Today I had the great privilege of reuniting with our team at Seed of Hope. (Turns out they didn't really miss me as much as I missed being with them, but that's a whole other really good God story.)
One of our main goals was to come to Seed of Hope to learn from the team that is here. Today we learned about the importance of identifying the resources within a community (from CEO Carl Waldron) as an integral first step toward community transformation.
What comes to mind when you hear or see the word "poverty"? In what way are they "poor"? What criteria are you using to determine the level of "poverty"?
What comes to mind when you hear or see the term "well being"? What is required to determine that you've achieved enough "well being"?
If you're like me and most North Americans, your instinct is to think economically, materially. We do that because we lack a capacity to appreciate and recognize the valuable resources that are within each community, mostly because we look at others from a distance and evaluate them based on our conditions and even our desires.
But resources are abundant in every community, including the ones in Sarnia and the ones that we have visited here in South Africa. Resources can fall into the following categories: Human, Natural, Economic, Medical, Physical, Social, Spiritual and Time.
Now ask yourself these questions about these resources: Am I benefitting from a balance of these resources in my community? Are there resources that I misuse or abuse? Are there resources that I lack?
Now ask yourself this question: How does God's Truth address my relationship to these resources?
If your uncomfortable with some of your answers don't be dismayed, rather, along with us, be committed to learning from God to better appreciate and manage all of the resources He places around us and to be more generous with those resources of which we over-consume in order to make our communities near and far a Gospel reflection of God's generous grace.
Thanks for your continued prayer.
Deve
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