Can we be Thankful for Poverty?

I remember as a child sitting around the Thanksgiving table with my family and all of us taking a turn to say what we were thankful for. The common things mentioned were family, friends, warm house, clothes, and it never failed that someone was thankful for turkey! We always mentioned the things that we had and gave thanks for those things. In my mind I would compare myself with someone who didn’t have the possession or positions I did, and sincerely thank God that He had chosen to give those things to me.

After working closely with the people in the Rio for over a year, my thoughts on giving thanks have changed a bit. It is easy to look at poverty and feel sympathy, pity, and guilt about what we have and what they don’t.  However, have we ever thought that poverty could be a thing to give thanks for in and of itself?

A family in the Rio.

Poverty is “the state of one with insufficient resources” (Merriam-Webster). It is the knowledge that you can’t take care of yourself and your family on your own. With poverty come dependence and humility and the deep realization that you need help, that you can’t satisfy your own needs. Many times we look on poverty through our self-sufficient lenses and are disgusted by it. However isn’t humility and dependence on God to satisfy our needs exactly what our Father in Heaven desires of us?

Often, when we have all the material possessions we need the thing we lack is dependence on God. We are able in many ways to provide for our own needs. We don’t really need Him. When we have too much we are tempted to disown our God, forget about Him and say “Who is the Lord?” (Prov. 30:9).

In Matthew 5 Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” ‘Blessed’ is a word that means so much more than happiness. It means a spiritual joy and well-being.  Oh how much eternal joy a person has whose spirit is dependent on God and humbled before Him!

 Recently I was talking to a Mexican friend who experienced a severe time of financial need before coming to serve with Back2Back. His told me stories of walking 4 miles to get to school because he couldn’t pay for a bus ticket and about how he and his sisters would go to bed early at night because it helped them forget about the pain in their gnawing stomachs. “That time was hard,” he said, “But I wouldn’t trade what I learned for anything. During those years I saw the Lord’s provision for me in ways I never could have dreamed.”  He then went on to tell story after story of the miraculous ways his Father in heaven provided him with food, clothing, school supplies, etc. Stories of people calling and inviting him and his sisters to eat the day they ran out of food, others dropping by with bags of groceries right when they weren’t sure what they would have for dinner, stories of finding the materials he needed for school laying on the side of the road. As a result of his poverty, the man’s faith in God is unlike any I have seen.

The Kingdom of God is about the least being the greatest, the last being first, and the weak being strong so that ultimately the Lord is glorified. We can praise God for weakness, humility, and poverty when it causes us to be dependent on Him and when it builds in us a testimony of His faithfulness.

Are there ways in which you can thank God for poverty this Thanksgiving?  

Welcome Home J.J. !!!!

On Saturday J.J. Lail was welcomed back to Monterrey, Mexico by this happy crowd of B2B staff and teens at the airport! J.J, a fellow staff member, has been fighting jaw cancer for the past few months and had to go back home to Ohio for surgery and radiation. Four months later he is back with us in Monterrey ready to continue the journey here! We praise God for J.J.'s return and continue to pray for whole recovery to his body!

A Thank You for our Rio Servants

Meme with her children (and spouses) and grandchildren at Santa Lucia. 

What a great day it was about a week ago, when Cathy Huffer and I took some of our Rio friends out for the day! Meme has been serving faithfully at the Rio soup kitchen for several years. She cooks, cleans, sings, preaches... does whatever she needs to to serve the Lord and love the people. About a year ago another woman from the area, Anita, began faithfully volunteering her time at the soup kitchen each week. Anita has been a huge blessing to Meme and to us! She arrives early every Saturday to help with the cooking which takes quite a load off of Meme's shoulders. 

We wanted to thank these ladies for their faithful service, so Cathy and I organized a trip for their families to a local park for a picnic and boat ride.  Santa Lucia is right in the downtown part of Monterrey. It is a beautiful river with parks and swing sets beside it. It is similar to the San Antonio river walk and passes right through the center of the city. Meme is forty-something and has lived most of her life in Monterrey. This would be her first time ever to Santa Lucia. 

So two Sundays ago we loaded up two suburbans with fried chicken, tortillas, and 16 people and headed out for the day! 

Anita and her children.

 The kids and adults loved the play sets in the park, the fountains, and boat ride. It was fun for me to see them enjoying themselves so much. .

Mariana playing on the swing set.

All of us before the boat ride!

Five fascinated girls on the boat.

We are truly thankful for the service these families give into their own community! It is hard work each week but both Anita and Meme faithfully show up to serve at the soup kitchen. It was a pleasure to bless these families with just a tiny taste of our gratitude, but we all know that the best reward will be when they hear their Heavenly Father say, "Well done good and faithful servants!"

Little Boys :)

I just had to put this picture up on the blog because it makes me chuckle! These are little boys from Rio3 having the time of their lives :)