One of the things I’ve come to realize is that poverty isn’t something people choose…poverty chooses them.  I have to admit (confess) that I used to think the reasons most people are poor was because of their poor choices or their poor character or their poor ethic — but I’ve come to realize this is not the case.  I recently read the following writing of Richard Stearns, President of World Vision, called 7 Steps of Poverty and it really helped me understand that none of us are really that far away from poverty:

“One of the most difficult things to communicate is what it feels like to be poor in the developing world.  How can Americans really understand global poverty without travelling to see it?  Let me try to help you understand, simply by taking seven things away from you, one at a time.  Ready?

First, I take away your clothes.  Don’t panic, I won’t take them all.  You can keep the clothes on your back and wash them each night.  Your children feel the brunt of this humiliation at school.

Next, I take away your electricity.  Now you come home to a dark house each night.  None of your appliances work: no refrigerator, telephone, television, computer or stereo.  Your showers are cold and you have to wash your clothes by hand.  Your quality of life has dropped precipitously.  But you are still better off than most of the world.

Takeaway No. 3 is really tough: clean water.  None of your faucets, toilets, or showers work, and the only water source is a stagnant waterhole about a mile away.  It takes hours each day to fetch what you need, and because it is teeming with bacteria, you and your children are constantly sick.  Despair starts to set in.

I’m afraid I have to take away even more: your home.  Now you and your whole family must live and sleep in a 20-by-20 mud hut with a dirt floor.  When it rains, the roof leaks and the floor turns muddy. 

Takeway No. 5 is devastating: food.  Your children have long ago lost their smiles; now they are hungry with a gnawing pain.  You find a little food by picking through your neighbor’s garbage.  Already sick from exposure to the elements and from drinking dirty water, your children’s bodies become severely malnourished and cannot fight off diseases.  Your 4-year old girl seems to be slipping away.

 Getting her to the doctor is urgent but, tragically, No. 6 takeaway is health care.  To your horror, your daughter dies before your very eyes – of diarrhea.  How can this be happening?  Why has no one stepped in to help? 

What else could I possibly take away?  No. 7 is Hope.  Without these basic necessities of life, you and your children have no hope for the future.

Poverty, for most of us, is distant and remote.  But this is the pain that billions on our earth endure each day.”

Reading this helps me understand even more there is not much that separates me from poverty…nothing but the good fortune of God’s blessings.  But it also serves as a real inspiration…because the seven steps that lead to poverty also provide the path out of poverty.

I hope this writing spoke to you as much as it did to me.

Ned

This is a a blessed ”Village Visit Report” from Linn Asbury, JVP Education Global Partner, who visited Kager village for the first time in September 2009:

“Mission trips to Kenya are not new to me, so I had a clear expectation of what my one-day visit with the women of JOY Kitchens in September, 2009 would be.  I was familiar with Jubilee Village Project, a rabid devotee of Community Health Evangelism (CHE), and looking forward to the type of ‘nice’ conversation which occurs when women of different cultures briefly cross paths.  My goal was to simply encourage these women who face more challenges to basic existence in one day than I can even imagine.  My expectations  could not have been more wrong!

 When you read the description of the JOY Kitchens Initiative,  it’s likely you will be impressed by the comprehensive approach to this significant component of community transformation.  It’s well planned, concise, sensible and simple.  What you can’t see is hidden between the lines, and is what I experienced in my visit with the women of Kager village.  Beyond the ‘hard goods’ of improved stoves, fireless basket cookers, etc.,  what I found was incredible strength of character, desire to follow Jesus’ teaching in all things, (including being evangelists, something we Western women are often fearful about), and the willingness to push themselves beyond what they know for the benefit of their families and community.

The JOY Kitchens women (there are currently 16 of them – two groups of 8 women each) have complete understanding that they are the backbone of their community, and if their children are to survive and thrive, they are the ones who will be instrumental in making this Project happen.  Perhaps that is why they’ve grown an entrepreneurial spirit, and are eager to take advantage of every resource which is given them, sharing eagerly what they learn with other women in Kager. 

JOY Kitchens Group 1 with Luo Bibles

It’s all about the heart of JOY Kitchen women, aligned with the heart of the God we all serve.  It’s a Kingdom heart, for certain.  Never will I forget looking into each woman’s eyes as I was introduced to her and seeing warmth, a depth of love for a Sister in Christ, and a longing to grow deeper and stronger not only physically, but spiritually.  They seemed to sense that I could provide a link to resources which would assist in their spiritual growth.  When I asked how I could best help them, they were pleading not only for Bibles in their native Luo tongue, but for women’s Bible studies which they could use for practical application in their daily lives.  What an honor and blessing it has been to play a very small part in helping provide the resources for these women.  As I write this, they now all have Luo Bibles and are on their second study which is focused on praying in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).  My LIFE group from my church in Indianapolis decided a nine-session course on prayer would provide a good foundation as we strive to learn and listen how we can best serve them with what they say they need, rather than what we think they need.

JOY Kitchens Group 2 with Luo Bibles

This visit, intended to be a blessing for them, blessed me more than I can explain in mere words.  My new expectation is that God in His goodness will allow strong relationships to develop with the women of JOY Kitchens, not just for me but for so many others who pray for them, provide study resources for them or simply contribute support to the JOY Kitchens initiative.  JOY has been revealed……and it’s not going away.  Praises for sure!”

Linn Asbury, JVP Education Global Partner