No Bed to Eat Sleep Rice

"I'd rather be the poorest Jesus follower than the richest follower of anything else."

Two things ring true about the current state of my life: I'm so proud of my kids. Moreover, we're poor. In fact we're so poor that the boys' joke is that they have no blanket to sleep or "food to eat rice." It's literally said like that in a variety of ways.

I mean we really are poor. We have these rare things called chairs here that go missing like chameleons in a forest. It seems like we only have 10. In fact today I spent 10 min of class in search for chairs to sit on for me and my students. Earlier in the day, I didn't have a seat to sit on in my own room cause I loaned it to my kids for class. This is just one example of the daily struggle.

Considering this, it's wild that we recently started a choir. The kids are remarkably good to not know music or have ever been in a choir before. Like they are really good. We've been learning a song called Gentle Voice.

So nice.

We are actually good enough that we volunteered ourselves to sing in the city church for their conference they were having. Humility, I know. The kids are a little uneasy about the event but as the days are drawing nearer, they are actually getting excited.

Tonight we sung for vespers. Sounded Paká. And that's all it took. The kids seemed to be a little more ready. Ella made the comment that the boys should all wear belts, at least, for the performance we were having at church.

I laughed and said, "ha! We're so poor we don't have blanket to sleep. You think the boys have belts?!"

Truth being told, I had been asking the boys about belts since I got here. Then I discovered that they only had two underwear, which pretty much brought me to tears. In fact, as a whole, the boys don't have a whole lot. Most of the kids don't have much.

I kinda see the choir as one of those underdog movies waiting to be directed. You know, the one where some poor jungle kids get a choir director from America who believes in them. The kids are so poor all they eat is rice and potato for every meal. The don't have blankets to sleep or belts to wear or ties to look nice. They don't read music and have never sung in a choir before. They aren't really good at listening either. However, the determined director and the helping staff believe in them and they work and work and work and make their way to the top, facing many difficulties in the journey, like not being able to make it to a performance because it would have cost them their lives to drive the treacherous road; or meeting a bad guy who's sole purpose is to destroy the group. And at some point all hope would be lost and the movie would be terrible if they didn't come out on top and win the championship singing competition

As an Adventist Indian movie though, the actors and actresses would be very modest and there would be many allusions to Ellen white and maybe some really sketchy rhythmic movement that wouldn't be called dancing. All that jazz. As well, Doug Batchelor or Dwight Nelson would have to make a guest appearance.

Sigh...

However, even with all this, my kids are rich. They are rich in Jesus. Some of these kids are serious in their little minds about the work they want to do for Christ. As well, they reflect Christ in their actions, thoughts, and conduct. It's insightful and warming. Some of them help me want to be a better Christian just because of the way they reflect Christ: him increasing and then decreasing.

And so I think to myself, am I poor here or in the States? When I get to America I will come back to the land of expensive plenty. But even though I will come back dirt broke and probably be living in a box next to a chipotle and ice cream shop, will I be rich?

Will I be rich in Christ?

Are you/me/we rich in Jesus?

Does his mercy pour from our lips when dealing with those who don't deserve?

Is forgiveness given freely to those who have hurt us brutally?

Is godly Love (for God is love) being expressed to every blessed man, woman and child that we contact?

Are we slightly rich or just a little blessed with Jesus. If he's not our everything, well then we need to rethink where we are. Our time is short, so why waste it?

So no matter what, consider greatly who you're following (your riches and wealth) especially since being the richest Jesus follower is much better than being the richest man of anything else.

Anything more?
Not really?

Hallelu




Kameron Carter