But since we have moved to the Sahel we have also seen a few ways that Evil can certainly be at work through cross cultural relationships too. While living at the guest house when we first arrived in the Ville, we saw how the stuff we started pulling out of our suitcases were definitely objects of desire of the family who lived in the same compound. We’ve wondered if it really was a good thing for them to be exposed to all the stuff they don’t have the opportunity to own, like tennis or soccer shoes. In this and other ways we struggled together as the haves and the have nots.
Sadly this week we saw this again. Our pastor and friend was arrested on allegations of mishandling funds that were supposed to be distributed as a business deal to landowners in his village. Now we know, if he’s in fact convicted after the ‘dust settles,’ there were probably many influences that could have brought him around to these actions. But it seems obvious to us that as he has traveled to the States and has been working with an organization from the States that provides lots of funds, he’s had a lot of exposure to a lifestyle of having money and opportunities to be put in tempting situations. But that is our perspective having never struggled to come up with money for our children to go to school, to buy medicine or go to the doctor. It is very easy to see the lines of right and wrong when you are provided with all you need. Yes, we have always worked hard to earn a living, but we live in a world of opportunity!
Yet again, there really is no solution. So we pray. We pray for Jesus who is victorious over sin and the devil to strengthen us all for the temptations of the day. We pray for more equality in incomes throughout the world.
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