Receptive Giving

This afternoon Mary Lynn, Larry and myself had a meditation with Lucho and Lorna about the idea of giving and receiving.

Lucho was reading an article in his Sojourner's magazine about how as Christian missionaries we so often give without being open to receiving. We think because we come from affluent cultures that we have everything we need and we often view our host cultures as almost inferior.

But in reading this article it reminded Lucho of the idea that God views us not by our possessions, by what we have and have not, but by our social interactions with others. Although the Bible does say it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 21:35), sometimes the receiver in the host culture has something to give back too and when we deny them that opportunity, we are not being socially fair according to Scriptures.

Lucho specifically talked in church this week about the Bolivians welcoming us as new missionaries into their homes and this week alone we have gotten three dinner invites! This is the Bolivian way of expressing gratitude for the work we are doing here and their chance to give to us. Praise God for the symbiotic relationship he has created and pray that myself and the other missionaries here and those coming soon would be more receptive to opportunities for the Bolivians to give back.