While vacationing with family last week, I got an e-mail from Mozambique saying that a number of the Bible translators studying at Bible college were in need of mattresses. This means that they have been sleeping on cement floors during this the coldest season of the year. It was a disturbing message for me, especially as I was surrounded by people “roughing it” in luxurious campers and RVs. These kinds of situations happen quite often to us when we are back in the US. There’s no real way to help people understand the poverty we see around us in Africa. Recently I’ve started taking pictures of America to show to our Mozambican friends. What will they think about American houses? What about miles and miles of fields thick with corn? Would they understand kidney dialysis for pets or aromatherapy? The prosperity of America is as incomprehensible to them as the poverty of Africa is to the average American. And what about me? I don’t really know where to call home. Undoubtedly I enjoy the cushy life in the States. But I don’t really feel at home here. When you work cross-culturally you become something like the guest at the banquet that Jesus described, even as you enter into the feast you are aware of Lazarus outside the gate. It takes an edge off the enjoyment of the feast.

Another recent example was our children shooting off rockets at the church’s mid-week youth meeting. It was one of those absolutely gorgeous summer afternoons. We were sitting in lawn chairs, drinking soft drinks and eating pretzels and watching the kids enthusiastically waiting their turn to send their home-made rockets shooting into the air. After posting some of the photos, Peter Kirk expressed his dismay at these images since at the same time our children were playing with toy rockets, children in Israel and Lebanon were being fired on by real rockets.

Most people in America have probably never been fired on by missles, or had to sleep on a cold cement floor. And I certainly don’t want to wish that on anyone. Instead, we all hope to end wars and create prosperity throughout the world. As someone who moves between these two worlds it’s hard to know what we can do to help. Should we raise funds to buy mattresses? Should we bring people to Africa to see first hand what it’s like there? As a family we help out as many people as possible while in Africa without getting involved in large-scale aid programs. So we’ve helped individuals, families, churches and even an entire village with various donations of everything from money to clothes to roofing material. In general, we feel our best way to enrich those we come into contact with is through our work in Bible translation and literacy.

Our lives are richer for the cross-cultural experiences we have had. But sometimes I wish I could forget it all and sink into the bliss of living in America. There is a lot we miss out on by not living in the United States, but even if we could have it all we’d never be able to enjoy it knowing that our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world are suffering while we live it up here.