tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118517190489901866.post3698317960663328499..comments2023-09-10T00:13:40.861+03:00Comments on everyone needs a little Grace in their lives: Lessons from Living With (But Not In) Poverty (Part 3)Amy Medinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02445986974714298954noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118517190489901866.post-4354585738594103412012-02-09T21:26:42.589+03:002012-02-09T21:26:42.589+03:00Yes! the gospel is the only hope. They felt the sa...Yes! the gospel is the only hope. They felt the same way. They just kept bringing everything back to the gospel. Which is another whole topic..the people they were working with didn't have a moral compass for speaking truth. They found that they often said what they knew the missionaries wanted to hear. So they often wondered if true heart change had happened or if they were just giving the gospel lip service every time they shared with them. I guess it's that way here too...only God knows the heart. It's exciting to hear that your friends are having great success in that area! Praise the Lord! :) It must be so frustrating at times. Just as frustrating as it feels here for me trying to share the gospel. Every culture seems to have it's cultural hang-ups. I have to remind myself that the world, the flesh, and satan all attack GOD. The gospel has to be heard over all of that. <br />I'm inspired by you! It's neat to know that so many of us who are like minded in Christ are serving the same great God with each of us facing obstacles all across God's earth. Press on friend!Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03844797843854374945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118517190489901866.post-32340434685418509842012-02-09T21:15:13.158+03:002012-02-09T21:15:13.158+03:00Thanks, Marj!Thanks, Marj!Amy Medinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02445986974714298954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118517190489901866.post-976357848256658622012-02-09T19:12:08.024+03:002012-02-09T19:12:08.024+03:00I read Helping When It Hurts and it really made a ...I read Helping When It Hurts and it really made a lot of sense to me. I really do agree with your conclusions, Amy. Thanks.Marj Hallnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118517190489901866.post-70650674767554384102012-02-08T20:11:36.207+03:002012-02-08T20:11:36.207+03:00It's often true, Jen. For a lot of reasons. ...It's often true, Jen. For a lot of reasons. Africans are expected to share whatever they have with whoever asks for it (especially family), so that makes it VERY difficult to ever save money or get ahead. And the horrible, terrible, awful governments that so many Africans have been under are a HUGE factor in their poverty. So it really is a very complex issue and not easily fixed. However, this is why the gospel makes such a big difference and why my friends doing community development are having success. Unless the gospel penetrates (and that's up to the Holy Spirit, not the particular missionary), it's unlikely that there will be change that sticks.Amy Medinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02445986974714298954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118517190489901866.post-82341806615718685282012-02-08T19:41:48.593+03:002012-02-08T19:41:48.593+03:00I'm greatly enjoying your posts on poverty. So...I'm greatly enjoying your posts on poverty. Some very good friends of ours were missionaries in the bush in Nigeria. They shared with us these same concerns as they watched broken down wells sit with stagnate water. They brought up another factor though that maybe is in the book you mentioned but not in your post....about the roll culture plays. They experienced thinking that was so different than American thinking that there was no desire to do anything for themselves like in the story you mentioned that was successful. Progress and change just wasn't something they could wrap their minds around in the particular tribes they were working with. They were there for 10 years and felt that they had very little impact. That's so rough. Anyway, just thinking out loud here. This is such a tough issue.Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03844797843854374945noreply@blogger.com