Open my eyes

It is amazing how quickly I have become desensitized to the poverty around me. Yesterday my eyes were reopened during my visit to the indigenous community of Nuevo Chiclayo.

I traveled two and a half hours down the muddy, bumpy road on the back of the motorcycle that my companion was driving. Upon arriving it took me a while to stretch my legs and work the cramps out of my back. We found the men of Nuevo Chiclayo in the soccer field standing around a broken gas powered string trimmer. They had been cutting the grass in preparation for a big soccer tournament the next day for which they had invited many of the nearby communities. I was surprised to see the string trimmer.  I had seen Shawi men cutting grass before and it usually involves all the men furiously swing machetes at the grass in the blazing heat for hours on end. It takes twelve men with machetes a whole day to do what could be done in a couple of hours with a push mower. So I asked where they got the string trimmer and they said it was donated to them. The problem was the machine was at least 5 years old and looking pretty tired. The throttle cable was broken and so my companion and I set to work on fixing it.

As we worked I began talking with some of the men. I knew only a few of them and they began asking me questions. “Where are you from?” they asked. “The United States,” I responded. “How long does it take to travel there?” the asked. They always measure distance in the time it takes to travel.  “About 6 hours in plane from Lima,” I responded. They all laughed at that because they had no idea what it meant. “How long in boat?” they asked. “I do not know, probably weeks.” They all laughed because this they did understand. “How much does it cost?” they asked. “Around 1500 soles,” I said. “1500 soles?” said one man, “I don’t even have 15 soles.” They all laughed again because it is true.

Soon we had fashioned a new cable from some extra fence wire but it just did not want to stay in place and we needed a little bit of small string, so we asked. One of the men immediately reached into his shorts and ripped off a strip of his underwear. By the speed in which he did it I could tell it was not the first time he had sacrificed his underwear. A little later we needed more string but somehow that guy had disappeared. Another man upon looking in his shorts realized that he must have had a good pair on or none at all because then he took a strip out of his son’s underwear instead. Everyone got a good laugh out of the whole ordeal.

I live in a world where this seems normal to me. I often judge the level of poverty in a community by how often the children eat. It is sad, but if the children are not malnourished then I consider that a middle class Shawi community. I have quickly become desensitized to extreme poverty. Many of my friends often skip meals, only have a couple of sets of clothes or can not afford soap.

Later after visiting some of their cacao fields one of the leaders pulled me aside and asked me a question.  “I know a man who lives in a nearby village, he is not a Christian, he is a drunk and is sexually immoral. He has a bunch of chickens and a pig. His children are not sick. He even told me that he eats three meals a day! I am trying to serve God yet my chickens die and my children are hungry and sick. Why would God bless him and not me?” This launched us into a long theological talk but what impacted me more was what that question revealed about the level of poverty here. Among the Shawi you are considered rich if you eat three meals a day and your children are healthy. I thought of my refrigerator back in Yurimaguas that sometimes doesn’t work when we fill it too full. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach.

May God open our eyes to the needs around us. May we love are neighbors the way God has called us to do. The needy are all around us. In your everyday life the needs of your neighbor may look different then here in Peru, but there are needs none the less. Take the time to listen to those that are hurting. Spend time with those who are lonely. Encourage those in despair. Today let us love our neighbors.

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice Hospitality. -Romans 12:13