What I LOVE about teaching internationally

I LOVE hearing stories from my students.

For the last half hour I've sat and listened to one of my students tell me all kinds of stories about where he's from. Most of them are the kind of, "Oh my gosh, I thought that stuff only happened in the movies and on BBC..." This student is an amazing kid and I can't wait to see what he ends up doing in the future. It's just insane to me to hear these kinds of first hand stories of bombings and fundamentalist groups fighting for their own share of land. This student KNOWS what most of the world is really like and here I am - little white girl from suburban Dublin, Ohio, listening wide-eyed to a teenager tell me about his life. Yes, I've seen my fair share of how 90% of the world lives from being here in Ghana but thank the Lord that I still haven't seen the fighting that lots of other parts of the world have. In the middle of the conversation the student said something like, "See, my part of the world is different!"

I'm beyond thankful for the life into which I was born in America.

BEYOND thankful.

Did you know that if you have a household income of $50,000 or more you're part of the top 1% of wage earners? ONE percent. I think I learned that statistic in an Andy Stanley sermon I listened to last semester. The point is - how many families do you know that make that much money? I'd guess a lot. How many families do you know that earn more than that? In Dublin, Ohio I'd guess a lot, again. The lives we lead in America are beyond privileged even if you just can't seem to scrape together enough money for that new cell phone you really want. Do you even need it? Do you really need that new flat screen TV? Why do we constantly feel the need to "keep up with the Jones'?" Why do we never seem to be satisfied with what we have? And I'm completely lumping myself into all of this, too. We think we need these comforts - but we don't. So many people go without for their whole lives and never know anything different. Most Ghanaians are such happy people. Would you be happy if you lived without electricity, sleeping on the side of the road, and going to get water everyday in a big bucket that you have to carry back to where you live? I sure wouldn't be! Maybe it's just a matter of to what we've become accustomed. Some people don't know any different way to live and they don't know that there IS any different way to live so they're happy where they are. But someone like me, who has become accustomed to a different way of living, wouldn't be happy.

But no, I don't think that can be it. Because even I find myself constantly saying, "Well if I only had THIS or THAT then I could be happy. If only the electricity and water would stay on then I'd really be able to have a good attitude today." I think so many other people are exactly that way as well - I'm confident that I'm not alone in this even though by American standards, living here in Ghana I have less! What is it about us that makes us that way? Is it something inside us? Is it something that we're taught? Is it an American thing? Is it a "people who have" thing? We're constantly wanting that one more thing because we think that will end all our troubles. But it doesn't. It never does.

I'm not saying we're all like this all the time. But there are definitely moments, day, periods in life where you feel like this. For some people these periods last much longer and their lives, sadly, are driven by the desire for more. This student told me about a drive in the car in which he had to keep his head down while a member of his family drove the car at a ridiculous speed just so they wouldn't get shot. Seriously! I've never once in my life been in a situation in which I was afraid I was going to be shot.

I don't know what all the verbal vomit above means. I'm just processing "outloud." I guess I'm just thankful for the perspective that my student has brought to me this afternoon. Yes, it's obnoxious when the internet doesn't work - but at least I have a computer and I know that the internet will come back eventually and those things are more than most people in the world can say. I mean remember when I talked about Meg's friend who is around our age and just last week set up her first ever e-mail account? This girl had never been on a computer in her life.

I think the root of the problem is related to what Paul writes in Philippians 4:11-13, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength."

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

We haven't learned, I haven't learned, what Paul had to learn - to be content no matter the circumstances. God created us and we have this hole inside of us that some people try to fill, fill, fill with stuff but the only thing that can fill it all up is the One who created us.

Whew, okay so that was just a lot of processing. Hope you all could follow it and I didn't inadvertantly say anything to offend anyone.

Have a great weekend :-)