Well, my procrastination once again has caught up with me. I’ve known for a while that I had a broken tooth, but since it wasn’t bothering me, I’ve ignored it. Well, this last week, it made its presence apparent. So, today, I was off to the city to check out a dentist.
Dick had given me the number of this dentist a while back, when he still had an office in Chimaltenango. Now he only works in Guatemala City, which makes things a bit more complicated, though his office is in one of the larger shopping malls, so was pretty easy to find.
I decided to splurge on a shuttle, since I didn’t know what he was going to do today, and really didn’t like the idea of riding back on a chicken bus after dental treatment. Riding the shuttle only turned a one hour drive into two hours, and I did get to see many parts of the city I’d never been to, while we dropped off other passengers. Made it to the mall with about five minutes to spare!
Fortunately, the dentist speaks fluent English, and his office is probably the most up-scale one I’ve ever been to! Very clean, very comfortable. The best part of the deal is that the treatment here will cost about 1/3 of what it would have in the States. So, Monday afternoon, I go back for not one but two root canals!
After the appointment I thought I’d take advantage of being in a modern mall and look around for a while. The number of stores was overwhelming. Their prices are even more surprising, comparable to one of the classier chains in the US (a.k.a. those stores in which I can’t afford to shop). The window shopping was enjoyable, but I couldn’t help but wonder at the fact that Guatemala must have enough rich people to keep these stores going. That, contrasted with the poverty I see everyday, astounds me. I see the very poor all the time, and really would like to meet at least one of these wealthy folks, but I guess they don’t run in the same circles I do.
It would be very easy to blame the rich in this country for not helping those in poverty. On the other hand, even in the States we have very wealthy people who do very little (compared to their net worth) to help those in need. It all has to do with how we view our resources and our responsibility to the poor. Are our assets ours to do with as we please? Or are they entrusted to us by God, to be used for His purposes? Are the poor without funds because they are somehow morally inferior or lazy? Or are they facing overwhelming difficulties just trying to survive.
I know many believe that wealth is the result of hard work. And to some extent that’s true. Other’s believe it is the outcome of high levels of skill and intelligence. That also has some validity. But I have to be honest. I see people here working harder than I have ever had to work in my entire life, who earn less than $6 a day. I see the nurses who work at Hermano Pedro, with skills I surely don’t have, making a whopping $12 a day, but working 12 hours to do so. Then, I look at the mothers of families, especially the single women I’ve met, who both work harder than I do and have skills I don’t possess (I don’t think I could yet survive without running water and electricity, or having to cook each day over an open fire) who earn nothing a day for their efforts, and have to depend on others for their very survival.
Dick has often said that if each person in the world who claimed to be Christian would take on the responsibility for feeding just one starving child, there would be no starving children. Today I couldn’t help but think that if each person affluent enough to be shopping in the Oakland Mall in Guatemala City, would take responsibility for one starving family, it would put a pretty good dent in the problem.
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| A fairly "typical" house in many villages |
I have been challenged in the past as to why, when there are so many needy people in the US I feel such a passion for the people living in Third World countries (or as one book on missions calls them, the Majority World). I know there are those hurting in the States, especially from the time I worked on the Benevolence Team at the church. But in 5 years being responsible for that ministry, I don’t think I ever met anyone who was subsisting on a regular diet of tortillas and coffee. I don’t think I ever met someone, even among the homeless, who had gone over a week without eating anything, and had only dirty water to fill their stomach. I had never met a mother who fed her child dirt just to quiet their hunger pangs.
These situations are common-place here in Guate. I only have to walk a short distance up the hill on the north side of the city to find people in this condition. I can walk to the city dump (about 4 blocks from my house) and find children rummaging through the garbage hoping to find something to eat or something to sell for a few quetzales.
Do I believe everyone should drop what they’re doing and rush to Guatemala? Of course not. Do I believe I can even put a dent in the overall crisis of poverty? How absurd. But I do believe I am called to respond to the need God puts in front of me each day, seeking His direction as to how best to act. Just throwing money at a problem has proven ineffective. While not the whole solution, funding is part of the answer. But I believe I need to go beyond cash and into relationship. Can I change the lives of these hurting people forever? In a materials sense, no way.
But I can share with them that I believe God has put them in my path for me to help, because He knows their need and their pain. This truth can change their hearts. Can I share this truth without tangible help coming their way? I think those words ring hollow.
While I cannot feed every poor person I meet every day, I can often help them fill their stomachs for the present moment. When this basic need is satisfied, then maybe I’ve earned the right to share with them about the God who cares. . .because, at least for the moment, they have experienced His care.
Is it painful to encounter overwhelming need almost every day? It’s much less painful for me to encounter it than it is for those who live in it every moment of their lives.
So what do I do with this pain? I take it to Jesus, and I’m bringing it to you. I’m asking you to consider what suffering person are you aware of today. Don’t ignore their pain, but share it. Then ask God what, if anything, He’s have you do with it.
You may not have much, but if you’re reading this on your own computer, you’re already in the group of those who “have much.” Share what you do have. It’s well worth it!\
Is it possible to make a difference? I think Jessica and her family think so. We may not be able to help every starving child, but I think her life has been changed.
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| Jessica on admission, Sept. 14, 2010 |
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| Jessica and her mom, Dec. 8, 2010 |
(Note to readers: This isn’t what I set out to write, but as I began to write about the mall, these words just seemed to come. Forgive me if I’ve come off preachy. I’m learning that part of my role here is to help others see this country and its needs as I’ve experienced it. I’m afraid I’m not very skilled at that yet.)
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