Electricity, Water and TOMS

Over the last few weeks we have been settling into our lives in Zambia and beginning ministry.  One of the fun things about living here is the unpredictability.  The utilities here are pretty inconsistent.  The water is on, then it is off.  The power is on, then it is off.   So we put in a water tower to keep water 24/7, which the landlord kindly deducted from our rent.  Then I started noticing bad smells around the house. The problem? No P-trap.  That’s right, just a straight pipe from the shower into the sewage.  Plus we still have poor water pressure.  The problem?  I don't know really, probably just a reality of our existence here.  The other problem is that the A/C won't function correctly.  It never seemed to have enough power to run it.  The problem?  There really isn’t enough power to run it.  The entire town suffers from a lack of voltage and it likely wont run during the day until about 10 p.m.  

I know these are relatively first world problems to deal with.  We clearly did not move to Zambia to be comfortable.  I just wanted to make things easier on my family for the transition.  But God is trying to teach me a lesson in all of this.  

What is it?

As we move towards a goal of equipping the poor for a more fulfilled life, God is teaching me that it is important to remember that it is His will and not mine.  In the same way I can bring “western” or first world things like A/C or constant water and find that Africa just isn’t prepared for them, we can find ourselves in the development field bringing things that people here just don’t need or aren’t completely relevant. 

Such was the case as I was walking down Cairo Road in Lusaka the other day.  People sell all kinds of things on the streets, from airtime on cell phones to food to clothing.  I stumbled upon a few pairs of TOMS shoes.  I was like “whaaaaat!”  I couldn’t believe they sold TOMS here.  Apparently I AM as naïve as advertised.  TOMS doesn’t do business here, they donate here.  And the result was the other end of the buy one-give one being sold on the streets for something more useful.   Imagine the irony here: I almost bough a pair of TOMS for $20 on the street… the same pair that was hypothetically donated to the African selling these shoes after I purchased a pair for myself in the States. 

Sometimes people don’t really want what we have to bring.  Sometimes “the west” isn’t really best.

What kind of relief and development did Jesus do?

He was into doing acts of service no doubt.  He fed 5000, healed the sick, raised the dead, etc.  He did awesome miracles to prove his deity.  But He was also miffed when people kept coming to him for food after He fed the multitudes.  He corrected them by saying He is more than just a handout, He was a way to have life abundantly.   God wants more for people than to just receive a handout.  The billions in foreign aid and donations that have landed on this continent have done nothing to eradicate poverty.  It still exists.  There is even a micro-economy centered on handouts from the west. 

What else did Jesus do?

He invested in people, 12 people to be exact.  Only 11 panned out, but that’s not the point.  The point is that Jesus more than anything cared about people through relationships.  He was clearly relational with the disciples, cutting to the core of their existence, getting authentic and serving alongside them.  He equipped the disciples, a ragtag bunch of sinners and misfits, to spread the Gospel to literally every corner of the world.  God would rather us invest in people than projects.  What is needed here isn’t to pity the poor, but to partner with the poor.  Money shouldn’t so much be about special projects, though there is a real need to care for the widow and orphan, but rather to equip the poor through investing time and information. then they can lay claim to the abundant life that God has for them. 

What if someone told you the only thing you are capable of is trying to survive between handouts from governments or NGO’s?  Can dignity exist?  Can hope really exist?  Can you really have life abundantly? 

God is molding and purifying a vision for the long term here in Africa.  It is an exciting time. 

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may life and have it abundantly”  John 10:10