If you have read my previous blog post entitled "Kapsowar", you read about the visual beauty of Kapsowar, which is a testament to God's glorious creation. However, what makes this place truly beautiful is the people here. Everyone is so welcoming! They are all willing to say hello and give help if needed. They love getting to know you and are always smiling. I enjoy my walk to and from school as I am getting to know various people along the way, from the tiny children who are excited to shake my hand to the women who sell produce by our gate. God's command to love our neighbors as ourselves seems to be on the forefront of people's hearts and minds here, for they are quick to show kindness and love to me.
I have found myself forgetting that I am in Africa because I feel just as comfortable around the people here as I do the people at home. This has led me to think about how privileged and materially blessed I am and how unfair it seems that I have been given so many opportunities in my life while others do not have such opportunities available to them. I look at the kids and think of what their lives will be like and how they are no different than a child in America but that they will likely not have the same opportunities as the child in America. We are all the same in God's eyes, all made in His image. I have been blessed in ways that others are not, and I cannot take that for granted because I have done nothing to deserve any of it. But I am still confused. Why do I have the opportunity of getting a college education while many kids here do not? Why do I live in a two story house with constant electricity while others live in a one room house with only a couple of kerosene lamps to provide light in the darkness? I am not ungrateful, just perplexed at the despair in wealth in my country and around the world. But the beauty of it all is that the people here in Kapsowar do not live with the "woe is me" mentality. In the month that I have been here, I have not once heard a Kenyan complaining about their home or the fact that they only have a couple sets of clothes. Rather, they are more grateful than the average American for what they have been blessed with. The people here are truly joyful and content with what they have, something that puts me to shame. Their gratefulness and joy is a true testament to the power of God in a person's life.
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