Inspired to Enjoy the Simple Things that Matter

Here we are, once more, dropped into the life of people who regularly live with great everyday struggles and hardships.

• In the city, most people live in slums and, if they are fortunate enough to have a job, will make barely enough to survive, let alone pay for school fees or medical expenses.
• Many, for lack of employment, will try to find day labor or something they can sell on the roadside. When the children come home from school, they will also go to work on the streets selling homemade donuts.
• Homeless children and youth are routinely neglected and sometimes have to resort to crime or sexual exploitation to survive.
• In rural areas, daily life can be even more trying. The widow may tend to her garden and then hire herself out to care for the farm of a neighbor. If she is fortunate, she will send her children off to school with at least one meal. Many times, the children are home because of lack of school fees or they are sent to school hungry.

Yet, once again, living with such people does put things in perspective and does highlight the importance of the simple things.

• They will smile at each other, love their families, and care for one another in the ways that matter.
• They will greet strangers and make conversation throughout the day.
• What they do have, they will share with others and enjoy being generous when they can.
• If they have faith, they will find great hope and joy in God and find great fulfillment in sharing that hope with others.

It is true that all of us face different kinds of struggles and hardships. But the people in Africa help me keep my perspective and to enjoy the simple things that matter.

Thank you for joining with us on this journey that is just getting started. We will be leaving big city life in a couple of days to be with the children of Bikeke village.