Cultural Barriers

Cambodia is a place of ordered kaos.  of predictability.  but not the things one might predict in Canada.  In traffic, I can guarantee to be cut off, almost hit, see many close calls, watch as pedestrians cross the wide and very busy highway - home to many semis, tuk tuks and motos.  In Canada, if I stepped out in the middle of traffic to cross the street, I would be worried of getting hit.  In Cambodia, this is the way you cross the road, and thus feel at ease that the driver will swerve around us.  

The first time Jeremy and I had wanted to cross a busy street in Cambodia, we were’t sure how to go about it.  Today, in Seoul, a city with crosswalks…. when we wanted to cross the street, we weren’t sure how to go about it.  Where is the crosswalk?  Why are there guardrails everywhere?  Why do we have to wait 3 minutes to cross, when we can do it… we’re experienced!  We walked around a city where traffic sits at a red light…. until it turns green.  There is no fake 10 second advance while the light is still red, which is a norm at every intersection in Phnom Pehn.  Vehicles drive in the lines, traffic calmly flows.  As I reflect, I realize, the city was pretty quiet, and the streets were not crowded…. huh.  I am sure we weren’t seeing all the trueness of South Korea in the short time we wandered through it, but what we saw was Canada disguised with Koreans, and this gave us a good head start as to growing accustomed to the orderly way of life.

This kaos, or overstimulation, is something that I didn’t think I would miss.  Life seems so calm without it!

We only left last night, but, from the time we entered the sanitary version of Cambodia in the Phnom Pehn airport, until now (post Seoul city experience) currently in high-class Seoul airport, it seems as though we left ages ago.

Leaving is always a bitter-sweet experience.  We left behind new friends, whom we hold very dear, in exchange to see our family.  Doesn’t this seem bizarre?  An exchange for one for another?  Yet that is exactly what it is, as we can not have both worlds in one.  We have entered into 2 very different worlds, lived in these worlds, loved and formed relationships in these places…. and now… torn between where our allegiances lie between the 2 places.  There is no common ground, no similarities.   Our last memories of the Cambodia we know are of the 21 people who crammed in the van with us to say good-bye at the airport.  How can we ignore this love and affection.  These are the people who have stolen our hearts.

Human Trafficking

Within the heart of every girl is the desire to be loved.  Loved by her father, her husband.  Unfortunately, not every girl is fortunate enough to be able to experience this love, yet the desire for love does not go away.

For many girls in Cambodia, this natural feeling is destroyed once they are entered into the sex trade, often not by their own free will.  This reality is displayed all over the streets of Phnom Pehn and Siem Reap, the 2 major cities in Cambodia.  These girls are used by their owners to make money from not only the locals, but the many tourists who come through each year.

The following information defines the reality of this crime:

 “They told me they could help me to find a job, and my family was poor and needed food. The job turned out to be in a brothel. I was forced to take 20 to 30 clients a day, and was denied food or tortured if I refused or asked for a break. The money went straight back to the brothel owner, to pay off my ‘debt’ 
for room and board. They threatened to find me and kill me if I left.”

This is slavery.

Human trafficking is considered the world’s second largest, fastest growing organized crime. The International Labor Organization estimates up to 20.9 million people toiling as modern slaves around the globe, and UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children are sold every year. The ILO estimates that 55 percent of forced labor victims are women and girls, as are 98 percent of sex trafficking victims.

The human trafficking business is a multi-billion dollar industry. Sex trafficking alone is estimated to generate $7 billion per year, but INTERPOL believes the number to be closer to $19 billion.  

The Asia Pacific region (which includes South Asia) has the largest number of victims in forced labor – 11.7 million.  Additionally, 55 percent of forced labor victims are estimated to be women and girls, as are 98 percent of sex trafficking victims. Children as young as three or four can be sold for as little as $100 and forced to serve up to 30 clients per day.     

For more information on sex trafficking, and what can be done to help, visit: 

the Somaly Mam Foundation

and,  Daughters of Cambodia

LIfe at a Cambodian Rubbish Dump

      I came across a Photojournalists experience and views of the lives of Cambodians who live in a garbage dump.
Click on the link to view these pictures that don't need words for explanation:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-11/life-at-a-cambodian-rubbish-dump/3659920

the Focus on the Future

Jeremy and I in Cambodia…. Jeremy and I living with 250 children…  Jeremy and I with no “real responsibility”, just floating along in life. 

     I am sure that is what some people think when they think of Jeremy and I.  Without being here with us, it is impossible to even imagine what our days look like.  WIthout experiencing it, it is impossible to feel what we feel, to experience what we experience.

     To be honest, it was easy to leave Canada on our year long adventure last year, seeking out where God would call us to be used.  We definitely had a lot of fun traveling, and not all of it was serving for sure, but I think that God used that time to build our marriage, and strengthen us for a potentially challenging (or not Canadian molded) future.

     Now, Jeremy and I stand here, in Cambodia, and look to God for direction once again.  It is amazing how hard decisions can be when all you want to do is be in the will of God, and not make selfish decisions.  

     We feel like God is telling not to focus on our Canadian careers, and the possibility of losing them.  We feel like He is telling us not to focus on our house, our possessions.  I know for a fact, that to leave these things, some people will think we are crazy.  

     We ask that all our friends and family would partner with us in prayer as we make decisions that have an impact on our future, but not only ours - our families and friends futures as well.

Choices

Life is a series of choices.  Some choices menial, which merely consist of deciding to buy that white chocolate blueberry scone from Starbucks…again.  But, many choices that we make daily affect our lives in a greater way than adding calories to ones diet….   Worse yet, many choices that we make affect the lives of others as well.

In Cambodia, many parental choices have led the children to Rescue.  Choices, such as gambling, which result in selling off ones own child in order to help pay off gambling debt.  Although sad and shocking to the westerner, this occurrence is more common than one might think.  I don't pretend to know even a quarter of the children's stories here, but this has happened to 3 of the children that I can think of off the top of my head.

The choice of having sex with that hooker…. cheating on one's wife… causing division and death in families as the result of HIV and AIDS.  Children from "well-off" families, turned to collecting garbage in the streets to make some money for the now single mom of 4 children.  Then, having th children watch their mother die from the infection their father had given their mother.

Choosing to have yet another drink…. then to go home and beat your wife, again, and again, and again.  Maybe the abuse has turned to murder.  Allowing your children to see what actions you have chosen to take.  Moulding the images and memories of innocent minds.

These are stories I know to be true of some of the children here…. but I am more than aware that these things happen in North America as well.  Maybe the choices made are not as drastically negative as some of these…. but the choices that are made negatively affect a loved one?  a stranger?  a friend?  This is a question we need to consider and ask ourselves.

In a moment

     It only takes a moment in time for everything in one’s life to change.  

     It only took a moment for me to say, “I will” to my best friend’s proposal, and “I do” in committing to walk by the man of my dreams in all my years to come.  It was a single moment that we decided together to change our lives by traveling and volunteering “for a year”; and, that single decision led to our return to Cambodia.  

     It was through our returning here that we have truly begun to feel our hearts bleed and burn for the children here.  We have begun to long and yearn for deeper relationships in order to have a deeper impact.  And we have started to fall in love with the Khmer culture.

     While living in Haiti, I felt like I was being prepared for Asia, and living long term in an orphanage.  Although we had plans to come to Rescue already, my own ideas of what long term plans in Asia looked like were very different from what our hearts are now telling us.  I had visions of starting our own little orphanage, with a Japanese style garden.  LOL!  Really?

     Since we first came to Rescue, Marie has really shaken our mindset on missions.  From the moment we first set out in August of 2011 until this point in time, our view of missions has changed so much.  In this moment I feel, if it’s not broken, why not use it?  In this case, Rescue is far from broken.  It is a gem, an original design made by God to impact the lives of so many children for the better.  We have been won over by the foundation of Rescue, by Marie, and most importantly, by all the children here.  It is amazing to compare their past life stories to who they are today.  Many people, myself included, couldn’t even fathom what most of these children have lived through at such a young age; yet, it is through this adversity that they have grown, or are growing, into incredibly mature and strong men and woman of God. Living with the youth, especially, has been a great witness and challenge to my own life and walk with God.

     At this time, I can not say with certainty that we know where our immediate future will lead, but I can say we are certainly ready for anything!  We await the next moment of change.

Our Cambodian Home

     On November 19^th, we returned to Cambodia, where we have committed to spending another 5 months teaching English to the children living at Place of Rescue.  In addition to English, Stacey will also be teaching keyboard to a number of students.  

     Place of Rescue is our home while we are in Cambodia, and upon returning, we felt as though we were returning home, and were welcomed accordingly by those living here.  We are more than happy to start off where we left off with in our relationships with the children and youth, and are looking forward to getting to know a number of them on a deeper, personal level.

     Each child living at Rescue is a miracle, which is so much more evident to us this time around.  It is hard to look at a face, or listen to them laugh without realizing this fact.

      Each child in the orphanage section of Rescue has literally been taken out of a hopeless situation, without parents, and often coming from heartbreaking backgrounds. These children are given a family, schooling, and teaching about God.  One 16 year old boy said to us that he was so happy when he came to Rescue at 10 years old because there was food and he was able to go to school.

      The children who are a part of the AIDS centre section of Rescue live with their existing families, who, as a whole, regularly receive AIDS medication and medical care.  Each family living in one of these 16 homes are very much a part of the rest of the Rescue community.

     We have felt so blessed to be able to return and be involved in the lives of the children living here.  Because Cambodia is a very social culture, there are many activities that occur throughout the week, bringing everyone together regularly.  It is fun to be involved in this social community, and we are eager to use these times to form deeper meaningful relationships with the children here.

     Please partner with us in prayer for the continual safety and health of al the children adn parents living here.  

Also, please pray for us, both for our time here now, and for our future decisions. Pray for continual strength, patience and creativity for inside the classroom and out. 

      Thank you, Stacey and   Jeremy Bacque

                       “O Lord, I give my life to you.  I trust in you, my God!”

                                                                                                                                                       Psalm 25: 1-2a

      

The Heart of Christmas

     It is the season of Christmas, and what better way to get into the season than incorporate Christmas into the classroom?  My students have made cards and crafts, learned Christmas songs, and played Christmas games.  

      It was in my youngest class that I began to read a Christmas story - not THE Christmas story, but one about wanting presents and toys, about Santa and what he will bring.  These are ideas that do not seem foreign to the westerner, in fact they are far from foreign.  But as I was reading, and having my translator translate, I found myself embarrassed that I would even read such a book.  I apologized to my translator and said, “The End.”

     This occurrence has caused me to think deeper about what Christmas really means to me.  I know in my heart that the birth of Jesus is the reason for Christmas, and Christmas should be about love, community and sharing; but, how deeply engrained are these false stories of Santa and toys?  I mean, we all know the songs, and exactly how Santa travels and comes down chimneys, but to the foreigner, this idea is just that.

     Coming to Cambodia for Christmas has removed a large part of many Christmas traditions for us.  But one large tradition, of coarse, is shopping for presents.  I love buying, wrapping and giving presents.  I don’t care as much about receiving presents though, so I don’t buy so I can get.  When you remove this shopping factor, and suddenly you are left without shopping, you feel as though all the prep and lead-up to Christmas is gone.  This is a problem.  Once I realized this is how I felt, I realized that shopping and presents are what really does define Christmas in western culture; and although I like to think otherwise, it has defined much of what Christmas means to me.

     By being removed from westernization this holiday season, I have learned more about myself, and feel blessed to be able to focus on the things that matter: Jesus, love, relationships, and community - all which are very close to us now and easy to access!

Christmas in Cambodia

It is December 1^st on this side of the world, and the Christmas season should be in full swing on your side of the world by now.  For those who know us, know that Christmas is a favorite for us… by far.  We love decorating, and I allow Jeremy to put his nutcrackers throughout the house :)  This year, for obvious reasons, will be a very different Christmas… no santas, reindeers, bells in the mall, Christmas parties… (and although we will be missing our friends and family this Christmas wholeheartedly), I feel as though I’ve won the lottery being able to spend it with all the children here.

I realized this week, that I have been underestimating the children, and their perception of us, and the way they watch our ways.  They see when we leave for the city, and when we stay to spend time with them on the weekends.  This should seem obvious, but it was only with their small comments here and there that I have realized this.  

The other day, one of the older boys, Thai, brought up Christmas.  He wondered if we would be leaving to spend Christmas at the beach, or in another country.  When I told him we were here to spend it with them, he was both surprised and excited.  The older children, at least, understand what a big occasion Christmas is to westerners, and I am glad we can give our passion for Christmas over to the ones we love here.

Our experience in coming back has been very different from the 1^st time we were here.  This time around, we have entered into a world we are familiar with, and a people we already know and love.  It is like we are entering into a family we left behind.  Our once room feels like our home, along with the rest of Rescue’s grounds.  And, although needing some small breaks at times, all I want to do is spend time with my family here, where last time privacy was a luxury for me.

Thank you for all the prayers coming out our way.  Although I enjoyed the children before, and for that reason we are back, I now feel an overflowing love for each of them, and sense of belonging in this one huge family.  

So, when I here “I’ll be home for Christmas….. if only in my dreams…”  I am torn, because I dream of family, snow, and tradition, but I am given an outpouring of love, and isn’t that what Christmas should really be about?  God’s love for us, and our love for others.

The Market

I went to the (food) market for the first time this morning since returning to Cambodia, and although I am used to the sights, I did think to myself, if only everyone I knew could see the things that I am seeing.

Imagine walking through narrow lanes, filled with people buying, selling, eating, driving motos.  I wait for my friend, who is buying pork, which is hanging on hooks.  She is touching each one to see which one is more tender.  Once she makes he decision, the "butcher" uses a hammer to remove the pig hoof, then an exe to cut up the pig leg.

Down a ways are the ladies selling the fish.  I like to buy fish from the market because they are still alive (until you pay)… for the most part.  Beside the alive fish lie large fish head.

Other sights include ladies sitting beside large bowls of eggs, fruit, vegetables, nuts.  Pig heads, and chicken heads wait to by bought.  Behind some vegetables is a salon, where a lady is getting a pedicure, while at the back of the shop there is a double bed holding a father and child.

I hope your imagination works for you to see what I could see.  I wish my mind could take pictures that could be seen by all.

The time has come

After over a year of traveling, we finally made it back to Canada where we have been blessed with incredible family and friends.  It had been just over 2 months that we were home, which at times had felt like a whirlwind of faces and activity, but was much needed due to our time away.  Thank you to all of you who had welcomed us home and poured out into our lives.  

We left for Cambodia early November 19^th, to arrive in Phnom Pehn late the 20^th.  It was a long and exhausting, but fairly comfortable day of travel,  and we were warmly welcomed by our Cambodian friends.

Although many events have happened in the last 5 months since we left Cambodia, once we left the Phnom Pehn airport, it felt as though we had never left.  In many ways, our room at Place of Rescue has been our last home, and we were excited to finally settle in somewhere again.

The children have already been excited to see us, some of them counting down the days until we came back.  A moment ago a group of small boys were at our window, and informed us there is a baby named “Baby Jeramiah” (which is how the kids say Jeremy).  We’ll find out if that’s true.

We are looking forward to these 5 precious months we have with the children.  It has been almost a blessing to be removed from Place of Rescue, and take a fresh look at what we can do differently, and how we can form even deeper relationships with the children.

Please pray for inspiration, strength, and patience.  We are grateful for all the prayer and financial support we have received so far, but can never have enough prayer.  Thank you to all of you who have poured into our lives.  

                                                                                    Love you all, Stacey and Jeremy

the Return...

After spending just over a year away from our families and friends, we have eagerly returned home to Canada, our home.  Our time away had given us so many new experiences, and insight into the hidden passions that exist within our hearts.  My eyes have been opened to the many social issues that exist both outside and inside Canada, and I now have a longing and eagerness to be a part of the solution to these issues.  I am not sure just yet how this will look, or when it will occur, but my heart longs to bring change.

As for now, Jeremy and I have decided to return to Place of Rescue in Cambodia.  At this moment we do not have a ticket booked, but we are looking at leaving mid-Novemeber until around April.  Our time at Rescue had opened up a new definition of what LOVE truly means.  All the children living at Rescue have been saved out of devastating situations through God's love, and have been embraced into a large family eager to reign down love on the new addition to Rescue.
On return to Cambodia, we will once again teach English to elementary, junior high, and high school students, as well as some additional teachers.  We are also looking forward to spending our extra time with the children we have left behind and miss so much.

Please partner with us in prayer as we move forward in our immediate future, but also search for direction for our distant future as well.



Click on: Place of Rescue for more information about where we will be heading.

If you want to know more about the history of Cambodia, which continues to impact all Cambodian lives, click here: Pol Pot's genocide

Reality meets West

Under the glowing Eiffel Tower, tucked away on the steps and benches of Paris are many people living within their invisible walls of a home:

The man in a deep sleep on the steps of Louis Vuitton, bed made comfortably, suitcase at foot, and on the suitcase neatly lies his suit-jacket, careful not to wrinkle it.  By day, I wonder, if I saw this man would I know he does not have a home?  Well dressed, suitcase with wheels, walking Paris.

We pass the disheveled woman, maybe 55, with low pigtails and dark make-up, dirty white dog in her lap.  What is her story, I wonder?  Was she in broadway and still living the dream?  That is how it seems to me.

The man across the street is singing a lullaby to all, while the man in the bus stop near us is encouraging him to quiet, speaking more to himself than to anyone else.

A man fast asleep in a glass phone booth, one foot up on the door.

A mother and father tucking their 2 young boys in on their large mattresses in a dark street.  After all, they had had a long day and it was after the boys bedtime.

A father sits on his mattress on a busy street corner, 2 year old daughter in lap, fighting her sleeplessness.

As we walked the enchanted streets, it seemed more than common to pass someone lounging on their mattress in the morning sun reading a magazine, or petting their dog, with what seemed to be all their possessions lying beside.  Not boxes and bags, but suitcases and basketballs… normal possessions that we ourselves have as well.  What happened?  Who are these people and what are their stories?  

Last night in Paris, and it was hard to fall asleep.  Not because I didn’t want to leave (which, I LOVED Paris), but because after seeing these images for 3 days and 3 nights, the faces were calling out to me.

At the point of Paris, it had been over a year since Jeremy and I had first set out on our adventure around the world.  We have entered and exited so many countries… (was it 19 that we counted? Give or take 1?) …we have embraced so many people, and cultures, and sights, and religions - although we didn’t agree with or like all, but we loved all.  

Walking through each country and seeing the exposed weaknesses, we have come to learn that every country has a need.  Every person has a problem.  Everybody needs to be loved…. whether that is in Paris, Australia, Cambodia, or Canada.  This lesson was both on Jeremy and my heart as we wrapped up our final days abroad.  

While in a new city, it is easy to take in all the new things, because you are not expecting anything…. you don’t know what you will discover.  On the streets of our own city, we know the sights, we know the homelessness already, and over the years we have grown accustomed.  Paris had opened our eyes to the need in Paris, but  reminded us of that same need in Edmonton.  There are heartbreaking life stories everywhere, but we can no longer “grow accustomed” to them.  We can no longer walk past another day and think, “I should do something, I should volunteer maybe, but where is the time?”  There is always time, until one day life is over.

We have landed in Canada, and we are not sure how our future will look after this year.  What will change?  I am not sure just yet, but how can our lives be the same?  They can’t?  Mundane routine?  The thought scares me.

Solena

Solena.  She was an incredibly happy girl: always laughing, always running, a very free spirit.  She was loved and she loved.  Having been brought to Rescue with AIDS, she was well cared for and given the proper medicine she needed.  One day last week she started having seizures due to what we thought was a fever,  but the doctors though meningitis.  After almost a week in the hospital, she passed away.

If there is one thing that I have learned through the passing of my dad is that God does not always heal in the way we expect.  Heaven is the perfect healing; and, although we do not always understand on earth, God knows what he's doing.  It is through our selfishness that we want to be with the person we love, and that is what brings the pain.  We often are confused and shocked when someone passes, especially a child.  I can only think that God is sitting up in Heaven and thinking, "now is the time that I take away all her suffering", so He does.

Solena will be missed by the large family that she inherited through Rescue.  But ultimately she has been rescued from the pain of this world.  Please pray for those left behind.

 A broken world

     Watching the children laugh and run and play, it occurs to me just how pure and innocent they were meant to be.  They were born this way, with no fault; but, they were born into a fallen world, one full of sin.  Some, from the time they took their first breath, were introduced to sin.  Each small child has their own set of scars, not ones that they committed, but ones that were given to them.

         Looking at the faces and smiles of the children, I sometimes forget that each child that I see everyday has a story; a past.  Why should this be?  Should children not be allowed to merely be children?

     This world is so dark and evil; but, the children are a light in the darkness.  Their futures are like a blank canvas, one to be shaped and molded.  The scars will never go away, but there has been redemption and healing through God.

     This is not the story of only Cambodian children; this is the story of many children all over the world.  A history filled with abuse and darkness.  Who will bring these children God, and hope, and a road to recovery, so they too can be healed from the evils of this world? 

Flowers

Many of the children pick flowers for us at Place of Rescue.  Right as soon as the flower is ripe and beautiful to pick, there's a chance someone has their little hands all over it.  Some of the kids here have AIDS and as one boy handed me some fresh flowers the other day, it made me contemplate the lives of the other sick kids around here.  I hope you do too.

 Untitled

The little boy picks flowers for me

And offers them affectionately 

Yet I wonder if he doesn’t know

The time it takes a flower to grow

Young petals that had barely spread

I hold in my palm already dead

So how do I respond or react

To this flower no longer intact

Blossom you barely had time to soak in

The sun, the rain and your life within

He plucked you from your sturdy stem

And no longer were you one of them 

Appreciation for such intricate form

A lot resolved before you were born

If he only knew your plight

You might have stood up tall upright

Why though is there such beauty 

In this flower he has picked for me

Foolishness I dare not say

For it was given life this day

He sowed some love at the expense

Of a timely act of providence

To demonstrate how much he cared

For in this bud his soul he bared

Its stalk was weak and so is he

But love in them is all I see

A life they both met underserved

A life, a love is now preserved 

He is the blossom that keeps on living

Though his sickness is unforgiving

And when I hold this tiny blessing

Christ’s love I am now possessing

Place of Rescue

      It was not until the day we were flying into Cambodia that the nervousness of teaching began.  I had never taught a class full of children, let alone English without a translator…  I really was not sure what to expect.
      Once we flew into the country, Jeremy and I spent 3 days in the city of Phnom Pehn, and after 2 ½ months of travelling from place to place, I was excited to see where we would call home for the next 3 months.  It was fun finding the different markets and grocery stores, and eagerness to learn the Khmer language kicked in.

     Arriving at Place of Rescue, which is an orphanage that was established by Marie Ens, we were impressed right away.  After spending much of her life as a missionary in Cambodia (with her late husband), Marie returned to Cambodia to "retire".  As a retiree, she saw the need to help those suffering during the AIDS crisis.  Many woman were left abandoned by their husbands, leaving many children without parents following the death of their mothers due to AIDS.  Marie started by first taking one child and her mother off the street.  They were given shelter, food, medicine and love.  The little girl, Ny, is still here..but she has grown into a young woman, almost ready for college.
Rescue is set up in a village-like style.  There are AIDS homes, where families can stay together in their own home, and receive the proper medicine and treatment they need.  There are trips to the hospital 2 times a week, as well as an on-site nurse.
As for the children who have survived their parents, there are a number of houses arranged in a family style.  Each house has a house mom, and about 10 children.  The children are expected to help with meals and chores, as well as eat as a family.
Marie has also set up a home for grannies who have no one to look after them otherwise.  This adds a great dynamic to the environment, as Recuse ranges from the little babies to the wise grannies.

     Jeremy and I (along side 2 other Canadian English teachers) are teaching English to elementary, junior high, and high school students.  There is an elementary school on the grounds, where the children attend Monday to Friday.  The Junior high and High school students ride their bikes to the local schools Monday to Saturday to study there.  After they return from school, they have English classes in the evenings.

      The children here are so happy and full of life.  The little ones bound towards us only to wrap their arms around our legs whenever we are in sight.  The young ones look for us to play with them, and still the older ones want to hang out.

      Since arriving, we have grown accustomed to faces in our windows (however, it is not always appreciated), our bucket shower, and late evening traditional Khmer dance practices.  There is usually much noise around Rescue, with worship, movies, dancing, and plenty of laughter.  Being the type of person who loves to be involved in whatever activity is occurring, but then finding quiet solitude to rejuvenate poses a challenge here.  At Rescue, there is always something going on, and quiet solitude is hard to come by.  Luckily leaving rural Cambodia to retreat in the busy urban dwellings of Phnom Pehn can actually offer the solitude i need to face another week.

     In saying all this, we are loving Cambodia, the people we work with and the people we don't.  I have fallen into a teaching groove, and it turns out that teaching is not as scary as i thought it would be…

If you want to know more information about Place of Rescue, check out the home site at:
http://www.placeofrescue.com/home/

The Chase

The Million Dollar Question

What would you do with a million dollars?  Undoubtedly one of the most popular of all hypothetical questions.  At one time probably a very creative quandary or ice-breaker, but now more of a silly conjecture for which there is neither a right answer, a wrong answer, or an answer that will appease everyone.  Cleverly spun by the media, this query is often posed to actors who in one instant can appear as heroic ambassadors of good will, or instantly lose any generous credibility due their name, based on what they assure us they will spend the money on.  Furthermore, whether its our best friend, a game show winner or a billionaire turned philanthropist, the answer offered in usually just a split second leaves us feeling skeptical.  A more natural reaction than believing the answer is to pull out our theoretical measuring stick and gauge it against what we deem to be a satisfactory answer.  Unfortunately our motives lie more in sniffing out an incorrect response than continuing a topic we are serious about addressing.

How do we know then that someone is telling the truth?  Can we offer an honest response to this question?  I think there is an honest response and I will share a couple examples that compliment each other well.  Unfortunately neither of them offer substantial evidence, but merely a humble call to action, which for this circumstance I will gladly call hope.  Maybe you will read these thoughts cynically and be left disenchanted, after all money has a more profound way of leaving us feeling pessimistic than hopeful.  Just remember, these honest replies are not muddled up in hidden agendas, political platforms or egotism.  They come from people who do need to dwell on such conundrums.  They come from the poor.

Jesus witnessed firsthand what someone would have done, as written in Luke 21.  Remember, this is not a parable.

“The poor woman at the temple treasury deposited two very small copper coins.  This represented her giving out of her poverty, all that she had to live on.  The rich man who approached the same collection placed a larger monetary amount,” one that did not set him back financially as Jesus explained: “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all the others.  All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”  

One student at Rescue in Cambodia was posed the million dollar question.  Remember, many of these kids are victims of AIDS, homelessness and abuse, kids that didn’t have a dime to their name when they were scooped out of some very deplorable situations.  Same position as the poor widow, worse actually I’ll wager.  

Here was the response: “I’d try to help orphans and poor people find a place to live.”  I wasn’t in attendance for this class, but I’m sure I would’ve witnessed a generous round of head-nodding and murmured agreement.  We’re shocked by this answer.  The story about the poor widow is lost on us sometimes but this is 2012, there’s a lot of things you can do with a million bucks, especially if you need it like these kids, right?

What the “haves” envision a million dollars accomplishing is probably drastically different than what the “have-nots” would think.  The average North American might have that money spent by the time they’re finished answering the question.  I could tell you that these kids literally wouldn’t know what else to spend the money on and its because they never had it to begin with.  I suppose you could attribute their simple and generous answer to lack of education, or childish innocence, but is that really the path we want to take?  I have to say, I want to believe his answer, I do believe his answer.  I can search my heart and know darn well that if it’s my money it could be misused starting with the first dollar.  I know what its like to have money, to control my finances, to understand in theory how far a million dollars could go.  Alas, this is where the downward spiral comes into play, and many of us hope that we could do the right thing with the money but we would struggle greatly because we would not have in mind the things of God but the things of this world.  

To satisfy this dilemma, God gave me this verse.  The words stun me, because they give conformation and hope to what I’ve struggled to make sense of for a couple of weeks now.  It spoke perfectly to my heart because too often I am an outsider, too often polluted by this world and far from pure and blameless.  Its not about a million bucks, its not about five bucks, its about a call to action, God’s way, not our way.

James 1:27  “Religion that is pure and blameless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”