India 2006

This was my 8th year in a row that I traveled to India to teach at a pastors conference, and have our team play and work with the 150 kids at the children's home (See picture above). Once again I come away from my expereince having learned more than I taught, and having been blessed more than I blessed. The sights, sounds and smells can be unbearable at times as you peruse the impoverished neighborhoods, but there is a rythm that makes it all surreal and sublime at the same time. One of the questions I had my group ponder throughout the week was "If you could change one thing to help the world's poor, what would it be?"



That question might seem easy to answer in some people's minds. "I would give them education, medical care or food!" That certainly seems logical and even humane, but would that make a difference? The more you interface with the "Poor," the more you realize how poor you actually are. It's a false sense of pride that says we have the answers for the world's solutions. We appear to have it together since we have what our culture values as important (Education, wealth and health), yet we are starving for something that maybe these people have. Is it possible that the best thing we can give to the poor is their dignity? There's no doubt that we who are resourced need to help those that are not, but we must do so in such a way that doesn't take away the very thing that we can learn from them.

Bottom line it was a great trip that made me think more than I gave anyone answers, and made me remember the fact that the gospel is more than a few propositions to be believed, but certainly entails a story to be lived. Our group was studying Philippians during our trip and is
interesting how certain familiar verses strike you differently in different contexts. Philippians 1:29 is the verse that jumped out at me this time, which reads,"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him." Hmm? Really? The word "Granted" comes from the same root that we get the word 'Grace' from, which means favor or gift. God gifts us, or favors so that we can not only believe, but "Suffer" for the cause of Christ. Maybe the poor and the oppressed are especially blessed in order to teach us that our possessions and our "wisdom" is not enough to bring about the joy I sometimes see in the eyes of the destitute. Of course I'm not advocating that we have it worse, or that we shouldn't help those in need, but I do believe that we should do so after we understand their needs, and explore the gifts of the ones that we are gifting.