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SUFFERING

     Thousands of miles and a whole continent in between are two women.  They don't know each other, nor will they while on this earth.  Yvonne and I know them both.  Both of them are suffering.

     Several weeks ago Yvonne was coming home after visiting a friend when she came upon Bernadette.  Wrapped in little more than rags, Bernadette was laying outside the doors of local clothing and jewelry stores, barely conscious.

     Though we did not know her name at that time, we've seen Bernadette before along with countless other beggars that roam our neighborhood.  We had never seen her in this condition.  

     Her lips were white, her eyes yellow and her hair speckled with grit from the street.  She sat in a puddle of air conditioning condensation and her own urine.  Without help she couldn't sit up, let alone stand up.  

     Someone nearby had given her a cup of water and a morsel of food, but she was too weak to lift her hand to put them to her mouth.  Two young women had stopped to comfort her, but really did not know what to do.  Mostly, people either just walked by or stood and stared.

     With the help of our translator, Gerand, we were able to extract enough information to know that if we didn't help her she was going to die.  The three of us were eventually able to lift Bernadette into a tuc tuc and transport her to the local hospital.

     Within a day she had regained much of her strength.  Within two days she was able to walk to a bathroom (without her cane) and bathe.  A week later she was able to leave the hospital.

     The curious thing about Bernadette is that she has family not far away.  They have enough to provide their sister food and shelter, but Bernadette prefers wandering the streets and begging.  We have seen her several times in the last week, right where she has been before.

     While it is apparent that Bernadette, who is 60 years old, suffers from some form of dimensia, it is also apparent that she has enough awareness to know she has a place where she could live in a semblance of dignity.  She prefers indignity.  Her family is well aware of her condition, but is unwilling to fight through Bernadette's obstinance to help.

     Back in the states, there is another who is suffering.  She did not grow up in squalor, but in middle class America.  As a young girl she contracted polio.  Now as a 74-year-old woman she is battling cancer.

     What we know about Jeannine is that she is a fighter.  She fought through polio and raised a family without the help of an absentee husband.  She persevered through adversity and was able to provide.  The ultimate fruits of her labor are two children of immense character.  

     Her son and daughter are the picture of what any parent's heart would desire; both accomplished and both with healthy families of their own.  Most importantly, they love their mother deeply.

     When we heard of Jeannine's challenge Yvonne and I really didn't know how to respond.  You see, Jeannine is a friend of ours.  We have shared Christmas and Thanksgiving together, but we did not know how to share in her suffering.  So, we prayed.

     Just recently we exchanged e-mails, and Jeannine said this: "I believe the only way I'll succeed in winning this challenge is with God's help."

     What I see from a distance is the success of Jeannine's suffering.  She has already won.  The rewards are her children and grandchildren, who are now at her side with love and compassion.  In return, Jeannine has persevered with courage and grace.

     No matter how pragmatic or accurate a doctor's prognosis, where there is God there is always hope.  And where there is hope there is love.  The Bible says, "...God is love...Now there abides these three; faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love."

     You see, the difference between Bernadette and Jeannine is love.  Bernadette's family is ambivalent when it comes to her suffering.  There is defeat and separation.  There is no desire to ensure the one who is suffering any sort of comfort and in exchange they receive no comfort.

     On the other hand, Jeannine's family is tied together in love.  They are bound by compassion and mercy.  I suspect that though they might not even recognize it, that their hearts are set on the prospects of justice prevailing - that ultimately their hearts are united in eternity.

    So, one family is divided, the other united.  One is forlorn, the other hopeful. One woman suffers in bitterness, the other in love.

    We are reminded of a Savior, who's birth we are about to celebrate.  He lived, He suffered and He died...for us.  Then He was resurrected...for us.  

     Yvonne and I pray that you would know this love this Christmas.  That it would resurrect purpose in your life.  And once you know it, share it with someone who is suffering.  It is the greatest gift we could possibly give.

Comparing

Mike Broadhurst

What is it to be poor?  What makes a person reach the conclusion that they are poor?  Or, better yet, if you are a person of means how do you determine who is poor?
Over the years Yvonne and I have read the 1st through 3rd chapters of Genesis dozens of times.  We have found so many hidden gems that we've come to the conclusion that all other scriptures have a core connection to those first three chapters.
When Adam and Eve walked with God, they were naked.  The scripture doesn't seem to indicate that they had a 3-bed, 2-bath home, either.  While they could eat freely from the garden, they were created to work for its fruit.  We're thinking there wasn't much arguing.  Life was good.  It was very good.  What do you think?  By today's standards, were they poor?
We've been so blessed these past few months here in Madagascar.  Yvonne and I have found a niche in the community.  We have joined forces with a wonderful pastor and his wife who have started 52 churches throughout the country.  Together we are conducting a 7-week seminar on how to start a business.  
The impetus for these classes was that everywhere we looked Yvonne and I saw potential.  In the land, in the people, in the community and in the country.  
The obstacles to starting a small business are pretty substantial.  There's a corrupt government, graft in every segment of business, and the biggest hurdle of all - fear.  To overcome we believe there are three key ingredients:  faith, hope and love.
On the other hand, we've also met some very successful Malagasy and each of their stories starts in poverty.  So, while the challenge is stiff we are certain that with the right attitude and the right strategy our students can improve their circumstances.
If they are taught well, then they will be willing to teach others, and those others still.  We think that the key to changing a person, a community and a nation is more than salvation.  Salvation is the starting point, not the end result.  Why else would the Lord ask us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is it heaven."
Which brings us back to the concept of poor.  You see, when we look at our students we don't see poor people.  We see people who love to laugh, to sing, to dance and to work.  We see people of wealth.
So, one day we asked our class, "Who in here is poor?"  Much to our surprise everyone raised their hand.  This immediately brought to mind several desperate souls that we've seen on the sides of the street in Toamasina.  
After describing one such person, we asked again, "Who in here is poor?"  No one raised their hand.  So, it seems to us that determining if someone is poor requires a person to compare themselves to another.
In his book Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (and How to Reverse It),  Bob Lupton writes, "Again and again we are finding that when it comes to global needs in organizational development and human development, the granting of money creates dependence and conflict, not independence and respect.  By changing the equation to other means of exchange, we find that we are empowering people based on shared responsibility, mutual support, and accountability.
 "Mercy is a force that compels us to acts of compassion," Lupton continues.  "But in time mercy will collide with an ominous, opposing force. Injustice.  Against this dark and overpowering force, acts of mercy can seem meager...Perhaps that is why the Bible places equal emphasis on both mercy and justice."
Lupton concludes, "Mercy combined with justice creates:
  • immediate care with a future plan
  • emergency relief and responsible development
  • short term intervention and long-term involvement
  • heart responses and engaged minds
"There is no simple or immediate way to discern the right response without a relationship.  And if you don't have time to invest in forging a trusting relationship, give your money to a ministry that does," writes Lupton.
Jesus said, "The poor you will always have with you..."  There is no doubt that the poor will always exist.  We are called to serve them.  However, some of the poor aren't poor.  They're just stuck in a comparison mode, lacking opportunity and training.
So, we ask this question, if there is no economic foundation where the educated can find jobs and where hospitals have paying patients, where is the sustainability to support them in our nobel efforts?  How have we empowered them?
Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."  If we take on the mantel of training the children of God the ways of God, God promises to change a nation. He says so in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
Yvonne and I have come to see scriptures like these as material fact; part of a recipe for a promised outcome.  When we trust in them and apply them the results are remarkable.
Let us close by saying this - we are not promoting the idea of worldly wealth.  We are teaching kingdom of heaven principles whereby the very people we have come to serve will hear from the same Holy Spirit who is calling them to serve.  The purpose of prosperity is best defined in Deuteronomy 30:9.  It is to do good.  
We stand on that instruction.

 

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