Quade led me to the realization the other day that Meg and I are trying to understand the role of or become missionaries, adults, and mothers all at once. I feel like I am the worst of all three.
As far as being a missionary goes, nothing could have prepared me for the reality of culture shock. You can read books, talk to past workers, and even visit the area and people, but until you live right in the middle of said culture I have realized you cannot see the reality of it. Even now, living at God's Resort there is so much being thrown at us that it is almost impossible to process it all. Four years of studying the world, poverty, and culture could not prepare me for the reality of poverty right here in our backyard. What I read about poverty in Africa, Asia, or Latin America seems such a different world than the poverty Meg and I see out our windows. For now, much of the developing world is still facing absolute poverty. Basic essential needs are not being met due to deprivation. As the developing world sees the luxury and "essentials" of the developed world though, they shift into the idea of relative deprivation and suddenly basic necessities such as food, water, and shelter are no longer the primary focus for needs and transportation, entertainment, and commercial items become higher needs than those needed for basic survival. The idea that these commercial necessities are necessary comes from the social perception given by the developed world and often times societies seem to try and make the leap from absolute poverty to developed world luxury without filling in the necessary gaps to provide clean water, safe shelter, and nutritious food.
The longer we are at God's Resort the more certain I am that people cannot live in absolute poverty in the United States. The government has set up a system of relativity in measuring poverty, there is a continual onslaught of mass media telling people what material things are necessary for a happy life, they majority of which have no essential value in survival and have been made necessary only by social imprinting. The poor need only look one block over often times to see what they are lacking. Therefore the constant comparison of what one family has to what another does not creates an environment that breeds relative deprivation. I think the problem may be that those in generational poverty (the case for most of the families in our neighborhood) have never learned how to take care of basic necessities nor, I would dare say, have they learned to value those basic necessities. Without understanding the value of actual basic necessities, one can see where it would be very easy for a parent, or especially a child, to overlook nutritional food or hygiene in pursuit of fashionable clothing, entertainment, or popular junk food.
The longer we are at God's Resort the more certain I am that people cannot live in absolute poverty in the United States. The government has set up a system of relativity in measuring poverty, there is a continual onslaught of mass media telling people what material things are necessary for a happy life, they majority of which have no essential value in survival and have been made necessary only by social imprinting. The poor need only look one block over often times to see what they are lacking. Therefore the constant comparison of what one family has to what another does not creates an environment that breeds relative deprivation. I think the problem may be that those in generational poverty (the case for most of the families in our neighborhood) have never learned how to take care of basic necessities nor, I would dare say, have they learned to value those basic necessities. Without understanding the value of actual basic necessities, one can see where it would be very easy for a parent, or especially a child, to overlook nutritional food or hygiene in pursuit of fashionable clothing, entertainment, or popular junk food.
I remember going to school in the mornings back home and driving by houses that looked like they could fall in, but they had a satellite on the roof and new car parked outside in the driveway. I couldn’t understand how those things could take priority over safe housing, and honestly still cannot. It is one of the many things I am trying to process while living down at God’s Resort. I feel like maybe the answer lies in how society views status, but I may be wrong. So often it is how much you know about pop culture and what you present to the world in your dress and at your work that defines your status and quite possibly “worth” as a member of society. Therefore maybe satellite TV becomes the connection to pop culture and new cars and stylish clothing the mask to present a middle class status, when the internal workings of a person’s life are in shambles. I have seen it work. In all reality I think we have all made it work. Pretending to be something we are not, trying to jump classes. The middle class is ruled by these comforts, so why wouldn’t it make sense that the lower class would identify middle class status by these comforts, rather than the ability to provide security and nutrition. I have no answers. The only thing I have come to realize is that Christ led me by His example and therefore I will lead those around me by that example that He gave to me. I don’t have the first clue how to stop generational poverty, but I do know that God has called us to be obedient and available to his will. So that’s what Megan and I are trying to do, show up, listen, and see what happens.
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