I don’t think I’ve officially put out there what I’ve been doing since I got home from the Race and what I plan to do next. I probably won’t do that here either. That blog will come in about a month when I get things finalized.
But for now, I’ve been working with a construction company called Open Door Memphis that seeks to do excellent labor at fair rates in needed areas. I love it. And it’s been real good for my readjustment into the states. But on the way to work the other day, I think I got my first taste of that “reentry culture shock” that everyone was telling me I would get, and that I thought I conquered when I successfully entered and exited a grocery store without having a nervous breakdown. I had stopped at Starbucks to do my quiet time before work started and I figured since I was in there I should actually buy a cup of coffee. So I ordered a small frappachino (spelling is way off, I know) and threw up a little in my mouth when the cashier said “ok, that’ll be $4.29”. What?! That’s my food budget for the day. On some coffee. Now, before you go off, I’m actually not that cheap (ok, debatable), I don’t have a poverty mentality, and I’m for sure not judging anyone for getting $4 cups of coffee. I have a lot of friends that love Jesus a lot that also enjoy $4 cups of coffee, and I spent $8 on a slice of cheesecake the other night (it was heavenly, by the way). So you’ll get no judgment from me.
However, it did make me think back to the image that I have ingrained in my mind that is the driving force behind my desire to begin an adventure travel company that serves missionaries and provides jobs in under-resourced areas. It’s of a man, not more than 40, in the Philippines, living in a raised 8×10 bamboo hut that’s too short for me to stand up in. And he’s got 5 kids. And he chops down firewood illegally, because he’s uneducated and he’s a squatter on land that’s not his. So he can’t plant crops because he doesn’t own land, he can’t raise animals because theirs no room, and he can’t work in the city because he’s uneducated. So, as often as he can, he ventures into the rainforest behind their village and chops down large trees, and carries them, with the help of his son, back to the front of his hut so they can begin the hours of back breaking labor to cut the trees into firewood using only hand tools. And the money he makes from it usually is not enough to buy the whole family a meal. As we’re sitting there praying for his wife and kids in the hut, he comes in carrying a little one, the look on his face telling me that he only cares about providing for his family, and in his desperation to do that, his own well being is not even thought of. But I didn’t learn any of this information from him, and he didn’t ask me or the team for any handouts. We learned it by quietly observing and talking to the pastors that minister in the village.
These were literally the hardest working people I have ever seen and had next to nothing. And the pastor who serves there loves Jesus so much and works so hard to help this village, and is so desperate to see his people cared for. But often it’s not enough. My dream for the future is that the company I launch will provide skills training, English lessons, and jobs in villages like his and others around the world so that our God-ordained task of bringing restoration and redemption to the world will begin to be realized in these areas. And that these people will begin to see the love of Jesus and the Kingdom of God breaking in by our joyful service in helping them to feed their hungry, heal their sick, and clothe their naked. That’s the dream, to be able to empower our brother’s and sisters to do this with each other as a community. And one day it will happen.
But there is need now. And hunger doesn’t wait on empowerment and jobs or businesses to start up. And we, as Christians are called to help our brothers and sisters in need, like the church in Acts that had everything in common so that no one went hungry and without shelter. One day, this village will be able to do that, but until then they need help.
I have contacts both in Malaybalay where Pastor Jo Jo shepherds his village flock and in Cagayan de Oro where Natalie and Meagan and Leah care for street kids that need the help now. So will you pray with me about giving up the coffee twice a week, or the large combo that we get at lunch, or anything that we get daily and can spare not having daily in order to help our friends in the Philippines? Again, not saying that any of these things are bad, but what a message of love it would be to SOMETIMES give up something we enjoy so that others can live. I’m doing it by not eating out for breakfast. So if you’re in, hit me up and ill help you set up a plan or get in contact with the people you need to talk to make it happen. Don’t just like this post on fb.
Email: [email protected] or message me on fb.
Much love,
Chambeezy
