7776. That’s the number of square INCHES that the family I met today occupies. In simpler terms, this families lives in a space that is six feet by nine feet. The family? A mother, a father who is a fisherman and not there when I visited, and four small children. That’s five or six people occupying a tiny space. I say space because this family lives on a basketball court with hundreds of others displaced by recent floods. It is an outside court, but it has a roof and concrete floor which provide some shelter. Wooden posts are throughout the court, tied together with ropes that hold blankets that act as walls. In the space that I visited, there was a tiny table, a few pillows, a couple sheets, and some thin plywood to sleep on. Yes this is temporary housing, but in the weeks that I have been here, the water hasn’t seemed to recede an inch. When it finally does, the houses in this area are not much better than some blankets and a basketball court.
The mother didn’t speak much English, but she made an eating gesture to us. Luckily, we were having a feeding, so we took the three kids that could walk out to the van. They clung onto each other this whole time. It is hard to describe, but this wasn’t kids being sweet to each other. It was a means of protection and survival that only dire circumstances can bring about. As we waited in line, I glanced at the dwindling amount of food we still had to give out. My heart would shatter if the food ran out before we fed this family. Luckily, the other Filipinos who looked healthier actually let us go in front of them. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. They got three servings of food then we walked them back home. We tried talking but the lady didn’t know English, so we smiled, took a few pictures, then got in the van and drove back to the mission center.
What we did was like putting a bandaid on a gunshot wound. They ate today, but who knows about tomorrow. They will live in minimal shelter for an indefinite amount of time without a thousand things we take for granted, most importantly medical attention. Poverty is ugly. Poverty is disgusting. It is one of those things that you have to see in person to understand. Knowing billions live in need meant very little to me before I met these five people who showed me what that looked like.
So what’s the lesson? What’s the spin on it that will make everybody go away with a smile? Honestly, there is nothing about this family’s earthly situation or future that will make me happy. I’m mad. It sucks that this exists on earth. However, I do find joy in this situation. Joy in knowing that this earth is temporary, and the riches of God’s love are eternal. He loves us all. He loves these people who live in situations we struggle to imagine. He also loves us. The ones who know the struggles of people in this world but still complain when our third meal of the day comes a little cold or burnt. Jesus loves the poor and the rich, and that brings me joy.
