Day 8: Becoming Poor

Y-Malawi: Prayers for Africa
From March 30-April 9, I will be traveling with a team of people to help establish a ministry partnership in Malawi Africa working with people whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated by the AIDS virus.  Each day I will post our itinerary and an excerpt from our trip devotional so that you can pray along with us. On Sunday, April 10, the SCPC team members will share our experiences in our worship services and I will post some reflections and picture from the trip starting then. 

Itinerary: Visit an AIDS orphanage in Lilongwe, travel to Zambia for debrief.

Scripture: Luke 6:20-21
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” (NRSV)

Thought for the day:
We always seem to be better at giving than becoming. We can give love even when we are not intrinsically loving.  We can be generous even when we are not truly compassionate.  We can be concerned about others and yet essentially still live for ourselves.  We can be giving to the poor and yet with withhold the very thing they most urgently seek: companionship in the journey.

(Henri) Nouwen reminds us that ‘being poor is what Jesus invites us to, and that is much, much harder than serving the poor.’ If we wish to journey with the poor, we need to become poor ourselves—poor for the sake of the gospel and poor for the sake of our neighbor…at a deeper level, it means that we discover our own poverty, weakness and brokenness and can thus journey in true companionship with the poor.  We journey not as those who have much to give and who have all the answers, but as fellow travelers toward light and liberation.
—Charles Ringma, Dare to Journey with Henri Nouwen, Reflection #21

Prayer
O Lord, you gave up all the comforts and “riches” of heaven to become our companions in life.  You gave up your divine attributes to bring us the gospel.  Help us to be like you and become companions with these new friends whom you love and bless. Amen