randomz-tephiee

To embrace it.

I got the opportunity to experience a life not too distant from mine. My uncle, a Pastor in Indonesia, thought that it was important for me to see not just up but sometimes to look below. I knew he meant socially.

I also knew that he was teaching me something valuable. And something I wouldn't find here in Australia.

So it was Friday 13th February, 2009 and I was dropped off at the church's office. I met my uncle and his assistant there. He had some work to finish so I waited. While I was waiting, there were some people there preparing for the Valentines church service the next day. These people live at the church's office/housing because they are too poor to call anywhere else a home. These people are mostly youths who have no work, no home and basically no future. My uncle takes them in and teaches them and finds them work.

The latest guy who came in was this young boy who had no identity. He had no clothes, except those on his body, he had no family, no nothing. He didn't even know how old he was. It was quite disturbing for me to hear such a story. Yet I was moved by his situation. His parents have died and he has lost contact with his uncle and aunt. His name is even unclear. The street people would call him Agai but since he lived with the church they have changed him to Haggai.

I noticed him. I watched him. I felt deeply for the boy. It was strange. And as I watched him I found out that he was left-handed. And immediately I knew there was something in this boy. I know that left-handed people comprise of a certain percentage of the world's population and they are known to be creative people who have an extra "talent." I told my uncle right away to keep a close eye on him. This boy needs to be taught and directed and developed so he can reach his potential and destiny.

So we were set to leave at 11am. My uncle had warned me that the places we were going might not be not be too "comfortable" for me. But I knew that I wanted to experience it. I knew that I wanted to hear, see, feel, smell, and taste it.

As we drove I knew that I had to prepare myself not to take this experience as something that was forced but rather to embrace it and it holds a humbling value. And this was immediately supported as I got out of the car. Apparently these people lived by the "dumpster." It smelt horrible. It looked horrible. But I wasn't disgusted. I embraced the surrounding as someone's home. Someone's life. And if they could do it I knew that I could too.





The first family we meet were a husband and wife who lived in a little tin house. Along the front was the sewerage where the rubbish aroma dispersed to every cornerstone of the house. It was sweltering hot. But I embraced it. I got to see how they lived, their struggle to keep rain out of their house and how the cost of my starbucks coffee could buy lunch and dinner for their family. It really opened my eyes. The desperate and dire situation/conditions they live in yet they can still come to church and sing on top of their lungs about how great God is. This made me realise how I would complain about my life yet it was no way compared to them.




The next house I went to was a little different. This lady had 3 kids and a husband. Her husband is a bus driver. She folds paper that is used to packet fried foods. On good days she gets paid $3 and to her that is good enough. This family really hit my heart. The youngest son, around 6 months old would frequently get sick. It turns out that there was a disturbing spirit within the house. I felt strangely for this family. They lived in a dormitory style housing yet it crammed 5 people. There was nothing sanitary about it.





I knew that it was definitely a life I'm not sure I would be able to cope with. But on the other hand I knew that it was a humbling experience. It taught be to be appreciative of what I have now and not to complain about what I don't have, which at times are not even necessary.

I look back now and see that when I spend my money I know what it's worth to somebody else like these people. And this teaches me to spend wisely.

I know that I might not be able to give to them but I do know that it is my life's call to come back to them and pass on something of value to them. And when that time comes I know that I will embrace it just as I did the first time around.

posted by tephiee @ 11:59 PM