Over the past two days, I had the chance to see some of my dear friends who live in London and Waterloo. A few of them just came back from a 6 week Global Partnership to Bangladesh. We came together to share stories and to see one another before I head off to my Global Partnership to Central Asia at the end of next week.
Both one of my friends and a student shared their thoughts on poverty. They went to Bangladesh to partner with the local International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) movement and be with people from all different ages and backgrounds, whether it was university students or those with leprosy.
The main theme remained: poverty is everywhere. And from the stories that were shared yesterday, most people on the team didn't know what to do about it while they were there.
Then they flew into Dubai before heading back to Toronto. Dubai is a city of architectural wonder, where everything looks like the biggest and the best. Yet, my friends and their students realized that these people were also in poverty, even though they had tons of money.
They came to realize and understand that taking the money from Dubai and giving it to Bangladesh wouldn't solve the problem. Only Jesus can fix poverty. It was profound for them, and it is profound for me. Poverty doesn't happen when people don't have money. It happens when people don't have what they need, like shelter and love.
So in a society where we call the poor those who don't have any money, it is hard to see anyone else as poor. Yet, I believe that if people don't know God, they are poor because they don't have the source of Life, the one thing that can satisfy them.
Oh Jesus, help us to see Your people rightly, for who they actually are.
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