My first eleven days in India have been a huge reality check for me. For years I have been pondering what my response would be to the pressing problems of the world, so this is nothing new. I even wrote about it in a blog (My Excuses and Defense Mechanisms). My mind has always known that abject poverty and utter helplessness— be it physical, emotional, or spiritual helplessness, are all urgent global problems. My left-brain is well aware of the statistics associated with these ideas—that over half the world lives off of less than two dollars a day—and my right brain is well aware of the imagery—the quintessential image of the bald African baby with the flies around his eyeballs comes to mind.
The only problem with all of this is that our minds will never spur us to action if our hearts are not along for the ride. This might sound horrible—and if it does, that would actually be appropriate because I am a depraved human being in a fallen world—but my mind was actually quite numb to the problems of the world. Often, it still is. Am I the only person who does not cry when he sees pictures of homeless Asian babies? They all begin to look the same after the eighth brochure. Am I the only one who fights for the causes of starving children with 75-cent silicon bracelets, yet lays down his weapons every time he passes a Chic-Fil-A sign?
Both science and daily experience tell us that humans are primarily emotional beings. We often make key life decisions based off of our emotions—not that this is a good idea, but we do! Thus, it is the case that some sort of deep emotional attachment to an issue or circumstance is usually the thing that prompts us to action. For this reason, I thank God for my experiences in India. Statistics finally become meaningful when those statistics hold your hand, fill your nostrils, and dirty your jeans.
We have been very busy working with four different ministries in Bangalore, India. The first, Mercy Ministries focuses on bringing the Gospel to the slums of Bangalore. We have been visiting many different slums throughout the city and making house visits to pray for the people and to share the Gospel. Mercy Ministries also has a medical component, so many of my team members have been distributing medicine and first aid materials to those who cannot afford them. Lastly, Mercy Ministries has a third component, a children’s ministry. Almost every day of the week, Mercy Ministries runs children’s programs in the slums and we have been leading these as well.
The second ministry we are working with is called Mobile Enrichment Ministry (M.E.M) and its focus is on both church planting and children’s programs. We have worked with them to preach the Gospel in various parts of Bangalore and to reach the children as well. The third ministry and fourth ministries we are working with are YWAM (Youth With a Mission)’s Study Center and the ESL center. Both center on teaching English.
Needless to say, it has been exhausting work. There is something about having a hand in God’s global, Gospel-centered purpose and seeing the slums that brings perseverance in me. Though these two things—working for God’s purposes and experiencing brokenness—are distinct, they are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the former almost requires the latter.
On Friday, we did medical and children’s ministry in a village our contacts called “the Stone Village.” I do not know its real name, but they called it the Stone Village because it is a place where unemployed Indians come and stay to find low paying work as stonecutters. Families would typically stay there for as short as six months to as long as two or three years. Their housing was either thatched huts or tin shacks. In the middle of one quarry, we saw men tirelessly breaking stones with hammers as their wives even helped carry the stones. One child, who couldn’t have been older than four or five years old, carried stones as well in an attempt to make himself useful to his father.
India is a gorgeous country with a rich culture (more to come on this!), but it is these exposures to physical and spiritual poverty that are currently weighing most heavily on me. The only difference between my birth in the United States and their births in the third world is the grace of God. To whom very much is given, very much is owed.
As I look around me, while keeping in mind that the only difference between them and me is the unmerited grace of God, I feel guilty because of my comparatively gross abundance. For once in my life, though, I am going to allow myself to feel guilty. It’s amazing how averse we are to “feeling guilty.” In fact, “feeling guilty” is such an uncomfortable feeling that we almost always use the term when we specifically don’t mean it. For example, we will say things like, “this is such a delicious dinner; I feel guilty that I didn’t bring anything!” The stock response to these statements is “don’t feel guilty!” We use the phrase “I feel guilty” so recklessly that we end up never feeling legitimately guilty about anything.
We look at impoverished situations and feel sad, but not guilty. Guilt is sadness taken personally. When I keep in mind that every last thing I possess—both material and non-material—is actually property of God’s (Psalm 24:1), then my stewardship of it amounts to highway robbery. Perhaps, in this situation, guilt is actually an appropriate feeling and “don’t feel guilty” is an inappropriate response. Guilt is the Holy Spirit convicting me of sin!
With God, however, there is absolutely no stoicism. Lest we think we must stoically forsake our happiness in life in order to combat a pressing need that God has placed before us, we must not forget that God is the author of both. Perhaps God has actually hard-wired the human heart to find it’s highest possible levels of joy in working to combat (via Gospel-centered solutions) these pressing needs. Indeed, that is the way it seems to me now. We do not have to forsake the good life for the Godly life—rather, the Godly life is the good life! My body is tired and ready for an off-day on Monday and my brain is shot, but my soul is finally at rest!
And lastly, a short video I made of the children of Bangalore….
