{"id":242,"date":"2015-01-27T14:34:27","date_gmt":"2015-01-27T14:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/?p=242"},"modified":"2015-05-28T18:50:26","modified_gmt":"2015-05-28T18:50:26","slug":"i-live-because-we-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/i-live-because-we-live\/","title":{"rendered":"I Live Because We Live"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Native<\/a><\/p>\n

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by\u00a0Jamie Dunning<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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I sat forward on the stiff couch, reaching for another\u00a0chapati<\/em>\u00a0and refilling my plate with another serving of\u00a0mokimo<\/em>, rice, and stew. I was quickly learning that Eunice not only had a tremendous heart for the people in her community, but that she was also a gifted cook. Being a\u00a0mgeni<\/em>\u00a0(visitor) in her home definitely had it\u2019s perks. Over the course of the meal I listened to Joseph and Eunice share their vision for their church school that meets the needs of the children in their rural and impoverished community. Through education, a feeding program, and introducing the children to the love of Christ, they offer the children an opportunity to overcome the shackles of poverty and to make a lasting difference in their communities. I was moved by their vision and my heart was filled with their compassion and passion. Little did I know that this meal was just the beginning of a lasting friendship and partnership. Over the next several years we would share many meals together and become partners in ministry. Our children would one day play together, and one of their future children would even share my name.<\/p>\n

With a full stomach and a happy heart, I leaned back and accepted a cup of creamy and sweet chai.\u00a0 As we continued to discuss their ministry and how we could partner together, I was distracted by the growing number of children that were gathering at the door, many of which ventured inside for a bite to eat.\u00a0 Eunice casually and quietly stepped to the side to offer food to each of the children.\u00a0 As the number of children continued to multiply, I was curious as to why they were all there.\u00a0 Surely this fairly-young couple wasn’t responsible for so many young children.\u00a0 Perhaps these were the children from the school, but that seemed unlikely as the school wasn\u2019t necessarily close by.\u00a0 After observing this for several moments, I finally asked Joseph,\u201cWho are all of these children? Are these your kids, or the kids from the school?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He glanced around as if he hadn\u2019t noticed the horde of children that had gathered.\u00a0 He went on to tell me that these were neither theirs nor the school children, but that they were from the surrounding neighborhood and community.\u00a0 I asked him if they always took their meals here,\u00a0 he chuckled and replied,\u00a0\u201cNot always, but when we have enough food.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0I was moved.\u00a0 I told him that it was refreshing to see such openness and generosity.\u00a0 He looked a little surprised by my comment, and replied,\u00a0\u201cWe have food, as a Christian how could we not give it to these that have need.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He went on to explain that the greatest need of the people in this community was their need for food.\u00a0 How could his family deny this need when they have the ability to meet it?\u00a0 Now, I was humbled and convicted.\u00a0 He explained to me a belief that is deeply rooted in their culture:\u00a0\u201cI live because we live, and we live because I live.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0A belief that we are all in this together, and we are all responsible for one another.\u00a0 I was challenged by this beautiful approach to life, this counter-cultural worldview.<\/p>\n

I pondered the situation before me, and I had to ask myself,\u00a0\u201cAm I generous enough?<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Looking around at the simple and humble home of my hosts, I was acutely aware of their own need, but yet their generosity flowed freely.\u00a0 I was reminded of the widow that Jesus spoke of in Luke 21 when he said,\u00a0\u201cTruly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.\u201d\u00a0 We are often generous when there is an abundance, but do we do the same when we have great need ourselves?\u00a0 To be able to look past our own need and to be concerned with the needs of others is a revolutionary, counter-cultural type of generosity and love.\u00a0 The sharp and poignant words of Mother Teresa remind us,\u00a0\u201cIf our poor die of hunger, it is not because God does not care for them.\u00a0 Rather, it is because you not I are generous enough\u201d\u00a0(No Greater Love<\/em>). \u00a0These words seem extreme and probably sting our pride.\u00a0 We may even disagree with their sentiment, but we would be wise to prayerfully examine these words before dismissing them.\u00a0 We may find that there is great truth, a calling and a challenge within.\u00a0 After all, in the words of minister, author, and Pulitzer-Prize finalist, Frederich Buechner,\u00a0\u201cTo lend each other a hand when we\u2019re falling\u2026.Perhaps that\u2019s the only work that matters in the end\u201d\u00a0(Brendan<\/em>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  by\u00a0Jamie Dunning I sat forward on the stiff couch, reaching for another\u00a0chapati\u00a0and refilling my plate with another serving of\u00a0mokimo, rice, and stew. I was quickly learning that Eunice not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world-missions","7":"entry"},"title_es":"","content_es":"","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Ar-3U","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}