Thought for the Week

I have been staying in Manaus, an increasingly prosperous city and the capital of Amazonas. The city stands where the two main branches of the Amazon meet, the Solimoes, with its brown water, and the Negro, with its black water.

A magnificent new road bridge across the Amazon has recently been opened which is four miles long. Many multi-national companies have opened factories in Manaus where people are paid good wages. New luxury housing developments are being built and new shopping centres selling high quality goods. There is a general feeling of prosperity.

Yesterday, however, I went to visit a family living on a piece of ground close to the international airport. They live in a very small wooden house no bigger than a garden shed. Heavy rain had fallen that morning and the roof was not waterproof.

They have four children aged from 18 to 6 years old. Their eldest son has malaria. They have no supply of clean water and their furniture is very simple. The husband earns small amounts of money by collecting used drink cans and selling them to the recyclers.

They are very poor and daily life is hard. The children smiled as we arrived and gave them some simple gifts. They go to school, but it will be very difficult for them to escape the poverty and deprivations of their situation.

When we look at the contrasting lives of rich and poor people in this world it seems as if the rich have everything and the poor have nothing, but this is not the whole truth.

The Bible says “God has chosen those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him.”

The mother of the poor family attends a small church and knows Jesus as her Saviour. Every day she prays that God will meet her needs and those of her family. God has answered her prayers. She is thankful for the daily gifts he gives her and the love of those he sends to help her and her family.

She knows that one day her Saviour will return to this world in glory and all things will be made new! She is really looking forward to that day and to receiving her eternal inheritance.