Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Not God's normal

The morning here in Manila was spent hearing from a leader on social entrepreneurship for slum communities, and then from Corrie deBoer on Appreciative Inquiry. After that we went to the Pataya Dump site to tour the government facility that displaced scavengers and then to the site of the Pataya Christian Church that is led by a bi-vocational pastor who runs a few businesses to employ scavengers. We saw scavengers standing waste deep in foul water "washing" plastic bags to be sold to recyclers. We saw an urban pig farm attached to the church with pigs that feed on the garbage of the site. We saw one of the pre-schools that Corrie planted. Signs of hope in dramatic circumstances. Those circumstances can be overwhelming, and I know they brought insight and conviction. We meditated on the fact that thousands of children know no other reality. They and their families understand this as normal. But this is not God's normal; his shalom plan for their lives and community is beyond their dreams.



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