Wednesday, November 12, 2014

He Meets Every Need


When I arrived in the Dominican Republic, I largely believed that "good teaching is good teaching, no matter the school," and that "kids are kids, no matter the country." I was prideful, arrogant, and over-confident in my abilities to make a difference here. The reality is that I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Until you have spent a couple weeks at our school, there is no way to begin to understand and process the great needs of this country and its children and their families. While it is true that kids are kids no matter where they are and that many strategies are useful and produce results no matter the classroom, the children here are standing at the bottom of a mountain that is nearly impossible to climb. We arrive with our "expertise" of what works to solve the problem in America and quickly realize that those strategies don't work here because we're not even dealing with the same problem!  We are fighting a hopelessness that doesn't exist in even the poorest schools in America. As Corbett and  Fikkert say in their book When Helping Hurts, "Poverty alleviation is about reconciling people's relationships, not about putting bandages over particular manifestations of the underlying brokenness." I arrived here with a suitcase of teaching supplies and a head full of theory about what's best for kids. Little did I know that all I really brought with me was a bunch of bandaids. The real medicine, the genuine cure, was nestled deep inside of my heart and in the hearts of those who serve here with me - the hope of the Holy Spirit that comes through reconciled relationships with The One who can meet all of our needs. 

Think about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - a familiar diagram to anyone who took even one education or psychology course in college or to anyone who has ever worked with children. Maslow concluded that until a child's basic physiological needs (food, water, shelter, rest) are met and until the child feels safe and secure, he will not be able to realize the higher needs on the pyramid which include the psychological needs of friendship, intimacy, belonging, love, self esteem, education, and confidence. 

In America, in my class of about 30 children each year, I had maybe 5 who were really stuck at the bottom of the pyramid - who didn't have a bed to sleep in or who didn't have enough food in their cabinet to eat at night or who suffered abuse in some form in their homes. The other 25 students had their basic needs met and were therefore able to climb the pyramid and have their psychological and self-actualization needs met. Reality here in Monte Plata is far different. I often look around at our school here and wonder "What in the world happened today?!" I see children who seemed to be making progress yesterday (or an hour ago) who have now completely lost it, who are running from authority, screaming, fighting, or crying. I see children who could subtract yesterday who now can't even read a number correctly out loud. I listen to a 6th grade girl who told me last week how much she loves her two younger sisters who is now bawling in our front office saying that she can't keep being a mom to her sisters when she's just a little girl herself. I visit their homes and see our children sleeping on a dirt or cement floor huddled together with their siblings. I watch them cry in hunger on Sunday night because they haven't eaten since they left our school on Friday afternoon. I bandage their open, infected sores that haven't been cleaned - rarely because their mother doesn't care, sometimes because their mother doesn't know, but usually because their mother doesn't have anything with which to clean their child's wound except dirty water collected in a bucket from the open stream of sewage that runs behind their house. This is the life of nearly every child at our school. Nearly every single child. We're not even climbing the pyramid yet. We still need to lay the foundation. 

On a typical day, I resign myself to the realization that there are needs here that I have no idea how to meet. But the Lord frequently reminds me that I am not alone in this work. Our teaching staff of dedicated, loving Dominicans is not alone in this work. Our ministry that spans 5 different cities and 10 different sites in this country alone is not alone in this work. The Lord goes before us. Long before Kids Alive arrived in Monte Plata, long before the children in our program were born, long before the trials and tribulations that they experienced this weekend came to pass, the Lord was working to meet their needs. My hope rests not in anything that we can do, but in everything that the Lord can do in and through us to minister to His children. My ideas, my strategies, my efforts are worthless unless they are inspired by, sourced in, and accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit. 

When those basic bottom-level needs seem impossible to meet (nearly every single minute of every single day), I hold on to the hope that is in Christ. When our kids lack food, water, shelter, rest, and safety, I  choose hope instead of hopelessness. I claim victory in Christ instead of accepting defeat of the enemy. I choose love instead of anger. I choose patience instead of desperately grasping at straws in an effort to remedy situations with roots far deeper than one day at school can fix. 
  • Our kids lack food. - Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." - John 6:35
  • Our kids don't have water. - For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. - Revelation 7:17
  • Our kids live without shelter - He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." - Psalm 91
  • Our kids are unable to rest. - The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. - Psalm 23:1-2
  • Our kids can't breathe, suppressed by the darkness around them. - The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. - Job 33:4
  • Our kids lack security. - And you will feel secure, because there is hope; you will look around and take your rest in security. - Job 11:18
  • Our kids live a life of instability. - The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high...He will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. - Isaiah 33:5-6
  • Our kids are fearful. - Too many promises to choose from, see Genesis 50:21, Deuteronomy 31:6,8, Psalm 27:3, Psalm 46:2, Isaiah 41:10, Jeremiah 30:10, Hebrews 13:6

Join me today in praying for the basic needs of our children to be met. Thank God with me that our school day now runs for 8 hours instead of only 4 and pray that God enables us to make the most of the precious time we have with our children. Ask the Lord to spur your heart towards child sponsorship or adoption (contact me for information on how to sponsor a child for $39/mo). Praise the Lord for His perfect provisions and ask forgiveness for the times we doubt Him. Most of all, examine yourself to see if you are meeting your own basic needs or if you are allowing the Lord to display His power mightily in your life. Are you laying your own foundation? Are you desperately trying to place bandages on a deeper wound that needs more intensive care and healing? May we source ourselves in Him in the times of rest, the times of pruning, the times of discernment, and the times of service.