Growing up I never had to be afraid of being roofless. The biggest discomfort to my life came from two terrorist attacks in different cities, both of which my family managed to escaped unhurt.
Life was always great here in India until I met and talked with slum dwellers in the city of Allahabad. They lived in the midst of a large sewer, with sewer water literally flowing between and under their make-shift houses.
They had domesticated pigs and dogs that roamed casually and were friendly too. Surprisingly, their houses were spotless and clean. Neatly wiped mud floors and a clean roof made with dried coconut branches.
With every interview I made there, my heart sank. Single mothers, abusive husbands, children lost to trafficking, and barely any money to meet everyday expenses. It was at that point I met poverty face to face.
Three years after my slum trip, I would go on to encounter a small scare of my own. The bathroom roof in my house collapsed. With a new born baby in our household, we would not dare to use the bathroom until it was fixed temporarily.
Despite the temporary discomfort, I was well aware that this was the way of life for nearly 300 million in my country. I didn’t have a second thought as to why so many in my country suffered from poverty or shades of poverty.
300 million is nearly the entire population of the U.S., and that many in my country are purely dependent on the hope that their country’s economy will take off in the coming years, eventually bringing up the standard of living.
However, the hope for a bright future does not rest solely upon economic growth.
The slum people I met in the sewers of Allahabad had set their hopes on something different. Some of them were active participants of a church which specialized in explaining gospel to the unbelievers and those who are new to the Christian faith.
Though without bread, their hope on the “bread of life” carried them through each day. But it was not all abstract faith and theoretical hope.
When a flood swept through their houses, the church provided them temporary accommodation, food, and clothing. The church also takes care of their monthly needs. Besides, the children are also invited to free classes on the gospel.
It was the light of God, His Word, and His saving grace that helped them every day, and the glory of the light of God shone through His church body in their lives.
I also realized that the future of 300 million poor in my country must take flight with the twin engine of (1) strong economic growth, and (2) the message of the gospel.
For it was the light of gospel that transformed the Western civilization into what it is today.
Vishal Mangalwadi writes insightfully on the tie between the gospel and economic progress in his book The Book that Made Your World, “Technology functioning within a biblical framework has been one of the chief instruments of human emancipation.”
Pray for India’s 1.2 billion that they might come to know the truth of the gospel, and for the government in India to purse its economic progress without hindrance.
Featured photo by V Srinivasan on Unsplash.
louis wachsmuth says
A little problem with your American history. The Christian church was used to find justifications for southern slavery, hundreds of years ago. You need to read the works of Frederick Douglass. What’s more, I know all evangelicals think that unregulated capitalism is the economic system approved by God and that any form of socialism is of the devil. But currently, in America, we have a President working hard to cut any forms of social safety nets, perhaps leaving the poor without necessary aid. No one can make a living in America working full time, earning the minimum wage. Something is terribly out of balance, but the evangelical church is firmly behind this movement.