I watched a powerful movie on Friday night, Born Into Brothels. It is about a female photographer who moves to Calcutta, India for a few years and teaches about seven or eight children of the red light district photography. Her hope is to give them a better future than the bleak one of poverty and prostitution that is staring them in the face. After watching it my mind was spinning, I experienced so many emotions as the movie played. I've thought about the movie everyday since I watched it, I would highly recommed it to anyone who likes to learn about other cultures. Here are a few things I've thought about since watching it:
The children in the documentary were so wise. They showed an awareness of their culture, acknowledging that they were surrounded by a darkness and poverty that most people in the world could never dream of. They ranged from about eight to twelve at the time of the movie, and most of them were taking care of siblings, parents, and grandparents themselves. I can't imagine many children their age in the states caring about much more than their video games or going to the mall. Kind of disgusting to be honest.
It also made me ask again why God has put me in this place in life, and them in theirs. For me going to college was a no brainer, and I got to decide my major. I then changed my major without consulting anyone, I didn't tell my family until after it was pretty much a done deal. My husband and I will never be able to tell our children that we were poor, we've been blessed to always have enough to pay our bills on time, and we eat a full meal three times a day. Why do I have so much when these kids have nothing?
This is a tough question, a timeless question. I guess I want to revert back to what a lot of upper middle class (because whether I want to admit it or not, like most Americans who want to say we're middle class, I'm really upper-middle class) Christians say, God has given to me so that I can give to other people. It really makes sense, because if everyone was poor then who would help us out? My question to God is, why is there not a little bit more balance? Why do people gather and gather and gather, but never give? My own selfishness disgusts me, and I like to think of myself as a pretty giving person. I think part of the reason God gives so much to some people is that He created human beings to live to our full potential, and part of that is living a life of sacrifice and abundant giving. As to why He did that, I don't know. As to why little babies are sold by their parents to get money for drugs, I don't know. As to why thousands of girls are standing on the side of the road being taken advantage of by strangers because it's the only way they can make money for their family, I don't know. It frustrates and hurts me.
So what am I going to do about it? The preacher where I go to church is a firm believer in the things that Compassion International does for impoverished children around the world. About a month ago I found a girl that I want to sponsor, she is about fifteen and is from India. Perhaps God was reminding me through the movie Friday night that it's time to stop thinking about doing good, and put my money where my mouth is. Here's the website if you want to check it out: http://www.compassion.com/. There are so many ways to give if this is not for you, so my encouragement is to think of what you in your wealth can do for someone else in need today.
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