Have you ever seen the 90's sitcom Boy Meets World? It's my all-time favorite show, not just because it's funny, but also because it comes with some great life lessons. In one particular episode Eric, one of the main characters, is playing Santa at the mall. When a bus load of children from the local orphanage show up, Eric and his friends pool their resources to provide each of them with a present for Christmas. They spend everything they have and then some to give these kids a little happiness during the holidays. They are intoxicated by the grateful faces and happy smiles they see when each kid receives his new toy. At the end of two whole successful days of helping the needy, Eric makes this bold proclamation:
"I want the world's happiness to be my responsibility."
That's a pretty lofty calling, huh? As the episode progresses you can see that this idea is quickly shattered when a little boy crawls onto his lap and asks "Santa" for something he just can't give: a mother and a father. Eric is devastated at his apparent failure of providing happiness to the world. As he sits alone and reflects on his experience, he asks God a couple of times, "Why would you send me this little boy?" As he processes the events of the day his attitude changes, and he ultimately declares his new goal:
"I can be responsible for the happiness of one little boy."
What a change. Eric goes from wanting to affect the whole world to just humbly trying to make a difference in one person's life. As the show continues Eric becomes the boy's "older brother" and spends time with him every weekend.
Which decision was more effective? Spending money he didn't have to provide a group of children one present each for one Christmas? Or sacrificing his time every weekend to become a mentor for one orphaned child?
There is nothing wrong with wanting to make a needy child happy. Believe me, it's very satisfying. But there will come a day when the money runs out, the toys are gone, and the child is still needy.
Do you know what needy children need the most? Call me cliche, but they need love. They need someone to believe in them, to believe that they can accomplish things with their life, that they are capable of doing something in this world. The kid that Eric connected with will probably not remember the fire truck he received that one Christmas, but he will never forget the time that Eric spent investing in him and showing him that he was a person worth treasuring. That's the first step to real change: not giving people worth, but showing them that they had it all along. As a creation of God, they are worth something.
I could give out all the money I have in my possession to people in my community, and their needs would be met for one day. What will they do the next day? Who will they turn to? And who will I turn to now that I have exhausted all of my resources? Just because I have the capacity to meet people's physical needs doesn't mean that is the best use of my time and money. My perspective needs to go beyond the pain of today and look more toward long-term effects and eternal consequences.
God used one "needy" kid to send me careening onto the path I am now on, and I haven't looked back (that's a long story I would like to share with you one day, if I haven't already). After meeting this girl I realized that it just wasn't enough for me to give all of my worldly wealth, because I didn't even have what she needed. I couldn't provide for her even if I wanted to, and that's when I realized that maybe there is more to helping people than just meeting their daily needs for them.
(*side note: It is my belief that there is a time and place for handing people money or buying toys for needy kids. I also feel, however, that that approach is used more often than it should be and in situations in which that approach is inappropriate. But that is a conversation for another time.)
I think you can see where I'm going here. Real change has to be deep, and deep change can almost never be as widespread as we want it to be. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that so many ministries and organizations have the resources to provide for many people's needs all at once. The ministry I work for sees an average of about 15,000 people in thirteen different villages on a weekly basis. But how many of their names do I know? How many of their stories have I really heard? Not nearly enough.
So maybe I can't be responsible for initiating Christ-centered change in thirteen villages. But maybe I can be responsible for one.
That's the announcement, ladies and gentlemen. It's time to go deep, and to do that I need to truly get to know the people I'm serving. And to do that I need to become a part of their community. And since I'm only one person, I'm starting with one community.
Beginning in August, 2015, I will be moving to Batey 7 to live, work, and begin a community development initiative. As many of you know, my parents and I currently live in Barahona, and each week we "commute" to the bateyes, a 20-45 minute drive depending on which batey we are going to. That makes it almost impossible to develop real relationships with the people, especially in this culture. For the past few months I have been feeling led to move out to a batey on my own (without my parents) and start to go deeper. God helped me decide on Batey 7, and I have started making preparations to move there in a few months.
This will be a big change to the life I am living now, but I couldn't be more excited. It's the kind of excitement you get when you feel confident that you are following God's plan for your life, even if it seems a little daunting (or unbelievably daunting) at first. Without a doubt it will be the hardest thing I have ever done, harder perhaps than even moving from the States to Barahona. But my heart and soul are almost bursting with anticipation at what God has in mind for this community. I have no idea what the next year will hold, but I know that through all the hardships, joys, failures, and triumphs, God is good, and he is weaving together a wonderful plan, even though I can just see the very tip of it right now.
This is the last blog I will have in this series about the truth behind poverty....for now :) Please join me in praying for my future move and for the community of Batey 7. And please let me know if you have any questions about the community or my upcoming plans. Thank you all so much for being a part of this next crazy step in my life!
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