What is the value???

So what really is the value of us “foreigners” from the “rich” West coming over to Africa to volunteer our time and energy to help people here?

Sometimes, when I’m feeling a little down about the possibility of being single for the rest of my life I get very frustrated with well meaning married Christian friends who try to console me, or give me advice.  It’s not their fault that they were among the fortunate ones to find a life partner, it’s wonderful for them and in all honesty every time I hear of a single friend getting married I am genuinely happy for them.  It’s a friend I can tick off my prayer list. 

However, this blog is not about my longing or desire for a husband, it just occurred to me upon reflection on my role here in South Africa that there is a parallel between how I feel about these married friends (how can you understand?...you’re the lucky ones! etc. etc.) and how many Africans feel about ‘us’ Europeans that come out here and try to help them.  However hard we try, we cannot understand how it must feel to be them.  I am by no means rich here,  what I receive each month is probably double or triple many people’s salaries in this country, but after all my expenses I have days where I am not sure where the money for a loaf of bread or carton of milk will come from.  God is always faithful (even though I’m not always to Him).  However, what would happen if everything collapsed and I lost my funding and couldn’t afford to drive my car or pay my rent?  Well, I would have to go back to the UK, where I could find a job fairly easily, where I could live at my parents comfortable home and be fed each day.   I do not know what it is like to not have an option, to be penniless, to be jobless, to be desperate.  How can I come alongside young people who do know these things?  Can I really, or am I just being patronising, or confirming the stereotypes of people from overseas?

I guess the answer is that if we are where we are meant to be, then yes, we can help, make a difference, come alongside people we have little in common with.  Are we doing what we are called to do?  Did Jesus have everything in common with everyone he met?  My thoughts take me to the woman at the well.  Jesus was from a different culture (one that despised the other), He was a different gender (not appropriate for him to talk to a woman like that), he was not sinful, whereas she was living sinfully, .....  How could he ever have understood what life was like for her? ...but He changed her life by his loving actions, attitude and by not judging or condemning her.   I remember once attending a seminar on ministry, and this issue was raised and the speaker made the point that if we do not have something in common with the person we are ministering to, then it could take a lot of time to learn to understand them, their culture and their decisions.  If we do have something in common with them (in the sense that we have struggled with the same things), then it will also have taken time for us to reconcile these issues with Christ,  be it emotional healing, acceptance of our weaknesses or circumstances, growing in God’s knowledge and understanding of why things are the way they are....either way it takes time! 

Anyway I still feel stumped by the seemingly unfairness of life, why some people are living life far from their potential because of circumstances beyond their control.  I still feel helpless when I see a young person not get the same opportunities as others because of his or her ethnicity.  I still feel helpless when I hear of the abuse that people have to endure, especially young people. 

Lord help me to be more like you.  Help me to see things through your eyes.  Help me not to necessarily understand these things, but know that you are sovereign and there are some things that are just not meant for us to comprehend.  Help me to be grateful for every little thing I have, and to be able to share those things with others.  Help this country I live in to receive healing from years of hurt and oppression.