(Part 2 of “I Paid $100 For A Shoe Shine In Nepal”)
That was the last time I saw Rakesh. Traffic was getting bad and the sun was going down. I’ve become very adaptable in the last 8 months, but even so it wasn’t smart to be a lone, white, American on the streets of Kathmandu after dark. I climbed into an overcrowded van and made my way across the city to our hostel.
Though the end of the story, something else happened while we were with him that stirred my mind and I wanted to share it with you.
When Ryan and I were walking with Rakesh on the second day, we passed two of our squad mates. They were surrounded by a crowd of Indian street children and one of them was holding a little girl.
This was a sight very common to me. World Racers showing love like World Racers do, so with barely a nod of acknowledgement, I passed them and continued with Rakesh.
“They’re just doing that to feel better about themselves!”
I glance behind and see two blatantly-American tourists following us. Over the next kilometer, I overheard all of their scathing remarks about my two teammates.
“Yeah! There’s no way they can help all of them.”
“Exactly, it’s pointless and unsustainable.”
………….
“It’s pointless and unsustainable.”
In every country we go to, there’s something different.
In Greece, the same baby would be passed from person to person in order to get a double ration of food.
In Peru, boys would ask for money to buy their baby siblings milk.
In Nepal, women with children would ask us to buy large boxes of powdered milk for their family. We would only to discover the children weren’t their own and they return the food to the store to get cash.
Stories like this are more common and more prevalent than stories of salvations and every time my bank account makes a big drop or I see the help we are offering being abused, I have to ask “is what we are doing pointless and unsustainable?”
This question led me to read “when helping hurts” and my blog title might as well have been “read this book” cause it was so insightful.
Is this pointless? Is this unsustainable? With my current definition of poverty and missions. Yes, this is pointless and unsustainable.
Poverty has been described as a loss of relationship, of which there are four.
My relationship with God,
My relationship with myself,
My relationship with others,
My relationship with the community,
And they have to be in that order.
I’ve been focused on strengthening people’s communities and alleviating their physical needs. I’ve also focused on their relationship with God. Neither of these are healthy in and of themselves.
Poverty alleviation financially (community relationship) cannot be sustained without a relationship with God, and a relationship with God is pointless unless it’s pouring out to and growing every other relationship.
I need to have a growing and thriving relationship with God. Wisdom and discernment from this relationship will give me the self awareness to ask myself the tough questions and grow in my understanding of myself. How to use what God has given me, the tools and talents and desires, to bless others. As I understand myself and give others with what God has given me, they will feel the impact of the Holy Spirit and regardless of their relationship with God, their relationship with their community will strengthen.
Essentially, My relationship with God is the catalyst with which God will change the hearts and minds of others. That heart change is what is necessary to make temporary poverty alleviation permanent.
This changed my perspective on missions, relationships, life, and just about everything.
A relationship with God is pointless unless we are being the catalyst of change in this world, His hands and feet and bearers of His spirit.
Poverty alleviation is unsustainable unless recipients have a relationship with God, self, others, and their community and learn the tools to make it permanent.
