In a world where systems are broken,
where cheating is rampant, it’s easy to feel bitter and discouraged.
As we reflected on an incident where someone took advantage of us to lend him money, we now realize it was a mistake to have done so— he has no intention of returning it in spite of his ability to do so.
It may be easy for some to say, “Just walk away.” And indeed, while the money is of a substantial amount, and we can still afford to live without it, I do believe God wants us to pursue the matter not to get our rights back but to use our words and actions as an expression of righteousness and to set a plumb line for what’s right.
Often, it takes more effort to seek His wisdom to make an intentional effort in the right direction.
It’ll take a lot more time and energy, but just as we decided to wait instead of pay our way through our permits and promote bribery, we want to pursue this to make things right.
Not everyone will agree it’s worth their time, and thats okay.
We were so heartened by the words of our local pastor, whom we’d travelled far to meet, who said, “The best thing you can do for our people is to refuse them money. Refuse, unless under very special circumstances God tells you to, so they look to Him and not to you to save them.”
As we continue to witness so many instances where funds and help hurt the local people more, we’ve grown a desperation to ask God for wisdom.
And if anyone asks me why we haven’t ploughed into a community yet, why we haven’t started fundraising for more needs yet, what on earth are we doing— I’ll look them straight in the eye and say we are doing God’s work— learning how to bring dignity to people rather than plunge in to do what’s easier and what will make us look great.
I sat in tears at the lunch he and his wife fed us, as they shared their lives of pain, struggle, and being ostracized for doing what’s right with us. Grateful for local friends we can count as friends.
A friend wrote to me today, “God has entrusted you with the heartbreak He feels on a daily basis. The world He loves and created is so broken… and He shared that burden with you, who are faithful.
So of course He put you in a field where corruption and ugliness of problems are many. And the enemy will try and make you bitter and discourage you, let cynical thoughts seep in to sabotage what God wants to do for the people around and through you.”