to give a man a fish

How many times have we heard the proverb, “if you give a man a fish, he eats for a day; if you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime.”? Not sure where it came from, but it’s always seemed a pretty good principle to me. It screams empowerment and equality – good western ideologies. And with ministry in Africa, trying to empower people to be self-sustaining in their work and not depend on financial pipelines from overseas, it just makes sense, right?

That’s where I’m having a hard time. The above proverb is certainly not from the Bible. Jesus never tells the disciples to go teach people how to catch fish or harvest their fields or bake bread – he tells them to teach, but to teach about Him. Jesus himself doesn’t teach tricks of the trade, sustainable agriculture or the like. He feeds the multitudes and tells us to do the same. He says we should sell our possessions and give to the poor. In 2 Corinthians 8:13-15, Paul writes,

‘Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.”’

Whether it’s on the street or at our door, we have people asking for food and money on an almost daily basis. At Lusa, there is a dire need for money to get the center running to its full potential. Kids need sponsorships to go to school. We’re by no means rich, but the Lord has blessed us with plenty. How does He want us to use it? We’re trying to teach money management and develop income-generating projects at Lusa – and let me tell you – it’s exhausting. We often offer piecework to people who come to the door. Sometimes we give a loaf of bread or money to buy mealie-meal. But we also find ourselves saying “no” a lot. We really struggle with what we should do – where we should give.

The country of Zambia has benefitted from a pipeline of charitable funding for so many years that it seems to have crippled much of the country. People have gotten so used to having the fish given to them that they’ve stopped casting their nets themselves. Many parents don’t seem to even try to pay their kids' school fees – they’ve learned instead how to ask for sponsorships. This is by no means everyone. There are people who work hard, tirelessly, to provide for their families and manage money wisely. But (please excuse any bitterness here) there are also a lot of people who wander the streets waiting for someone with white skin to give them money, regardless of actual need. Kids seem especially “trained” in this. We see kids who are well-dressed and clean, coming from school, who see us and walk up and say “give me 5 pin” (equivalent of a dollar), just because they’ve apparently learned it might work.

So I’m grappling. What would Jesus do? Would he teach a man to fish, or just give him the fish? It seems that in his parables about himself, he also teaches about farming and fishing and bread-making and so on – but were those just examples the people would understand, or was he intending to teach about Himself while teaching how others are to sustain themselves? Are we supposed to give everything to the poor, essentially becoming poor ourselves, or do we teach in a way that enables the poor to escape poverty? Do we give to anyone and everyone, or try to discern true need? Is it up to us? Even Jesus drew a line here. After teaching and healing many in Capernaum, the people tried to get Jesus to stay, but He knew He was to preach the good news in other towns as well. There may have still been physical needs among the people, but He had taught the Word and knew it was time to move on.

I’m still wrestling with this, especially as we look at our purpose here. Do we give as an open door to sharing the true gift of life? Do we teach with the same intent? To meet a physical need without meeting the more important spiritual needs would supersede the Gospel message. The greatest commandment is to love God; only after which comes the mandate to love others. But as I heard once in a quote, people won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. What is the balance of giving and teaching and sharing Christ? How do we respond in love? To what extent does love include tough love and accountability? Most of all, we find ourselves constantly asking, what would Jesus do?

We would love to hear your thoughts.

A Look at Village Life... Part 6

May 5

Last full day. Bittersweet really. We are definitely looking forward to being home with a double bed and indoor toilet and fat, healthy dog, but will also definitely miss the joy and love and selflessness and peace here… sitting and reading and writing and praying and resting; going to be when we’re tired and getting up when we wake up; having nothing on the schedule other than casual visits to new friends; having fresh water from a deep bore hole; helping with simple tasks like sorting beans and preparing vegetables; listening to Mrs. Yanjisha as she sings and hums her way through her daysl and seeing a seemingly new desire they have to read the Buku wa Lesa (Bible) after seeing us do the same.

We could never repay the community here for their generosity and hospitality, yet they seem to be the grateful ones – simply because we’re here. We went to visit the Yanjishas’ daughter this morning, and snacked on freshly steamed pumpkin. Apparently people don’t sell pumpkin in Lubofo. If they have it they share it. It seems that way with a lot of things. Money is rarely exchanged – it is much more efficient to trade a chicken for a puppy or groundnuts for maize. They care for the community, like giving half a cabbage to an older woman who stopped by or the awesome way they support so many children through school. And when someone has a visitor (like us), all their friends give gifts of food in appreciation and to help. The Yanjishas have a lot of friends. And every time we go to visit the friends to thank them for a chicken or beans or vegetables, they send us home with more.

These people are missionaries, sharing God’s love and goodness. I’m afraid to see what happens as this area becomes more “developed.” Some might say the people here are living in poverty, but I think they’re the richest people I’ve met… and they’re so self-sustaining in their work, rarely needing to go to town for food or other things we would call “necessities.” They grow everything they need and if they don’t, one of the neighbors does. It’s beautiful really: this place, the people, the joyous contentment. If only we could all be so lucky.

A Look at Village Life... Part 5

May 4

So I just “preached” for the Lubofu church’s women’s meeting. I told Mrs. Yanjisha that I don’t preach – I just talk and share. Anyway, it was interesting because Mrs. Berendsen was interpreting for me. Seems like that went okay. I found myself analyzing my talk afterward – was there enough about Christ? Did I connect everything? Did they get it? Did I use too many verses? But that’s just the me coming out. I spoke about God’s beauty in creation – the promises he makes in scripture that are shown in the sky (Abram – in the multitude of stars; Noah – the rainbow) and how those proimises were for us as well. I shared from Psalm 19 and encouraged them that no matter what developments and man-made treasures are available, to keep their focus on Heavenly treasure. I also encouraged them to gaze upon God’s beauty in the stars and the sun and the rainbows and in each other. He created us women as beautiful creations. He also created us as Christians to shine more and more brightly until the SON shines in full glory at His return.

Afterward I realized that this is ministry – sharing our hearts, helping chop vegetables and sweep floors; taking chairs when offered and allowing people to serve us; sorting beans; visiting; and sharing the Word of God in the midst of it all.

A Look at Village Life... Part 4

May 3

Apparently rats don’t bite here. I hardly believe it, but it still would have been good to hear at midnight when I heard a noise, turned on my flashlight, and saw one scurry across the room. It also would have been good a little while later when I saw the second one. I definitely did not sleep well last night – and because I didn’t, Luke didn’t either. The Yanjishas tried to reassure me that the rats won’t bother me, but only want bread and maize. Yeah right. Even so, they said we can keep the cat inside tonight so if there are any rats, she can take care of them. I was seriously ready to pack my bag and go somewhere… somehow. I counted down the hours until the sun would come up and the days until we would leave. Around 2:30, I lay there praying, asking God why in the world he created rats, and begging Him to keep the rats away until this stay is over. Apparently that was what I needed to do, because sometime after that I fell asleep and slept fairly soundly the rest of the night. I’m still considering sleeping with a candle lit tonight.

So I’ve been reading through Proverbs on the corresponding day of the week. Today I was reading Proverbs 3 and 21-26 are about having sound judgment and having no fear when you lie down – that when you lie down your sleep will be sweet and you can have confidence in the Lord with no fear of sudden disaster. I guess that worked. :)

A Look at Village Life... Part 3

May 2

One week done. I’m not dying to leave, but definitely look forward to getting home… not sharing a single bed; not going out in the dark to use the bathroom; not worried about rats eating my bread… not having to eat bread every morning; washing my hair well and plucking my eyebrows. I’m so American it’s pathetic.

This morning Mrs. Yanjisha said something about how it would be great if we stayed six months. At least we’re not a burden, but I feel bad and ungrateful wanting to be back to the creature comforts most of the people here have never seen or tasted. The fresh air, the simplicity, the time to read and listen and learn… Most of all, the humility here is humbling – almost embarrassing because I know we don’t know how to give like people here do. We don’t know how to show our gratitude and appreciation. We don’t know the sacrifice others are making for us, and selfishly we’re talking of what we will do/eat/etc when we get home. We’ve had three different people bring us chickens! And we’ve hardly lifted a finger. It’s humbling. We’ve also learned so much.

This morning we watched people make bricks from the soil. I’ve learned to de-string and cut pumpkin leaves without a cutting board (and learned to like them). I’ve learned about milling and harvest and washing. I’ve made Avanti’s style bread three times now despite the rats chewing through the flour bag. I’ve taught my methods for cooking okra and rape and learned how to cook in an “oven” that is really a metal bucket in which you put charcoal and then cover with a metal slab with more charcoal on top of it. I’ve practiced the art of visiting and helped others with their English as they’ve helped us with our Kikaonde.

What it most interesting is watching (and hearing about) the interaction with kids. Yesterday, some people came from Mukinge looking to pick up an extremely bright young lady (about 12 years old) and put her back in school and give her a future. Apparently she was married off – secretly – in the past week or so, so they couldn’t take her back to the school. The “husband” is only 14 or 15. Apparently, the laws here say a girl must be 16 and a guy 18, but in the village, sometimes anything goes. I can’t fathom being married at 12. I was so scared of my own changing body – to share that with a man at that age is unimaginable, and to think of setting up a home and caring for a family is just crazy to me! Really, it’s sad, because there were other Zambians who wanted to invest in her future and see her escape the grasps of poverty and oppression that traps so many.