Comments on: Are You Okay With Dung?

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:01:16 +0000

Very thought provoking. It’s easy to ask “big questions” without considering them in a more personal way.

By: Arnold Aranez

Arnold Aranez — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:11:36 +0000

Before reading it in full, I was going to remind my cousin-writer to always add an image / photo to help engage his readers ever more - now that I read the full post, thank you for not doing so!

To be honest, the thought of having my children covered with animal crap for the sake of reaching to the unreached makes my me queezy.

Questions such as, is God really asking me to put my child’s health at risk so that they can integrate and the family win the trust of the locals? came to mind.

“Bringing Western standards of housing and cleanliness…” Sanitation and cleanliness is not a western standard. Even in the very early chapters of history one of the first things that civilizations did when establishing new towns or villages was to separate “unclean” things from daily living.

Part of Compassions work yes is to integrate with the locals but I believe it’s also to share new hope in Jesus through the gospel through providing better living conditions.

Thanks for reminder Cuz.

By: Cheryl Quimba

Cheryl Quimba — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:10:49 +0000

My stomach twisted as I read this. It made me think of my own life as God’s child: my American life. Just because I am used to having so much, so many comforts, so many pleasant non-essentials, does that mean God is content with it? Isn’t God just as discontented to see my “stuff gluttony” as He is to see the utter poverty of His other children? Especially when my Christ-like “godliness with contentment” would open the floodgates for me to be a vessel of relief to the poor? I don’t believe God is against material blessings -but I know He is for justice, mercy, and compassion. When these rule our hearts our possessions will not, and the poor will receive the tangible blessings of God through us. It’s so easy to forget when I’m clean, well fed, and comfortable. Thank you for reminding me.

By: Compassion dave

Compassion dave — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:08:37 +0000

Thank you for sharing that–it was wonderful and pertinent.

By: Erika

Erika — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:24:57 +0000

Thanks for sharing Ian! It is clear you are going to make an impact in your new career since you clearly listened to God’s voice to be placed there.

I appreciate what I expect will be regular wake-up calls from you on seeing how others are forced to live. It is important to also realize we can’t ever know what the correct response is unless we are seeking God’s direction first. Are these individuals “better off” because the weight of our egos and materialism haven’t reached them yet, or do we need to help conventionalize them with the purpose of giving them a better way of life. Tough stuff.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:36:38 +0000

That’s a good point. Being content is many times a function of having no other choice.

I guess that’s why God brings people into our lives…and along with them is their new perspective.

Thanks Ian!

By: Juli Jarvis

Juli Jarvis — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:00:38 +0000

On the other hand, our lives of wealth, materialism and greed seem “normal” to us, until we come face to the poverty of the world around us. It’s time we said “This is not normal or right — I want to change my spending habits and start giving more.”

By: Vicki Small

Vicki Small — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:39:50 +0000

I love the fact that God still speaks to us, from time to time, in dreams. Yours shows the lie in the idea that people are “poor, but happy”; if they are so poor that they have to rob a store, sell their bodies, or dig in the dung heap of life to meet basic needs, it isn’t okay. We can’t shrug off their poverty by saying, “Yeah, but look how happy they are.”