A thought

I'm going to post some pictures from the rest of my urban homestay pretty soon, but here's a thought I've been pondering...

A word that many of us associate with Africa is poverty.

No doubt about it, I've seen economic poverty in South Africa and here in Namibia unlike anything that I've seen in the USA... people living in small shanty houses without running water or electricity, orphans begging for food, slabs of cardboard and aluminum pieced together to make houses, empty stomachs...

Yet there is a spirit here that is not poverty-stricken. I have met some of the most faith-filled people here, and the fullness of life is incredible. Granted, I am making generalizations, for there have been people I have met who are struggling and are not hesitant to express those struggles. Yet, I have seen a beautiful life and hope here, too.

So a thought to ponder: What truly is poverty? Is it living without running water, or is it living without hope? Is it eating cornmeal mixed with water three meals a day or is it living without love?

Sometimes I wonder if poverty is more of an internal measurement, and less of an external measurement.

and by what I have seen in so many of the people here, there is wealth...