Go Beyond

Garbage. Each of us produce about 4.5 pounds of waste per day. Americans produce an estimated 251 million tons of waste per year. At least twice a week, the garbage we produce is collected from our curbs and taken to landfills or is burned. If the garbage collectors ever went on strike we would all be in deep trouble … literally. It would not take long for us to begin drowning in our own garbage.

This morning, I carried three bags of garbage to the curb in front of my home. By the time I left the house, the garbage in front of my home had already been collected to begin its journey to the dump. Garbage collection is a wonderful convenience for us in America. Next week I will set our large recycle bin on the curb and it, too, will be picked up and I will have done my part to help the environment for the week. Again, a great convenience.

In a few hours our team of five from Kingsland will begin our journey to Cairo to work with the Zabbaleen, Cairo’s garbage people. I especially thought about the Zabbaleen this morning as I deposited my garbage bags on the curb. I tried to imagine personally collecting all of the garbage in my subdivision, bringing it to my home, dumping it in my backyard, and enlisting my entire family to sort through it to find things to sell in order to make a living. That’s exactly what the Zabbaleen do every single day, eking out a meager subsistance income of only a few dollars a day.

In the past year, our missions ministry has worked with our partners at Global Hope Network to bring hope the Zabbaleen. We have put roofs on their crudely constructed homes and also flooring. And, best of all, our VBS kids funded a school for the Zabbaleen. These kids do not have the opportunity to go to school because they must help their parents sort through trash. All of that is changing, however, for the Zabbaleen in our adopted village of Helwan. The kids in this village will now have the opportunity to learn to read and write and to learn about the hope that Jesus gives.

Please keep our team in prayer as we serve the Zabbaleen in the coming week. We look forward to making many new friends, to providing a copy of the Scriptures for each home and teaching some Bible stories. We will also teach classes on hygiene and first-aid and provide a first aid kit to every home in the village. And we will work with the new little church in the village. We have an exciting week ahead of us. I will post updates daily from Cairo. Tahnks for your prayers and for following our journey.