RICH/POOR {30 Days of Writing}

This balance of living and working with the poor and the rich all around you is just that...a balance.

A small view of Gdl - 7 million people is hard to capture. The wavy building is the Pan Am swimming pool, close to where we live.

We are currently working with the middle/upper class of Guadalajara, starting a church in this class and reaching out in their areas of life. This means that we live in middle/upper class area, we socialize with them, and our lifestyle is somewhat like theirs in order to reach them in the places they are at.

However, we very much want the middle/upper class to see their responsibility to the poor. The responsibility to care for them and treat them as equals (this can go the other way too, as I know it is hard to not also judge the rich and therefore not treat them as equals, but the poor are much more easily taken advantage of). What this means for our church and cell groups is to be seen by how the people respond.

I would say I don't think it's enough to do outreach projects into poor neighbourhoods and then cross it off your list. It's much harder to actually integrate the classes and learn to work together, as believers, and come together as a unified Body. I think this is Biblical and a healthy way of learning to care for one another's needs. This is not to say that doing outreach into poor neighbourhoods is not needed...it is...I just see it as both/and.

The street our house is on in a middle class area.

Our cell groups are currently made up of mostly middle/upper, but we do have a mixture right now. We have professional people - professors, business men, accountants, etc. We have more middle class - office workers. And we have a lady that would be more so poor class - cleaning apartments and houses, and making food for others as a means of income.

But there is mutual love and support for all members. You see the poor caring for the rich by praying and by offering food. You see the rich caring for the poor by providing financial help and rides. The goal with the church plant is to have this be a self-sustaining church - and this involves in the area of finances, which is easier to do when from the start the church is not dependent on the missionary or Canadian mission for funds.

Something that hit this home for me a little - that it is actually possible to integrate the classes to some extent and see them treat each other as equals - happened about a year ago.

The lady that is not as well off financially in our group was going to have our cell group over for breakfast and the Bible study. I knew her home was small and obviously not at the same "level" as some of the others in our group, and I wondered what one specific couple would think of this. However, when they arrived and walked in, they smiled and seemed to relax. And the husband said "wow, I feel at home. This reminds me of growing up and being at my mom's house". Humble beginnings are what made him feel at home in her humble home even though he himself has been upper class his whole adult life.

Anyways, our life is not completely upper class living....we have had to learn to live within our means even while ministering to this class. It's not always easy. It's interesting to be lower or equal financially than many of the people you are ministering to, as that is not the normal picture of missionary life.

So how do you live with them when you don't have their means?? Love...love and friendship goes a long ways. Those are the things that draw people to you.

Yes, we do need to be able to socialize with them where they are at, which does mean we need to spend more money! At the same time, we work to live a life of being financially responsible, caring for the poor, showing them how this is lived out, and being willing to throw a lavish party or supper here and there! It is definitely something stretching and something I could talk about for a while....so I better leave it at this.

End of story: no matter rich or poor.....they need God.

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