Learning from the Poor

“Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor.” –James 2:5-6a

On my first mission trip overseas, I had the opportunity to travel with a Christian basketball team to the Philippines. It was my first encounter with extreme poverty. People were living in homes that literally about the same size of our dog houses here. The average per capita income was about $700 per person. Yet, it was amazing to see how many of them were so solid in their faith in Christ.

After we played a game in a community a few hours outside of Manila, we were invited to one of the church member’s homes. We assumed it was the nicest home in the church, as that generally was the case. Even at that, it was under 1,000 square ft. for a large family. We were absolutely amazed at how generous they were. They continued to bring out more and more food for us. It got to the point where we started to feel bad because we knew that this would surely cut into how much they could eat in the near future. Our missionary who traveled with us could tell what we were thinking and told us that if we stopped eating, we would take away from their joy in serving us. He told us that years from now, they would still remember us coming to their town. I don’t know if they still remember us, but I sure do remember them.

I learned a lot that day about how God works amongst people who daily depend upon him for their every need. I saw a depth of faith in the midst of poverty that I had not seen before. I saw people who were overflowing with generosity even when they had very little for themselves. I saw people who very well may have sacrificed a meal themselves so that we would be well fed. I won’t forget it.

While the poverty is not as rampant here in America, we can still see this kind of faith from people who have very little in our land. As much as we glamorize the wealthy, some of the most faithful people are those who have so little. May we learn from them as we see their dependence upon God. May we live it out whether we have a little or a lot.