Gospel Prism

I’m about to go to South Africa in a few days. We’re going to the Eastern province called Mpumamalanga where poverty is quite real, even though Krueger National Park sits right next door. Tourists, of course, don’t really get a chance to see the area that we’re going to. There are shanty towns where AIDS and other diseases run rampant. Children are orphaned by AIDS at terribly fast rates, and it is quite common to see a household headed by a 12 year old.

In light of such poverty and disease, it’s sobering to consider my own ‘needs’ and wealth. Every Square Inch has a post with this interesting wealth calculator called, the Global Rich List. You type in your income and you see what percentage you are compared to the rest of the world and it tells you what number you are in the world’s richest people. I’m the 52,816,732nd richest person in the world, which is in the top .88% (granted this doesn’t take into account cost of living which sucks up that money but oh well, you get the point).

Every time I go on missions, I am reminded of what it means to keep mindful of my home in heaven rather than here on earth. To lose that eternal perspective corrupts the soul and hinders one’s heart hunger for Christ. This is one reason why I treasure going overseas to see real poverty and hunger and disease. It helps me to remember that I am richly blessed and my needs so often really are wants, superfluous wants.