The True Meaning of Wealth
Recently, Marta and I took a trip to Indonesia where we visited an orphanage we support, and also to Papua to see the progress of several schools we are building. It is interesting how our faith expands as we go through life’s different phases. I am at a point in my life when I feel most confident about why I’m on earth. God has put me here to help others who have little hope or chance of success.
People make statements such as, “You should give here…You should give in your own country… You should give to this cause…” There are so many choices to give, so many places with need. Charity is so very personal. Not many are touched by what has drawn our hearts to the children of Indonesia.
The orphanage we support is full of children who’ve lost their families in a tsunami. Many have no family, or have family unable to support them. In the orphanage, they find food, love, schooling (which is better than the public schools available to them), and renewed faith.
To visit these children you see that they’re just normal bright children, who were in the wrong place and who, without outside help, would have suffered horribly from starvation and died. Simple things, that we do not even appreciate, are so important to them. It was a blessing for us to visit, spend time, and share smiles with them. Supporting these children, their lives, and their dreams gives us greater meaning. There is warmth in my heart, which is hard to describe, that comes from supporting the desperate.
The schools we are building in Papua are giving children an international education so they can improve their community, their lives and their opportunities. The native Papuans are being destroyed by wealth, modern society, and a new world that they are not prepared for. They’ve advanced only slightly from the Stone Age and human greed and lack of understanding may literally annihilate them. These schools can help them to survive and thrive in the world that is coming. To visit these villages, talk to their church leaders and parents, and look into the eyes of those smiling children, knowing that we’re facilitating their education and their dreams, is also indescribable.
True happiness for me is giving to those with such need, and to those I don’t know. This is the true meaning of wealth! This is the elixir for happiness that many do not understand nor comprehend.
Could I leave more wealth to my children? … Do they need it?
Could I have a second house? … Do I need it?
Could Marta and I vacation more and spend more money? … Would we be happier?
Could I save more money in our accounts? … Do we have enough?
I am willing to give up all of this for true happiness.
My hope is that someday you too find this contentment and commitment. And, of course, that means many different things to different people. What is the true meaning of your wealth? Have you discovered its greater purpose in your life and in the lives of others?
