A More Mature and Advanced State

"The Warehouse" is an organization that works with the local churches in South Africa. They help theses local churches to meet the needs of people in crises, such as in the poverty stricken townships, troubled teenagers, AIDS victims or anyone else that has been affected by a natural disaster in these areas. Christians from all over send "The Warehouse" materials such as food, clothes, toys, even refrigerators, beds, etc. to go to people that are less fortunate.One of the townships where "The Warehouse" has been working is called "Sweet Home Farm". Just recently, the city of Capetown

bought approximately 50% of this township and developed it. Now when you think of developed, you think of beautiful homes being built, yards and gardens put in, and even stores built in the community. But when we visited Sweet home Farms for lunch, (amazing food by the way), I saw a different type of developed. Developed among the African people in this township was having electricity put in but still living in the same run down shacks. It is having running water but only a tap for around sixty families to share. And its having toilets brought in even if one toilet is shared with 6 families. Toilets that were not bathrooms, just porte potties with just a whole in the ground. This is considered a developed township? And the people living here were content with what they had.

And we have trouble being content with the lot that we have. We have no running water for a day, we flip out. Our room doesn't have a window, we run crying to administration. We have to share our space and materials with others, we become negative. We have hot showers, we have nice comfortable beds, we have our own bathrooms, we are more than "developed", yet at the same time we are so undeveloped. To be developed means to have grown to a more mature and advanced state. How can we say we have arrived at a mature and advanced state in Christianity when we still hold an attitude of

selfishness, ungratefulness, and a lack of being content. How can one group of people be satisfied with the little they have and the next group unsatisfied with the lot they have? So which out of the two are more developed? The one with the biggest hunger.

On one side you have people that are dying physically because of hunger, yet their hunger for God is stronger. And on the other side you have peoples hunger met daily, yet their hunger for God is dying along side it. How do you measure development then? You can be so developed in life, and at the same time have no life. How do you grow to a more mature and advanced state? By meeting bother hungers. Give bread to those who are hungry, and hunger to those who have bread.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Matthew 5:6