Squatters- a derogatory word that is often used by missionaries to describe the people I am living around. People who do not own land, often coming to this region of Manilla for a better life, and they just dwell. The streets are loaded with their dirty shacks and poor living conditions.
The other night I heard a story of a man who came from one of these areas and had the opportunity to go to Africa. When he returned he no longer considered himself to be poor. Even these squatters who exist in trash and broken shanties are still in the top 50% of the world. They often work normal jobs, they have clothes, a tin roof over their head, and food in their bellies.
This hit me. The conditions of the squatters is something I would dread to live in for the rest of my life. Sometimes as a missionary living out of a backpack it would be easy to call myself poor. But reality is that if my small day pack was stolen, someone here could make enough money to live off of it for two years.
I am struggling with my selfishness.
I can’t believe how selfish I have been.
Luke 18:24-25… “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
I am the rich.
Before leaving for this race I actually believed that I was sacrificing something by living out of a backpack. I stressed about how many outfits I could fit into it. “What if I can’t look at least semi-cute for a year?”, I used to ponder.
In just this first month of living with squatters some of my squad fed naked kids who did not even have a pair of clothes to wear. NAKED. I have too much. I don’t know exactly where all of this is leaving me- but I do understand one thing. God is not allowing me to come to this realization of wealth to feel guilty for how I have been raised and blessed by Him. Rather He wants me to comprehend my wealth and expand it as a grace to others.
