There But For The Grace of God, Go I....

During our time in Burundi, one cannot escape the extreme poverty that is rampant here. If a person stays in the capital city, Bujumbura, it is easy to avoid seeing the extreme poverty daily. In Gitega, the second largest city in Burundi, it is impossible to avoid seeing this poverty every single day. There are times when my heart breaks for some of these people and I cannot look them in the eyes….when I look past the torn dirty clothes and the mud caked skin, in their eyes I see utter hopelessness. It is most difficult to have young children begging and asking for money. Micah often asks me “why are we rich mommy?” My answer is “There but for the grace of God, go I….”

Sometimes when Charles has business to attend to, I sit in our van and watch. I watch some of the street people and how life is for them. It is through my watching that I found something that intrigued me…..the differing attitudes of some street people. I watched as two older ladies, one using a stick to lean on for a crutch, approached a shop keeper. The shop keeper appeared a bit agitated with the ladies; he bid them approach, gave them each 100 FBU (approx. $0.06 CDN) and then he quickly shooed them away. The ladies had no smile but they scrambled away, looking to approach another shop keeper.

On another day, I am sitting and watching while Charles goes to buy rice. I see a midget man. He has on a dirty red, soiled shirt with 2 big tears in the back, and it is so big, it almost touches the ground. He also has on old pants that are oversized; the pant legs are rolled up and he has a rope to hold them up. This man is unable to walk very fast because of how his body is formed. I watched as he approached a shop keeper, he had a special way to approach them. His sense of humor brought a different perspective. I watched as he approached, he did a little bow and then a salute to the shop keeper. I saw smiling faces. This young man talked and laughed with the shop keeper. The shop owner gave the man his money and they stayed chatting and laughing for awhile. As he turned to leave the store, he gave another salute to the owner and they both laughed as he hobbled away.

I felt a inner nudge to give this man a small bit of money....we approached this young man and gave to him. He was so joyful and appreciative. He gave us his signature salute and a big wave. A week later, we see the same man. He is alone outside the market. He does not ask us for money but gives us his signature salute and bids us hello in Swahili. He tells us that he prayed for us! He prayed for us! A young man, that literally has nothing, that lives in a society where he is an outcast because of how he looks, he still had something to give. He had his time and energy to give to uplift us to our God.

This young man has taught me a few things.

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         1.   A  person’s outlook on a situation will influence the outcome.

     2.    I have been challenged on my attitude on things….if I were in this young man’s place, would I have such a positive attitude in such dismal circumstances? I have to humbly say that I would have difficulty being satisfied.

    3.    It really is true, that materials and things, do NOT make a person happy. In Canada, we are surrounded by so much that we get caught up in having to “keep up with the Jones’”. This really is a heart issue….we need to learn to be satisfied with what we have and stop spending money on things that we “think” we need....a bigger house, another car, more clothes.  In reality, we do not need very much and God is slowly teaching me this lesson….or rather I think I am just being a slow learner on this one.

    4.   To God, I am no different than a street person…..it is only FOR THE GRACE OF GOD that I was born into a Canadian family and that I had the privileged life that I had. I always had food on the table and a roof over my head. No matter if we are a person with privileges or not, God loves us all the same! When I appear before God in the end days, He will not ask me, how much money I had, or how many cars I owned. I will stand before him, next to a street person, and He will ask us both the same questions….did we love God? did we love people? Did we show God’s love to the people? Paul writes in Titus “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy.” (Titus 3:4-5 NASB) Another Bible version (The Voice) says this: ⁴ But then something happened: God our Savior and His overpowering love and kindness for humankind entered our world; ⁵ He came to save us. It’s not that we earned it by doing good works or righteous deeds; He came because He is merciful.

     Please take time to reflect on the Mercy of God today. Thank Him for all He has done and focus on Him being enough to satisfy you because "But for the grace of God,  there go I..."

        May God bless you and encourage your heart today,
                     
                          Darla Balenga

If you would like to donate to our mission, you can donate through the Youth for Christ Edmonton website or Bridges of Hope website earmarked "burundi mission".

http://www.yfced.com/index.php/donate/how-to-donate
http://www.thebridgesofhope.com/index.php?p=Donate