1 Año

Today I celebrate 1 year in Monte Plata - 1 year of countless smiles, 1 year of countless tears, 1 year of unimaginable difficulties, 1 year of unimaginable joy, and 1 year of innumerable moments that have shown me more of Jesus and His Kingdom than I ever thought possible. 

Today I celebrate a million lessons learned. 

I celebrate the ongoing battle of me trying to manage my life and my ministry here on my own and God lovingly, yet forcefully, teaching me that I am not in control and will fail miserably without Him. 

I celebrate the limitless power of prayer that has so clearly been demonstrated in my life here throughout the past year. As John Piper says, prayer is a "wartime weapon," and it is the only weapon I've ever seen bring beautiful, restorative peace when used. 

I celebrate the lesson of thankfulness and the new discipline of thanking God for every piece of every difficult, stressful, and stretching situation. Ann Voskamp wrote "The feeling of joy begins in the action of thanksgiving." In the most trying and darkest of situations, in the depths of loneliness, and through the demands of work that seem unfair or to go unnoticed, I celebrate the way God reveals more of Himself as I chose gratitude and, in turn, chose to joyfully trust.

I celebrate God's people. I celebrate the team of 80 friends who have faithfully supported me financially in this Kingdom work over the past year. I celebrate the hundreds more who consistently lift me up in prayer. I celebrate the hundreds of sponsors who enable our school and orphanage to function each day. I celebrate our little North American missionary team in Monte Plata (James, Rebekah, Alex, and I) and the much larger group of Dominicans who selflessly and sacrificially run our programs every day. I celebrate the groups and individuals who have visited us in Monte Plata and poured love, resources, and time into our ministry and into our kids. I celebrate Dad, Riley, Vicki, Paige, and Tricia getting to visit me from home and experience firsthand the great things God is doing here. 

Today I celebrate God's provisions and pray for more of His Body - the church - to answer His call to care for the poor, the outcast, the orphans, and the widows. I pray for more of His Spirit to fall in Monte Plata. Extreme poverty, lack of clean water, lack of medical care, and lack of access to education are real threats that seriously affect real people here in this city that I love. I think of a kind and obedient little boy who lost his life in a river while out gathering wood for his family's cooking fire and I mourn the unavoidable fact that if his family had owned a simple, inexpensive, gas-powered burner, he wouldn't have been out by that river. I pray for His Spirit to bring hope, opportunities, and life-change here. I ask that you join me.

Today I celebrate Jesus in me. I celebrate that He is the only good thing about me. I celebrate that His life, death, and resurrection are the only things that make everything I do worth doing. 

I celebrate that I get to do this all again. As of today, year 2 begins. New lessons, new battles, new prayers, new reasons to give thanks, new people, new provisions -  Same Jesus. 

Specific Ways to Pray

The following is an excerpt from The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns. Our team of summer interns here in the Dominican Republic read and studied this book together. I highly recommend it. At the end of the book, Richard gives hands-on, practical ways for Christians to combat the extreme poverty (and it's ensuing side-effects) that exists in the majority world today. As Christians who are called to fight for justice, equality, and care for the orphan, the weak, the afflicted, and the destitute, we need to raise our own awareness, to share stories of the plight of our brothers and sisters around the world, and to pray. I challenge you to read the list below, to discuss it with your children, your small groups, your Bible study classes, and your friends, and then to actually pray. 

When you take your morning shower, pray for families in poor countries who do not have access to clean water, forcing mothers to spend hours collecting inadequate and dirty water and causing children to suffer and even die from water-related diseases.

When you pack your lunch or your child's lunch, pray for the one billion people in the world who are chronically hungry in the world today.

As you commute to your school or your job, pray for the adults around the world who can't find consistent work to feed their families, or pray for the millions of children forced into harmful or exploitative labor.

When you drop your child off at school or arrive at school yourself, pray for children around the world who cannot get an education because of poverty or discrimination.

As you take a vitamin or medicine, pray for the families without adequate health care, leaving them and especially their children vulnerable to preventable diseases.

When you arrive home after work or school, pray for the children and families who are homeless due to poverty, conflict, or natural disasters. 

As you tuck your children into bed, guide them to pray for the millions of children who have lost their families around the world - especially the 15,000,000 AIDS orphans, many of whom must survive without guardians. 

This is one of my favorite prayers, a Franciscan benediction. Reflect on the message of hope contained within:

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, 

so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, 

so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people. 

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, 

so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really can make a difference in this world, 

so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator, 

Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word Who is our Brother and Savior, and the Holy Spirit, 

our Advocate and Guide, be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore. Amen.

Expect the Unexpected

It's shocking that I haven't learned to expect this already, but I am constantly amazed and surprised by the way our God turns things upside-down and inside-out. Every time I think I know what's coming next, my God surprises me. Every time I think I know what's best, God shows me something greater. Every time I think I know how something is going to work, God impresses me yet again with his far superior plan. One of my favorite verses, to which I frequently refer, is found first in Isaiah 40 and then again in 1 Corinthians 2 -

"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love Him"

This summer is no exception. Over the past 6.5 weeks, God has grown me, molded me, humbled me, and continued His work to sanctify me as I learned time and time again to stop "expecting" things when it comes to working with my God. Whatever I expect, He's usually getting ready to blow it out of the water. Here are a few examples.

What I expected: To be consistently dealing with behavior issues as co-director of the summer program

What actually happened: When our first week of summer program passed without a single fight and with only one child visiting me in my office for behavior issues, we chalked it up to the "newness" of the program and braced ourselves for a crazy second week. That crazy second week never came. At the end of our five week program, we sat and marveled at how incredibly behaved our students were. I've been told that in years past, the director's job has mainly consisted of discipline with almost daily fights, children being sent home, and a constant flow of "problems" in the office. This year we had more children finishing the program and less fights/discipline issues than ever. We are so thankful and so proud of our kids!

What I expected: To be "holding-the hands" of our interns all summer 

What actually happened: We were blessed to have 3 incredible summer interns serving in Monte Plata this summer. Mary Ann and Shelby both joined us from the US and Carolina joined us from Santo Domingo. The girls worked in our summer program at school as teachers/assistants and helped coordinate and run activities at Casa Monte Plata. They got a great taste of what it is to be a missionary during the crazy summer months and were also an incredibly encouragement to me. They lived with Nadelly and I in our home and we enjoyed many evenings of sharing about all God was teaching us. One of the things I most appreciated about our girls was their independent spirit - they jumped head-first into ministry here, regardless of their language level, and our kids truly felt the love of Jesus through them! I never expected the interns to bless me like they did, but I'm grateful that God had far greater plans. 

What I expected: To have a relatively "healthy" summer in Monte Plata

What actually happened: As many of you know, the Chikungunya virus has hit the Dominican Republic full-force this summer. What started as a "buzzword" that was being murmured around town has become a full-fledged epidemic, striking almost every single home in Monte Plata. Our students were in-and-out of school as they succumbed to the illness. We had 5 out of 9 summer program workers sick with the virus during our 5 weeks, including my co-director and one of our American interns. Several members of a visiting team also caught the virus. The symptoms are brutal - fevers of 102-104, severe total-body pain and headaches, and inability to walk or stand on your own. However, God sustained us all. He enabled those who were sick to endure the long, feverish, painful days and nights and the weeks of joint pain after the fever left. He enabled those of us who became caregivers to have the patience, compassion, and energy needed to care for those who were sick. The virus is still strong in Monte Plata and throughout the country and we are expecting the epidemic to last through October. Please continue praying for our health!

What I expected: To say goodbye to all of our children and staff at the end of the school year and see them all again in a few weeks when the school year starts

What actually happened: Many of you heard the news of the death of our 2nd grader, Juan Carlos. His drowning shook our ministry, but we are thankful for the firm foundation that enabled us to remain standing together in Christ in the face of tragedy. Several hours after his death, one of our oldest and dearest partners in ministry, Argentina, also passed away after a battle with cancer. Nothing prepares you to walk in the funeral procession to the cemetery with your student's family as they prepare to bury their son and brother. Nothing prepares you to go straight from that burial to the funeral home to visit the family and friends of a greatly-missed sister-in-Christ who ended her time here on this earth. As the dust settles from these incredibly overwhelming two weeks, I cling to this verse from Nahum (1:7) - The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows those who take refuge in Him. Through it all, God is good. Through it all, God is strong. Through it all, God knows me. Through it all, God provides a refuge for my soul and for all of us who have walked through this darkness together. Please continue praying for the families of Juan Carlos and Argentina, including Juan Carlos's young siblings at our school (Francisco, Jesus, and Erica).

What I expected: To serve as co-director of the summer program and host interns

What actually happened: I laugh when I think about a day two months ago when I told someone "I just can't wait for summer when everything will quiet down and I'll have time to rest." Little did I know that with summer comes an expansion of responsibilities and roles within the ministry. Not only did I have the privilege of co-directing the summer program and hosting/coordinating our intern team, but I also was able to do some work with child sponsorship, translating for neighborhood VBS clubs, and group-hosting. It was a busy summer but God consistently showed me more and more of Himself, on the easy days and on the hard days, and continued to ensure me this is exactly where He created me to be right now.

To see pictures of our summer, click here. 

Apparently...Jesus Even Cares about Math

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 

– 1 Corinthians 15:58

We are so proud of our students, our teachers, and their hard work! I'm so excited to share these exciting indicators of God's work here at our school! After 5 weeks of instruction, our kids made significant growth, improving from 15% of the school passing to 71% of the school passing!

Here's what we learned:

• Once again, God showed us His power and His faithfulness - even in the little things!
• When we focus on the little steps, we see great successes.
• The patterns of the past don't have to dictate what will happen in the future. 

Percentage of Student Population Passing Each Week

Number of Students Passing with 100% Each Week 

Percentage of Students in Each Grade Passing in the Diagnostic Assessment and in the Final Assessment

Average Score of Each Grade on the Diagnostic Assessment and on the Final Assessment

And here's how we celebrated:

One gringa + ice cream for 175 people + 1 pasola

Preschoolers picking their ice cream

Wilton - 2nd grade

Escaila - 2nd grade

Nicol - 2nd grade

Sweet 1st grade girls

Ice cream for everyone!!

MMMMMM

Teachers celebrating their students' success

Sponge Animals and Jesus

A few months ago while reading a book called Embracing Obscurity, I came across an incredible illustration that I couldn't wait to use with my girls in Clase Biblica. It involved the use of "magic grow sponge capsules," - you know, those plastic coated capsules that you put in warm water and when the plastic dissolves the sponge inside the capsule expands and reveals the shape of an animal. I put them on my amazon wish-list and within 5 minutes, my friends Josh and Adora had purchased them and they were on their way to me in Monte Plata.

I finally decided that this was the week to use them in class. But before we got around to using the capsules during the lesson, we opened class with some exciting new graphic Bibles that the Bridgens family from my church in Scottsdale sent down for the ministry. These Bibles are illustrated like comic books, completely in Spanish and in full color. Each page contains the exact Biblical reference from which that part of the story comes. Needless to say, the girls were fascinated with them. We sat together and read them for about 20 minutes, stopping to discuss what we were reading and how that part of the Old Testament relates to our lives today. One of the girls passed by my house this afternoon and said "Clase Biblica was really great today. I love those Bibles! Can we keep reading them?" Yes, Estefany, yes we can. 

After reading, we started our lesson which was based on 2 Corinthians 5:17 - If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. I passed out the magic capsules to each of our girls. I explained that we are each like one of those little capsules. God created us for a purpose, with a specific form and plan in mind. But because of our sin, which is like the plastic casing, we are constrained, held back, and prevented from taking on the form that Christ has planned for us. I then took out a bucket of warm water. As a review from one of our lessons earlier this year, I asked them who the Bible referred to as the "Living Water," - Jesus. I had each of them come forward and they filled a plastic cup with the warm water. Jesus is like the water, and when we give our lives to Him, we can finally become what we were meant to be. He takes away our sin, frees us from bondage, and fills us with His spirit so that we take on the form He originally created us in. The girls dropped their capsules in the warm water and...we waited. At first they were confused. "Are we supposed to drink it?" "NO!"* I yelled, "Just wait." Finally one of them called out "Mine is starting to grow!!!" And one by one, the capsules began to open. The plastic dissolved away and the animals began to emerge from their captivity. "Mine is a monkey! Mine is a rhino! Mine is a lion! Mine is a panther!" The girls literally could not stay seated. They had never seen these types of capsules before and were completely shocked by what happened! They were running around the classroom, showing each other their animals, watching their friends' capsules open, yelling and laughing and smiling and slowly, but surely, getting the point (see the video of their excitement below). 

Our sin is like the plastic. Until we allow the healing, transforming power of the Living Water - Jesus - to free us, we stay bottled up in our sin, never knowing our real purpose or who we were really created to be. But once we immerse ourselves in the Spirit, we are cleaned from our sin, released from our captivity, and take on the form of Christ and all He created us to be. 

First ones to ever open these books - exciting!

Incredibly illustrated and so interesting

The girls were completely enthralled 

Reading about the creation of the world and the fall of man

20 girls in class today - praise God!

Eagerly anticipating the transformation of their capsules

I have never seen them so excited about something!

One of our teacher assistants, Lucy, watches the capsules transform into animals with the girls

Having so much fun!

The girls literally could not contain themselves. They were so excited! Here's a video to prove it:

2 Corinthians 5:17 - If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come.

While we studied this verse, our focus was on the word "Cristo" or Christ. It is not when we are in the world, when we are rich, when we have finished our degree, when our family is perfect, when we have a position of power or control, when we are married, when we have a career that we love, when we finally kicked that bad habit, or when we own a car or a home that we are made new. It is only in Christ that we are we made new. He alone has the power to transform us. He alone has the power to make us new in Him. 

*I yelled "NO!" for two reasons: 1. The water was not clean water, it was water from my sink, and although I warmed it on my stove, I didn't boil it nearly long enough for them to put it in their mouths. 2. I'm pretty sure if you eat an expandable sponge capsule and it opens in your throat/stomach, you would have a MAJOR problem. 

New Creation

Oh Margaret*. I had only been in Monte Plata for a few days when I heard my first "Margaret story." She has a very long history of defiance, disrespect, running away from school, violence towards classmates and teachers, and being one of "those kids." By the grace of God, she has continued here at our school and is currently finishing 6th grade. After a long talk outside of her classroom during my first month here, she and I have been on great terms and we have a special relationship. Margaret can usually be found hanging around outside my office during recess, not-so-subtly waiting for me to invite her in to work on math, look at pictures on my computer, or just sit while I do work. 

Margaret and I after Clase Biblica today

Margaret also loves coming to Clase Biblica on Wednesdays after school. I think her favorite part is when she stays after all the other girls go home and we pray together. That's my favorite part, at least! This has been our regular pattern for the past few months and Margaret always has a long list of problems to pray about - everything from her family to her living situation to her academics to her behavior to her friends...This girl prays for it all. Her life is hard. It's not just normal-teenage-girl hard. It's depressingly, sometimes dangerously, makes-you-want-to-cry, impossibly hard. 

After class today, Margaret stayed behind as usual and as I wrapped my arms around her in a hug I asked "What are we praying for today?" She looked up at me and said "Nothing - today I just want to pray and thank Jesus for all the ways that He's changing me. I used to be really bad but I behave at school now and I'm really different. And I want to praise God for that." 

Cue the tears. I hugged her tight as I prayed and thanked God for the way in which He is working in sweet Margaret's life. We laughed together as I said "God, we know that Margaret has been trying for a long time to change herself, but that didn't really work." And then we smiled as I continued, "But God, You are powerful enough to change even the hardest hearts and the most impossible situations."

Today's Clase Biblica lesson was about God making us new creations. The Bible says that "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away and the new has come." How beautiful it is to see this truth so perfectly displayed in the life of one of our girls. Praise God for all He is doing here and in the hearts of those who believe and trust in Him around the world. 

*Name changed to protect privacy.

La Limpieza

"La limpieza" is the worst the best thing to happen to our school. 

Imagine a circus. Imagine a circus full of elementary and middle school aged children. Imagine those children with buckets of water, towels, brooms, mops, and hoses. Imagine all of this happening with very little adult supervision. If you’re imaging what I’m imagining, you have a mental picture that only begins to describe the madness that is our quarterly “Limpieza de la Escuela” or “School Cleaning Day.” Once every few months, all our kids and their families are invited to return to school in the afternoon to help us clean our classrooms. This isn’t just the typical sweep, mop, wipe desks cleaning that the classes get every day when the kids leave. This is a complete “move every piece of furniture outside, scrub every inch of every desk and every wall and every window and every fan and every cabinet, cut the grass and rake the leaves and trim the bushes, scrub every chair in the cafeteria” cleaning. It is a big job.

Our kids love cleaning day because it is basically water-games day. We put just about as much water on the floors, walls, and furniture as we do on the kids. There are no rules, there’s very little supervision in each classroom, and they all leave soaking wet. There is a lot of yelling, slipping, sliding, screaming, and fighting. If you know me at all, you know that (although it involves cleaning) this is basically my worst nightmare. Today, 20 minutes in, I decided that I was done and was ready to head back to my house early. Our school coordinator caught me and asked if I could be in charge of the 2^nd grade classroom. I looked inside and there was no one in there, so I internally decided that I would just clean the whole classroom by myself, my way, and call it a day. I walked in and started scrubbing desks, mumbling under my breath the whole time. No, this was not my proudest missionary moment (or Jesus-follower moment in general).

Then two things happened.

First, God convicted me and said “Kristin, I didn’t ask you to come to Monte Plata so that every day would be full of work that you find valuable, productive, and Kingdom-building. I asked you to come to Monte Plata to be with me, to follow me, and to joyfully engage in what I’m doing here. And today, I’m scrubbing desks.” Then he added “So suck it up and shut up.” This not-so-gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit changed my scowl into a smile as I began praying for the students who sit in each one of those desks and chose to consciously thank Him for an opportunity to serve the least of these in seemingly the least of ways. How often do I miss out on the intended joy of serving because I'm not satisfied with the way in which I'm being asked to serve?

Second, our kids’ families started showing up. It wasn’t just their parents. Their grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts, big brothers and sisters, and cousins all started flooding into the school. And let me tell you something – these people can CLEAN! A team of over ten grandmothers started working on the chairs in the cafeteria. A group of eight dads, uncles, and big brothers started raking, trimming, and cutting the grass, bushes, and flowers. I think one of my favorite moments of life here in Monte Plata thus far was looking out the window today and seeing one of our first graders and his dad raking leaves together in front of our school playground. Three moms came into the 2^nd grade classroom with me and got to work on the walls, the windows, the cabinets, the floors, the desks, and the shelves. Dozens and dozens of kind-hearted, servant-minded Dominican adults chose to spend their afternoon cleaning and scrubbing with us. Our school is sparkling now. But the fact that we have a clean school is not what has changed the “limpieza” from one of my most dreaded events to one of my most eagerly anticipated.

I love the “limpieza.” I love it because for one day every few months, our students’ families feel like they can come to our school campus with something to offer. For once, they are the experts. For once, they are the leaders. For once, they are able to proudly give instead of humbly receive. 

The mom who can’t read what the chalkboard says can lovingly and thankfully clean it anyway. 

The uncle who can’t count the desks can scrub them until they shine nonetheless. 

The dad who can’t help his third grade son with his homework can work next to him and teach him what it means to lend a helping hand. 

The grandmother who never made it past the first grade can sweep and mop the eighth grade classroom  with a smile on her face and a song on her lips. 

The aunt who hasn’t had a job in a year can work and feel productive outside of her home for the first time in months. 

The families who rely on God (through our school kitchen) to provide the only meals that their children eat each week can come together and joyfully offer a gift of gratitude for all the ways in which the Lord supplies for our needs here. 

"La limpieza" is the worst the best thing to happen to our school. I praise God for changing my selfish, fleshly eyes and ears into vessels through which He shows me more of His great love and His grand plan to redeem a lost and broken humanity. 

Pasamos por el Fuego

After a day of cleaning and scrubbing to erase the mark and scent of the fire from my house, the theme of “fire” was fresh in my mind as I planned the lesson for Clase Biblica this week. Our group has been a bit smaller lately and 14 girls (plus two little sisters and two other teachers) came to class today. I started the lesson by talking about the fire in our house and what the house looked like when I returned home on Monday. Kaina and Lali (from Casa Monte Plata) also chimed in and described the house as “un disastre” (a disaster) since they helped us clean yesterday after school. The girls were laughing as they described all the male teachers and staff members from school putting out the fire on Friday during class. I still wish someone had recorded a video!

I told the girls that God used the fire to guide me towards stories and verses about fire in the Bible. We read in Daniel 3 about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were thrown into the fiery (7x more fiery than normal) furnace because they refused to worship anyone but the One True God. I asked the girls to imagine what those young men were thinking when they stood on the precipice, looking down towards the flaming furnace. “Ok God….now would be a good time to rescue us!” Can you even begin to fathom what thoughts were racing through their heads as the guards hurled them down towards the blazing inferno? “Any time now, Lord!”

But God didn’t extinguish the fire. God didn’t put out the flames.

He did, however, stand in the fire with them.

And He did bring them out on the other side.

So often in life we are called to walk through fires. Sometimes the fires are put in our path by God. Sometimes we start our own fires of sin or are forced to face a fire as a consequence of a bad decision. But sometimes lightning strikes unexpectedly and suddenly we are standing in front of a fire that we didn’t ask for and don’t necessarily deserve.  My girls made a list of those metaphorical fires that we have to walk through: broken friendships, hunger, loneliness, sickness and disease, anger, fighting, death, divorce, fear, poverty.

The fires we walk through

I told my girls that we often wish that God would simply “put out the fires.” But I really think we need to change our prayers – not that God would extinguish the flames, but that He would teach us how to trust Him more as we walk through the flames with Him. God is calling me not to stare at the fire, but to stare directly at Him as He leads me through it.  Fires are an opportunity to look at God more closely, get to know Him better, and trust Him further.  

The Bible is full of references to God’s presence in the fire. He does not leave us to walk through the difficulties of life on our own.

Exodus 13:21 – And the Lord went before them (the Israelites leaving captivity in Egypt)…by night in a pillar of fire to give them light…

God in the fire.

Deuteronomy 4:24 – The Lord your God is a consuming fire…

God in the fire.

1 Kings 18:38-39 – Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the offering…And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, He is God…”

God in the fire.

The girls and I ended our time together by etching Psalm 66:12 in scratch-art paper. We talked about how the smoke of a fire (represented by the black surface of the paper) sometimes obscures our view of all the Lord is doing for us in the midst of the trial. But when we look for God, we will always find Him right there with us, walking through the fire, guiding us with His love, giving us His peace, and shining through the smoke with His hope.

We went through fire…yet You have brought us out to a place of abundance.

-Psalm 66:12

We etched this promise into our scratch-art paper and I told the girls that this verse doesn’t just apply to those of us who have already come out of a fire. It applies before and during the fire as well.

I see the fire that I am going to walk through, and I trust that you will bring me out.

I am walking through the fire right now, and I trust that you are bringing me out.

One of the teachers who helps with our Bible study received a phone call during class to tell her that her grandmother had been taken to the hospital. We stopped and prayed before she left that God would give her His peace as He leads her through this fire. Five girls stayed behind after class and asked me to pray for specific fires that they are walking through in their homes and with their families. I pray this afternoon that God uses our lesson to encourage and strengthen some of you who are reading right now. If you’re looking at a fire, standing in the middle of one, or finally coming out on the other side, find peace in the promise that our God is walking through the flames with you. 

Working on our projects

Working on our projects

Our "fire" snacks - red and orange soda and nacho cheese doritos :)

Broken Cisterns

"We do not believe Jesus when He says there is more blessedness, more joy, more lasting pleasure in a life devoted to helping others than there is in a life devoted to our material comfort. And therefore, the very longing for contentment that ought to drive us to simplicity of life and labors of love contents itself instead with the broken cisterns of prosperity and comfort."

- John Piper