Note, the pictures from Guatemala in this article are from a Facebook post by a fellow missionary, Lydia Renáe de Ramos. Her photos and reflections convicted me today.
Today I started the 2020 Great Cookie Bake-off for our ministry here in Guatemala.
It has become tradition to have cookie decorating parties in each of the homes, with invited guests. Sadly, this year it will only be our staff and residents in attendance. While many seem to forget the threat of Covid, it is very real when working with people with weakened physical stamina like the disabled. But we will make the best of it.
First come the sugar cookies so they are ready to frost. As I was finishing up the first batch to put in the refrigerator, I was inwardly grumbling that I miss my dishwasher, and hate having to do all this clean up alone (though I know Dani's wife, Rosi, would be here in a heartbeat to help if I asked her).
Suddenly I was stopped short, convicted by my unconscious addiction to the privilege I have taken for granted as someone who has lived primarily in the US. This is not to say that I did not work hard for what I had, but my work paid off in the ability to live in luxury compared to most of the world.
I still do--live in unconscious luxury that is. Just this morning I shared a post on Facebook written by a missionary who attends our church here. It was about helping build a home for her neighbor. (You can read her post here--well worth your time.) It was a reminder of how much we have as people of wealth in comparison to the rest of the world. And within an hour, I forgot this conviction, and was complaining about having to wash dishes by hand, in my kitchen sink, with hot and cold running water.
While my kitchen is not elegant by US standards, I have a stove (with an oven) and refrigerator. These are luxuries in Guatemala and I never want to forget this. I live in privilege. I also have the resources to buy the ingredients, a Kitchen-aid mixer (bought 2nd hand from a missionary leaving the field) to mix the batter, and an electric oven (gifted to me by another missionary moving back to the US) to bake in which is even self-cleaning.
For the 57 years I lived in the US, I never thought any of these things were luxuries, but absolute necessities (and throw in the benefit of a dishwasher on top of that). I had visited empoverished countries on mission trips, but somehow had missed letting these experiences change my perspective and my heart.
If you are reading this on your smart phone or computer, you ARE privilged in comparison to the majority of the world. This does not mean you do not work hard to have what you have but that your work has paid off in providing things for you that most of the world does not even know exists or can only dream of if they do. It does not mean we should feel guilty for the good things God has given us. It does mean we need to remember that He gives to us not to make us rich but so we can share with those who have needs.
Still not convinced? Look at these comparisons of my kitchen with the original home of the lady who received a new home in the post above.
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