Freedom?

Calle La Libertad. Freedom Street. Although I just tried to Google the name of this street in Granada, Nicaragua, in order to provide the reader with some interesting facts on why this is called Freedom Street, I had no luck. So you will just have be stuck with my thoughts on it.

I have recently been bombarded with the reality of poverty. While this may seem strange since we work with the poor on a daily basis I think it's good that I haven't become desensitized to it. Or maybe I was becoming that way until recently.

Rebecca, our good friend May and I recently took a backpacking trip to Nicaragua. We appreciated the beautiful colors, the Spanish architecture and the European-influenced restaurants and cafes once we arrived. We also realize that we spent the majority of our time riding around on bikes in the tourist's square. In the midst of these streets there are tens if not hundreds of children begging, coming up to tables and asking for food or money. We spent our time feeling sorry for these children as well as feeling harrassed and bullied. Sometimes we gave them our left-overs and sometimes we told them to leave us alone. What to do in these situations? When is it legitimate and when are they begging for adults who use them? Are we supposed to determine when they deserve our left-overs? I felt a heaviness in Nicaragua that I don't feel all the time in Costa Rica. Calle La Libertad is not apty named.

The other ways I have been thinking about poverty is through the media...I love to read and I love good films. We watched Slumdog Millionaire (bought for $2 at the park) right after our trip. For those of you who aren't familiar with the plot, it's about children who are born into dire circumstances and how they survive and cope in their environment of violence, grief and betrayal.

And yet another reminder, I recently finished the book How to Be Good by Nick Hornby (thanks, brother). One of the themes of the book centers on each person's responsibility to the homeless and those with less. While the point of the book is not necessarily on how to change the world, it also made me think. And right now that's all I've got. Thoughts. I don't have any answers except that we ARE called to support those who have less. I think it means more than donating to Samaritan's Purse (though of course that's always needed) and it's more than giving a small child a to-go box (though I'm sure he appreciated it). Maybe those things are starting points. And then we can pray that God will lead us into what it means for each person to give to the poor and who to build relationships with. Maybe that's where freedom begins.