Sra. Maria is a member of our Puyo church. A small 8’ x 10’ room is what she and her children call home. She does have electricity but no running water, no indoor bathroom. In a recent testimony, she wanted to share with everyone how much God has done for her since she started to church one year ago. Many of her family and friends have asked her why she would want to change her life after living the way she did for nearly 50 years. She tells them that since she started serving God, her life is so blessed now, she has so much. Before she had nothing, now she has everything.
Fabiola, her husband and seven children are members of our Puyupungo church. They live in a jungle house with no electricity or running water. We had a family of 5 visit the church last week. After service Fabiola and her husband went to their garden and picked a huge amount of fruit and gave to this family. When Susan thanked them for helping this needy family, Fabiola wondered how they could not. She told Susan that God has blessed them with so much more than they need, that they feel it is only right for them to help others who are in need.
Both Sra. Maria and Fabiola live in profound poverty. They have little more than nothing. Yet they choose to talk about how much God has blessed them, how wonderful their lives are now that they are serving Him. If I, or most Christians in America, had to live in such conditions, we would not consider ourselves blessed and we would certainly not be thankful. I dare say most of us would even question why God had forsaken us.
But I Timothy 6:8 says, “And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content.”
As an American blessed with far more than any person should have, I cannot fully comprehend the meaning of this verse. Yet in Fabiola and Sra. Maria’s world, this verse is their daily reality, their very existence. If I never get to a place that I can completely understand this verse, then how can I be arrogant enough to think that I deserve to spend eternity in the same Heaven as these beautiful people? Quite simply, I don’t.
By Ann Templet
