Poverty and Riches

A lot happens in one week. I'll jump right in.
New Year's Eve was quite special, and incredibly simple. Around 9 pm, the head nurse at the clinic (Ma Vic) brought Erica and I to an old worn-down schoolhouse. We sat at dilapidated desks while the room slowly filled up with local villagers. About an hour later, the pastor arrived with his bible in hand and a message to share.
"I'm surprised by how spiritual everyone here is." Erica mentioned earlier that day.
For the life of an average Ghanaian in Boamadumase (our village) there is no separating life from God. And when the New Year approaches it is very evident. All day celebrations and all night dancing- all in the name of Jesus.
We were tired from a long days work and weren't quite sure we'd make it to 12:00. The clinic has been very busy. We've been thrown in the middle of it and I am quite pleased to say that this time around I actually have something to give back! It is very refreshing.
The pastor began his New Years Eve message in English. I looked around the room and realized Erica, Ma Vic, and I were the only ones who'd be able to understand. I leaned over to her "This message is for us" I said.
She smiled.
"No, literally, it's for us. It's in English."
"Ohhhh, okay." she said.
The message was beautiful, especially after what we have been experiencing. All day long people show up at the clinic needing medical attention. Many of these people exist on the famous "less than a dollar a day'. That does not translate well when one needs to seek healthcare. Like yesterday...
A man stepped on a sharp piece of metal and the sole of his foot lacerated down to the muscle. He needed bandages and a tetanus injection. That is about 5 dollars. But that was also the money for this weeks food. So there is a decision that must be made. In these situations there is a lot of cause for desperation.
And this situation is everywhere. Most of us Americans are the minority of what is really happening in this world.
Stepping into this is uncomfortable, in that I am American and I have resources and this is temporary for me. How do I best approach working in a situation like this, spiritually, financially, and physically??? Do I pay for his care? What about all the other people?
Erica and I first met this guy at night while we were buying dinner. She saw his foot was bandages in a dirty cloth and asked to look at it. "He needs to follow us to the clinic. Why hasn't he had this taken care of?"
I asked him in Twi. He said "menni sika".
I don't have money.
"For God says! I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink" the Pastor preached from Matthew 25 "and I was thirsty and you gave me something to eat!" The message struck deep in my soul. "What you have done to the least of these, God says, you have done onto God!"
After we wrapped the man's foot, gave him a shot, and sent him on his way- he turned around and asked us for dinner money.
"I don't know" I told Erica.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"Well it's complex. We've given him free care- he should have enough for dinner now shouldn't he? And I only have a 5. It's a lot. We can't be giving this much out to everyone who asks. And does he REALLY need it?"
5 Ghana cedi in the village is equivalent to giving somebody $50. The difference between what he needed and the smallest change we could offer was almost embarrassing.
I began to intellectualize the implications of giving this money through the same old common mental pathway. Meanwhile he stood in front of me watching me think. I hate the existence of the gap between my mind and his reality. The words, "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat" permeated my thinking. We gave him the 5.
Then the pastor moved on to the next line of his message- which he only said in Twi. "For I was a stranger and you took Me in."
I looked across the classroom. Many of those people had invited us over to their place for dinner. Others have comforted me through friendship over the years. Ma Vic opened her doors at 2 am one early morning after I had a terrible nightmare and has been letting us sleep in her tiny house, on the living room floor, with the rest of her family ever since.
The 5 ghana cedi paled in comparison to God's greater picture of community. Perhaps that man couldn't pay for his healthcare or his dinner that night but there we were to step in as God's presence. And maybe I wouldn't have been able to sleep the rest of my trip had I not a peaceful place to rest my head? We are so intricately involved in one anothers lives in ways far beyond what we see or know.
After the sermon, we danced wildly and sang until our voices grew hoarse. Then Erica and I looked at our watches and realized we were far from making it for the New Year's countdown (do they even do that here?).
We walked back together to get ready and go to bed, however as we laid in bed we talked in the dark about the past few days, all that had happened and the message that night.
"Hey check your watch." I said.
"It's 11:54."
We waited 5 minutes, and with our headlamps on did a duet of a countdown, with shadowy smiles, underneath our mosquito nets.