Sacrifice

One of the precious gems of my time here has been getting to know the Europeans and North Americans who are doing NGO work here, mostly affiliated Christian missions. The community is diverse – we have Canadians, Americans, British, French, Dutch, Swiss, Germans, Finnish, Brazilians, Portuguese and South Africans. They also serve in diverse ways – agriculture, medical work, teaching at the seminary, teaching at the international school, flying relief flights.

Although they live in relative comfort compared with the general population here, this is definitely not an easy place to live compared to what they had enjoyed in their home countries. Inconveniences abound – it takes a half day just to go grocery shopping (supermarkets here are far from complete), documents take months to process, most car parts take weeks to arrive, water needs to be filtered, power outages occur almost daily, and roads are horrible. Most who have lived here long enough have had things stolen from them: cash, medical supplies, car radios, clothing (While examining one of his patients, Dr. Bob found the patient wearing his wife’s underwear which had been stolen a few months previous – needless to say he did not ask for it back). Yet, they stay and make these sacrifices because they see the needs and know they are called to be here.

These are people which take the last part of Matthew 25 seriously – serving the hungry, the poor, the sick, as they would have served Jesus. Fortunately, their selflessness and desire to serve others is infectious. I can proudly list off a whole bunch of abilities and accomplishments that I possess; however, in this business, what matters most are a heart of service and an attitude of selfless giving, which I fall far short of, and trust that God will provide for me.