

Our houses are overflowing with clothes, furniture, and stuff.  At first I thought that their apartments would be super crowded with 10 people living in one small space but I was surprised to find out that this isn't true.  When you don't have enough clothes to warrant a dresser or enough toys to need a "play room" or even a toy box, you'd be surprised at little room 10 people can take up.  We are rich with more stuff than we really need.  

One family was only able to afford sending one son out of their 8 children to school.  There is no question that each and every one of our children will have an education though we may feel gypped because we can't afford to send our children to the fanciest of private schools.  We are rich with education. 

Though we are tempted to think of these refugee families as poor, really they are the lucky ones.  They have escaped death, rape, pain and suffering in Somalia.  They have left behind the crime, overpopulation and squalor-like conditions of refugee camps.  For the first time in their lives, they have plumbing that provides them hot water whenever they need it and a washer and dryer of their very own.  

At the end of the day, we are so, so rich.  Is there anything that we truly need and lack?  Have you ever gone to bed hungry or wish that you had been able to go to school to learn how to read or wish that you could speak the language of the people around you just so you could complete basic tasks? The best part is that we not only are blessed with physical riches, we also have so much more! 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich."  And Isaiah 55:2 tells us to stop looking for stuff delight ourselves in the rich food that is Christ's body shed for us!

"Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?  Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food."

As we think about poverty vs. wealth, especially as it concerns helping others, we need to approach it with an attitude of gratitude for the all the physical and spiritual blessing that surround us.  We need to give with hearts that overflow but also keep in mind that our new friends don't just need things they need Christ.