Did That Cow Have A Head Dress: Daddy, are we rich?

What is generosity? Is it giving the kid at the front door $100 dollars because he is trying to reach his goal of $500 of fundraising for cancer research? Is it putting an extra $10 in the plate at church because we felt guilty when the pastor talked about tithing last week? Is it spending a Saturday every 6 months picking up trash along the roadside? Is it seeing the man sitting on the curb with his jar in front of him and dropping in all the loose change from our pockets?

All of these things are good, but are they generous? Could it be that generosity is loving others so much that we want to give our best, our first, what we've been so richly blessed with, to help or serve them, even when it means giving up some item of luxury in our own life to do so? Ok, so maybe you are thinking "it would be easy to apply that definition of generosity to my own life if I were rich, if I just had a little more". But what is rich? And when do I know that, after years of labor, I have finally reached ‘richness’ and can finally be a generous person? Is there a magic number of wealth accumulation when I can finally say “I am rich”? Is it $1 million? $500K? $10 million? Or could it be that today I decide “I am rich” because I make more money than 96% of the people in the world if my household income is $38,000 or more, or I have more food in the pantry than I will eat today, or because I can wear a different outfit everyday of the week and still have some outfits left over, or my employer gives me days off of work but still pays me for them, or I have an extra room in my house that no one has to sleep in, or my car, or cars, have their own houses that we call garages, or every week I have money left over from my paycheck so I take my family to a nice dinner and a movie? Today, and everyday from hereon, I am rich. Holy cow this is exciting! I never thought I would be rich, but today... April 6, 2009, I have have been blessed with more than I need, I'm rich! (Thank you Andy Stanley for that last line)

Let me introduce you to the very generous family I met on Thursday and was so fortunate to stay with for two nights. Their names are Antony, Shanti, and Nici. Antony is a teacher at the Good Samaritan School in the village of Issapur. He and his family, like many of the teachers at GSS, moved to Delhi, and surrounding areas, from southern India, passing up many higher paying jobs along the way so they could serve the underprivileged children here. Shanti is a housewife, preparing for baby #2, and Nici is their daughter who attends Kindergarten at GSS. Antony is rich. His teacher's salary is $250 per month. His house has two bedrooms, one of which doubles as the living room, dining room, and closet. The house also has a kitchen, a washroom, and a toilet room. The refrigerator has more food in it, though not much more, than Antony's family will eat today. The washroom is equipped with a faucet so that you can fill up the bucket on the floor when you get ready to take your “shower”, or “bucket shower” as it is more accurately named. The toilet is a hole in the floor, called a squat toilet, which leads to the above-ground sewer lines just outside the house. Antony’s house has a house for the school's “four-wheeler” (the 7 passenger van that picks up many of the kids who attend GSS in Issapur). A rich family indeed.

We hadn’t met Antony before Thursday. He only heard of our coming to stay with him the night before. We’re not sure what he might have had planned for his time with his family from Thursday to Saturday, but one thing was certain; when he heard Marshall and I were coming to visit he and his family were determined to show us love and generosity. They gave Marsall and I each our own bed while the three of them slept on one twin bed and a table with a quilt draped over it. Shortly after we arrived Antony noticed that the sheets and pillowcases on our beds were very old and worn so he quickly got on his motorcycle and drove to the next village to buy us new ones. They served us the very best food they had to offer, even making special trips to the next village during the day to purchase apples and bananas for us, but wouldn’t dare eat any themselves until they knew we had eaten everything we wanted. They apologized for the squat toilet and bucket shower because they thought it might be an inconvenience to us. They heated enough water on the stove to put in the shower bucket so we would have a warm shower, and then they quickly took their cold shower afterwards. They welcomed us with a love and generosity I have rarely seen on this earth.

How fortunate we were to meet this rich family. I can only pray I realize today and every day how rich I am as well. I have a bank account with more money in it than I need today. I threw away some food tonight because I was too full to eat it. I will take a hot shower in the morning after I sleep in my soft bed. Tomorrow I will wear different clothes than I wore today and if I’m lucky I will eat at least 3 meals. So now, Lord, help me to be generous with the riches and wealth You’ve blessed me with, always ready to give, and always willing to share.

“Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” 1 Timothy 6:17-19

Generosity can change a world. I look at the faces of hundreds of slum children each day and see how generosity is changing theirs. Someone's world is waiting to be changed right where you are today.