Rubbish Mountain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rubbish Mountain is basically a massive trash dump for Phnom Penh. The poorest of the families here live and work on the Mountain collecting scraps of metal, plastic bottles, old shoes, really anything of some shred of value that they can sell in a market. Some live on the Mountain, some live a short walking distance away, such as those in the community we worked in. Many times the whole family must be put to work, including young children, because they cannot afford to send them to school, and they need the extra set of hands to make more money for the family. If they do well, they may make $2 in a day; enough for them to live and eat for that day alone. There is no saving money, there is no hope for a better life…it is only the endless cycle of poverty they were born into and can’t escape. There is a change on the horizon though. The government of Cambodia has decided to close Rubbish Mountain, and the families living there are being relocated next month to a new area an hour or so away. It’s a bitter sweet situation for these families. They are leaving the only trade they’ve ever known, with no possibility of doing anything similar in the new place. And while there is potential for learning new skills and maybe moving towards a better life, it’s questionable how realistic that dream really is. 

Interestingly enough, yesterday we were talking with a Buddhist monk whom we passed on the way to our ministry. He expressed his gratitude that we were there and said that what he hoped we could share with these families, what they needed most, was…hope. The irony of his statement was very powerful. That’s exactly what we came to share with them…only our hope is in Jesus Christ. While we can help them physically in small ways, the hope that is theirs for the taking, does not come in that form. There is a hope that will actually penetrate their lives beyond their physical surroundings, and will transform their lives like no relocation program ever could. While it’s hard for me to come from a place of easy and ample provision, and tell those who have nothing that my God will provide for them…I know that is true. Whether it is a physical or emotional need, He will meet them. He loves these people far beyond what I could ever be capable of, and that kind of love, when depended on fully, it does not disappoint. It doesn’t. Sometimes those needs are met through supernatural provision; sometimes more naturally through hard work and the Lord’s favor.

Admittedly, I don’t know much about fully relying on God’s love for that which sustains my life. In America, I don’t wonder if I will have enough food in a day for me and my family, I was always given the opportunity to go to school, I even have enough money left over at this point in my life for a 401k retirement account. While I’m grateful for those blessings, more so every day I’m here, I see that those blessings also hinder us as Americans from relying on God’s provision for us when we seem so able to do just fine on our own. There is an intimacy that comes from relying on God so fully – for your very life. It’s an intimacy I have been thirsty for for years! I often wonder as we walk around and minister to people who, in many ways, are as different than me as night and day, “what right do I have to tell these people about relying on God’s provision?” While that’s a valid question to flow through my mind, given where I came from, I am reminded of the hope that they will experience as God provides for their every need; the favor they will have on their lives as children of the King of Kings; the joy that they will have as they begin to know and be fully known by their Creator; the peace that will sustain them through the toughest of situations. 

Indeed, there is great hope available for those living on Rubbish Mountain.