How Hard It Is For A Rich Man

Tom & Megan with some English students

Every Sunday one of my brothers comes by the house.  He keeps chickens and grows some produce on his land and so he brings it around on Sunday and I buy whatever he brings.  Eggs, bananas, mangos, tomatoes.  Then after that we usually spend some time studying together.  This Sunday he came with his own passage.  It was a passage John had written about loving one another.  “And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.”  We talked about it in much the way we normally do.  But then, my brother said something that surprised me, “Wednesday, we argued.  And it wasn’t good.”  He was coming to reconcile with me…

So, what happened?  One of our teammate families was staying in this brother’s village.  When we delivered them to the house everything went well until I gave the host some money to help with the cost of feeding our teammates.  Now, my brother’s family is poor.    When he saw how much I had given him, he turned and asked me for more.  At first I said no, but then I ended up giving him some more and saying that this wasn’t good.  The discussion lasted only five minutes, but I was deeply disappointed.   I know enough about island culture to know that this was not a normal way to behave.  In fact, for most islanders to ask for more money when you being given a gift would have been shameful.  Of all the other homestay hosts, no one asked for money, and some even refused to take the gift I offered them.  This is to be expected.  Even if what I gave them was too meager (I don’t think it was by any means) to ask for more money is really unheard of.  I wasn’t angry, but deeply disappointed.  We struggle with many “brothers” who act like money is the best thing you can get from a foreigner (not friendship, fellowship or a better understanding of truth). Once again money had shown itself to be an issue and a barrier and a problem within our community.

Our youngest (15 months)

So back to Sunday.  I tried to explain this to my brother.  We both apologized, but I wanted to try and make my point more clearly.  It just so happened that Megan and I had been reading the story of the rich young ruler that morning.  “Ah ha!”  I thought.  That will make my point clear.  “Then he will understand about the pitfalls of money.”  So I read the passage to him.  But a funny thing happened as I read.  “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.  Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”  I suddenly saw it from my brother’s point of view.  To him, I’m a lot closer to the rich young ruler.  In his eyes, I’m rich.  Although in terms of America, we live quite economically.  Here, I have a good job and a nice house.   I am young. (Younger than him.)  And I am a sort of ruler.  (My status as a foreigner, English teacher commands respect whether I deserve it, seek it, or not)  And what was I refusing to do, but give to the poor.  When I finished the passage I wasn’t sure what to say anymore.  My brother told me that he doesn’t have much but when his neighbors come to him asking for things, he gives it to them.  He is very generous with his money.  Am I so generous?  Not really.  But why not.  So I explained to him.  “You see me as rich, and I suppose that, here, I am.  I want to help people.  I don’t want to hold onto my money.  But here, there are those who ask because they truly need and then there are those who are not trustworthy.  And unfortunately, within our community, there are many who are not trustworthy.  You can tell the difference, but I can’t.  So I’m sorry.  Sometimes, I make mistakes.”  He seemed to understand this, and we left each other reconciled.  Will money continue to be an issue?  Unfortunately, yes.  But can we continue to love one another?  With God’s help, Yes!

Our kids playing on the porch

“How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!...they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, Then who can be saved?...With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

PRAYERS ANSWERED
All of our teammates did quite well on homestay.  Some of them battled through sickness.  Others battled through boredom.  But overall they did very well, and are happy for the experience.  We’re especially thankful for some of our teammates who were dreading this time and ended up enjoying the week.  It is a big answer to prayer.  We are excited for the relationships they have made and will hopefully build upon.  We had a very fun and successful team meeting this week and we are looking forward to many more.  The plumbing is done and the refrigerator was delivered!  Thanks for remembering these things.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
The plumbing is installed, but there is some electrical work that still needs to be done on one of the houses to get their water system up and running.  Pray that it would get done soon.  But even if the system is functioning it only works if there is some water.  Right now it seems like the town where 4 of our teammates live is completely waterless.  Pray that water would come so that they could fill their cisterns.  Other teammates are having troubling accessing money from the islands, pray that we find a solution Pray for our teammates as they settle into their homes and figure out their routines.  Pray for good language learning, especially for our teammates who have never studied a second language before.  It can be very overwhelming.  Please pray for Megan’s back.  It has been discouraging to see her relapse into pain.