The purpose of the Poverty Challenge was to give me an
experience that more closely emulates the people I serve so that I can better
understand their lives and, therefore, bring ministry and teaching that more
directly meets their needs.
One of the most important things I learned from this
experience is how difficult it is to simulate a poverty situation without going
to extremes. I lived on $3.10 each day, yes, but I did so from the comfort of
my home, sleeping on my new mattress, and bathing with water that comes from
the national system rather than a distant bore hole. Essentially, my experience
came down to a choice between diet and exercise. Would I buy food that day
(scant though it was) or would I ride the boda the four to five kilometers
needed to reach our ministry location? Pick one.
Another glaring reality is that I prepared myself for this
experience a week ahead of time by purchasing shoes, Bibles, and other ministry
related items so that they wouldn’t come from my daily $3.10 allowance.
Further, I knew that after the 10 days I could eat a proper meal and get things
done that I otherwise couldn’t have. Those living on less than $3.10 per day don’t
plan to be poor—the don’t wake up one day and say, “Honey, this big change is coming,
let’s get ready.” Nor can those living on less than $3.10 per day say, “We’ll
go see the doctor after we’re done being poor,” or, “Let’s pay school fees
after we’re done with poverty.”
Though disappointed in how foolish this exercise seemed to
be, I can also say that I learned so much just in the contemplation of these
realities. Two big events really brought me pause. My cough was pretty severe
and while living on $3.10 per day, I could not afford medicine. This was a very
authentic experience—can you imagine having a headache and not being able to
take any pain killer? What about watching your children cough up a lung and not
being able to provide anything to ease that cough? With my cough came
overheating. My body was sweating fiercely because coughing heats the body—that
coupled with 90+ degree temperatures really made me extra miserable. The next
morning I rose to push forward our ministry appointments despite this misery,
but for how long could I sustain this.
Another event that stopped me in my tracks was the theft. During
one ministry appointment a child stole my wallet which meant a LOT of money was
stolen along with my cards. While this was a terrible situation, I had more
money in the bank and could have saved myself. However, under the self-imposed
guidelines of this challenge I found myself after dark in a faraway church
needing to reach the police and then home and yet having no money to do so. Now
I began to understand the African collectivist culture for real. When you get
stuck, you ask friends to help. I was incredibly humbled that a pastor friend
would pay my transportation home and that another friend offered two days’
worth of Poverty Challenge money to help me continue the agenda. According to
the challenge, my work afforded me payment each day and so the next morning I
was able to receive my $3.10 again. I used that extra gift to reach police
again the next morning to receive a report that allows me to be in the country
and then headed to the bank to report my stolen card and apply for a new one.
None of these things comes without a cost. Imagine losing your bank card and
not having the money to report it stolen, or to get a new one. If you are
lucky, your money is there but you have no ID which is also required to
withdraw and no bank card.
My own fixation on money was a disappointment. I was so
concerned with spending only what I was allowed and how exactly that money
would be spent that I left behind faith that God would supply my needs, which
he did after the theft in abundance. This fixation gave me some insight into
the frequency with which I am asked for money and why. I am thankful I didn’t
have to ask for help that night, that friends saw the need and filled it. Oh
pride. But if I needed to feed my children or take them to the hospital, I’m
quite sure I would have had to overcome that pride and ask for help. From these
experiences, I can see how someone could be living above the $3.10 poverty
challenge line (which is not the same as the American poverty level), and
quickly find themselves stuck because of the unavoidable circumstances.
Though the $3.10 Poverty Challenge did not take the shape I expected,
I am most certainly humbled by the many lessons and insights afforded through
the experience. Please pray with me for the 68% of the world’s population who find
themselves living on less than $3.10 per day. Pray for development programs
that allow them to raise themselves out of poverty for good and that they would
fight against a victim or dependence mentality and for a way of thinking that
honors God in every situation.
If you pledged (or would like to pledge) support for this
challenge--$3.10 per day for 10 days—please click here and select “One Time
Gift” to submit your $31.00 gift via PayPal.
If you would like to read more about what the challenge was,
or to learn about each day of the challenge as I progressed, click the links
below.
$3.10
Poverty Challenge (What is it?)
Day
6 The Real Challenge (Theft)
