The Garbage People
1 Corinthians 1:23-29
"But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; (24.) But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. (25.) Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (26.) For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]: (27.) But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; (28.) And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: (29.) That no flesh should glory in his presence"
My wife and I recently read about a group of people who live in and around Cairo Egypt unceremoniously known as the "Zabbaleen" - or "garbage people". This title comes from their very lowly occupation of being the garbage collectors of Cairo Egypt. Up until recently they were the ones who voluntarily and with out a fee would remove people's garbage from their homes. Their lively-hood was derived from collecting, sorting, salvaging and recycling the unsorted garbage mix of Cairo's households. Socially, the Zabbaleen were and still are the off scouring of Cairo's population. But as we read the story of "The Garbage People” we rejoiced at another story that may not be known. It is yet another story of God's grace extended to the "have not's" and "are not's" of this world making them the trophies of God's matchless saving grace. It is also the story of a humble man of God sharing the Gospel of Christ with a young Zabbaleen boy and the wonderful blessings that came to these people from it. The following is the complete excerpt (1) as we read it. May it move you to rejoice in God's grace and goodness as it did us.
"Rebecca Atallah, a missionary to Egypt for over ten years . . . “Some of you might be wondering why on earth anyone would choose to go to a forsaken Egyptian village.” . . . I would like to tell you a story about an ordinary man and the humble people he grew to love as his own family. Most importantly, I believe you will gain a new appreciation for you God . . . “ The story began eighteen years ago in Egypt when a layman, lovingly known today as ‘Father Simon,’ did a simple act of Christian obedience. He led his garbage boy to Jesus. The young lad found such joy in his new faith that he begged Father Simon, ‘please sir, would you come and tell my family about Jesus?’ So up to the boy’s village he went.
“When Father Simon first arrived, he was not a ‘father’ at all, but a printer by trade. To the residents of the village, however, he soon became a VIP. Through Father Simon’s loving heart, this once hopeless people became filled with hope. When I explain this plight, you will understand why.
“You see, the garbage collection system in Egypt is unlike that of the West. Your government generally provides pickup service and pays laborers a good wage for the messy job. In my country, the very poorest families do it. These ‘garbage people’ as they are called, live apart from the rest of society - in seven ghetto-like - villages and there, they care for the refuse of a whole nation. I personally met Father Simon in one of those villages where I work. It is the largest one with about seventeen thousand inhabitants.
“Men, women, and children collect garbage each day from everyone’s flats or houses throughout the land. I suppose that in itself is not so unusual, but they take the garbage back to their village and in the only place available - their homes - where they sort it by hand into different piles. Being quite a thrifty group, they feed the biodegradable material to their livestock.
“Nobody in Egypt like the garbage people. Naturally, when they wear the same clothes they’re worn every day working in garbage for the last many years, they smell quite bad. Egyptian society looks down on them with great disdain, even thought they provide a most valuable service. They live in utter shame on the lowest rung of the social totem pole.
“When Father Simon first came to the village, these outcasts felt no love except from other garbage collectors next door. They had no hope of a better life. They had no running water, no electricity, no roads, no services of any kind - neither churches, no schools, nor clinics, nor doctors. Everyone lived in tiny huts built out of scraps of tin scavenged from piles of garbage. Utter despair permeated the town, as the citizens had nothing to live for. Men would go out at night and spend their meager piastros, or pennies on alcohol and drugs to dull their pain.
Eighteen years ago, very few of these people had ever heard the Gospel. That was before Father Simon! They received the good news from him with open arms. As he discovered their receptiveness, he was soon making the trek every week to lead them in Bible study. The work grew more and more and in a very short time, many had accepted the Lord as their Savior. How happy they were to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their village!
“About a year or two after the first conversions, a growing group of believers in the village realized they needed a church. They approached the Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox denomination, by far the largest in Egypt. Not only did they ask for the structure, they wanted the layman they called ‘Father Simon” to become their priest. Meanwhile, he had received a vision from the Lord that confirmed he should stay in the village as its spiritual leader. Miraculously, the Patriarch agreed to ordain Father Simon into the ministry - even though he had never attended a day of seminary - and everyone rejoiced. Build a church, they did!
“Then one day Father Simon said to his wife, ‘These people desperately need to learn to read. How else can they ever read the Bible?’ She agreed. Together, they started the first school and, for many years, the only school. The first generation children were studying there when I arrived at the village almost 11 years ago.
“I had the privilege of watching an incredible transformation take place in the garbage people. As they responded to the Gospel, the Lord changed their hearts and their motivation. They now had a reason to live. They knew they were loved. They knew Jesus had a plan for them. The men, instead of carousing and drinking at night, started staying at home. They took care of their families and saved their pennies. As a result, the whole appearance of the garbage village changed.
“The people started changing mentally and intellectually as well. They treated their families better and had a new desire to provide an education for their children. Whereas before, no one in the large, extended families could read or write, they decided to send one or two of their children to school. What a great sacrifice that was! They really needed everyone at home to help with the collection and sorting of garbage.
“Other services, such as small medical clinics, began to spring up with the help of outside funding. What a blessing! In the former generation, the infant mortality rate was about 40 percent. That means almost half of the children died of malnutrition and disease before the age of 5. As I visit families in the village today, I find most of them alive and healthy.
“Father Simon and later, Sister Emmanuel, even managed to persuade the government to provide electricity, sewage, and running water for the garbage people. It was indeed a challenge to convince the authorities that our village of seventeen thousand should receive what was commonplace for other cities, but benefits to our citizens far outweighed the effort.
“In former days, the people use to do almost everything in the courtyard. They sorted garbage and stored it there until recycling time, fed and boarded their animals, and in the same courtyard, cooked, ate, and bathed their children. Sister Emmanuel taught them to separate their business from their personal lives as much as possible. Now it they must handle garbage in the home, they do so on the ground floor and live on the second floor! This one concept has greatly reduced the spread of disease.
“When I arrived at the village eleven years ago, I’d say two-thirds of the population were still living in tiny tin shacks; today not more than ten to twenty percent. They live in durable, comfortable stone homes.
“Two lone cars parked in the village in those days - mine and Father Simon’s. In fact, the road was so bad, I used to park way below the village and walk twenty minutes up the hill to get there. Now the road has improved, again with the help of the government, but primarily through the intervention of Father Simon and Sister Emmanuel. Today, cars come and go, as well as trucks hauling products for recycling. Fewer people must carry loads back and forth on donkey carts. Even taxis travel between the village and the rest of Cairo. So much change in just 11 short years!
“A friend of mine, Lila Kamel, came with me the very first day. We both felt God had called us to volunteer there and together, we began a new adventure. ‘Lord,’ we prayed, ‘please show us what we can do to help.’ We hadn’t the slightest idea where to start. Although, I am a social worker by trade, and Lila has since gone on to earn her doctorate degree in development, neither of us had ever done that kind of missions work before.
“God showed us, step by step. He opened our eyes to an immediate need - a church school. Still very disorganized, with only two classes, untrained teachers, very few materials, and no school building (they met in the church balcony), we had our work cut out for us. Again, with the help of a few outside contributions, Father Simon built the school and Lila and I helped train the teachers. We all worked for many years to establish the program. To this day, teachers live in the garbage village, but they do have some education. They understand both the art of teaching and the unique background of their students. This has contributed to their success.
“From the beginning, I devoted myself to making Christian education the foundation of the school. One day each week serves as a kind of Sunday school, where we teach children the Bible. Through the use of audiovisual aids and songs about Jesus, they learn to express their faith in child-like ways. We also show them how to have fun. They do handicrafts and sports - two activities they had never experienced. It was so hard for them to play in the village because they cut their feet on the garbage piled all around. Now they enjoy their own separate playground!
“We then progressed into other areas. I began doing medical visits to the most destitute women and children. Today, teams of native women and girls go with me. A doctor has trained them in basic health care, first aid, and counseling about vaccinations and birth control, while I assist with on-going training and visitation.
“My friend, Lila, did not sit still, either. She went on to build a factory where the women and girls receive training in the use of looms. Their skillful hands weave recycled cloth, donated by large clothing manufactures, into oven mitts, purses, rugs, and quilts. Beautiful patchwork creations have arrived on the scene of late.
“All these outward changes have come about in the village because Jesus is changing people on the inside. Very few outside groups have had anything to do with the process. Yes, a bit of funding helps and, of course, Father Simon and a few other volunteers have played a part. But most of all, the people themselves wanted to change their situation. They began wanting to live fuller lives because they had fuller hearts. Hearts filled with hope! They realized God had intended them not to be animals, but creatures who reflect the image and imprint of God.
“It fascinates me to see the results just from the first generation of children who learned to read and write in out little church school. They took the Bible back to their families and shared the Gospel with them. Whatever printed materials the children received - whether about heaven or hygiene - they read it at home to their whole extended families. Missionaries in miniature they were. As the children grew up, they also became the first trained leaders in their church.
“One could not have imagined that this fellowship would grow into a community of about 3000 believers. The members themselves run the church for the most part. So often, missionaries remain in charge for a long time, but not here. The garbage people build the churches, do all the teaching and run the social and medical programs. They lead, teach Sunday School, train young men to become deacons, and organize ministry to the poor. (The church has many widows and desperately poor people on their rolls whom they help on a monthly basis.)
“Almost 100 percent of these laborers are the grown children from the church school when Lila and I arrived 11 years ago. What a thrill! When I see these girls grown up into young wives and mothers, my heart leaps for joy. God is raising up eager and able women who want to serve Him by establishing Christian homes.
“Yes, I have learned a great deal from the garbage people - probably more than they have learned from me. As I visit the women, many of whom are still very poor, I would expect to find them depressed. Discouraged. Complaining. Unhappy. They should be that way, it would seem to us, because they live in such grim conditions.
“Many of these women spend every waking hour of every day with all their children hanging on them and needing to be fed while they sift through piles of strangers’ stinky garbage. I assure you that, unlike the West, Egyptians do not put the stuff in nice, clean plastic bags, sorted ahead of time according to dry or wet, bottles or cans, and so forth. No, everything is thrown into one receptacle. That means our villagers constantly cut their hands on broken glass, and must still handle all kinds of waste. You can imagine the implications. They were able to cope, they say, ‘It was very hard, but God was with me. He stood right beside me.’ Often they add, ‘The priest, his wife, and the church helped me, too.’
“Instead of complaining, instead of wailing and bemoaning their fate, these women praise God. With enthusiasm! Of course, this isn’t always the case, but more often than not. Many of them are still desperately poor. Some haven’t yet been able to change their outward situation as much as the others, but Jesus lives in their hearts. His light shines in their simple homes. Oh, you can see and feel it! I’m often amazed to find that, after wading through garbage, I have stepped into an immaculate, tidy room. They have the desire to make what little they have reflect the glory of God.
“The garbage people have discovered a wonderful secret few of us in the West have learned. I have, only because I have lived among them for so long. External circumstances do not make us happy or sad. How we react and who’s standing beside us when we’re going through rough times makes the difference. What is inside, or rather I should say, who is inside, gives us joy and peace and hope. He enables us to live through terrible anguish as sane, healthy persons. Incidentally, I see very few signs of mental illness or psychological problems in the village. We need more medical doctors, but not many psychologists. This never ceases to amaze us missionaries.
“Yes, the transformation in the garbage village challenges me to the utmost. It goes against everything my husband and I leaned as social workers. Our education taught us to change people’s situations to help them to live better, so they can ‘go up in the world.’ In my casework in the States, for example, I would strive to help my clients get well, gain better insurance coverage - anything to help them manage their diseases or medical problems. Then, as their circumstances improved, I hoped they would have the motivation to change their inner attitudes. Of course, that rarely happens. (Jesus said it wouldn’t in Mark seven, fifteen). He said, There is nothing outside the man which going into him can defile him, but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.
“If you would, ponder something for a moment. We could state Jesus’ words in the opposite way - nothing that goes into a person makes him better (save the Scriptures); it’s what comes out. And what comes out has to be from what’s in him. At best, Jesus lives in his heart, giving him a new life that flows out to others.
“From this miracle within individuals, I have seen an entire village undergo a transformation socially, physically, mentally, and academically. These people changed their outside circumstances because their insides - their hearts, their minds, their attitudes, their motivations - were changed. How? By the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.
“You see, the Lord uses the meek and not necessarily the wise to improve society. How easy to become overeducated, ineffective servants! Fathehalls, even a three-thousand-seat auditorium. Not only can they serve their own village and the Coptic Orthodox Church, but many Christians from all over Cairo and greater parts of Egypt!
“Every Thursday night, believers stream in to take part in Bible studies and song services. Thousands of people from every walk of life gather to hear the Word of God and to worship and praise in Arabic until the very walls reverberate with joy. Praise the Lord! How well He has cared for His humble garbage people! He has performed a miracle for all to behold and as the Bible promises, He will complete His work until Jesus returns to takes us home.
“Through my beloved Egyptian saints, God has proved His Word true in First Corinthians one, twenty-seven to twenty-nine:
"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him".
May God continue to manifest Himself in such a way as to magnify His Grace and goodness.
Jim Wenger
(1.) The "GARBAGE PEOPLE" taken from James P. Gills, M.D. and Heartlight book, "Tender Journey"1997, Published by Love Press, Pages 491-501.
See also the following links on the Garbage People:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SP1g0Op7Mw
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May 2009
The Crows, The Grubs and The Turkey Vultures
Romans 5:3-4
“And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; (4) And patience, experience; and experience, hope: (5) And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
Now that spring seems to have grudgingly arrived, I, like most, have been forced out into the yard with the wheelbarrow, rake and shovel to clean up the aftermath of winter. I am raking up the stones and dug up sod from plowing the driveway and picking up all the fallen sticks and branches that came down under the weigh of the snow. I am also observing the grass already starting to turn green as well as eyeing the lawnmower and hoping I can squeeze out of it another season of grass cutting.
But I also noticed another problem that I had forgotten about, and that is the bare spots on my lawn from the grubs. I was reminded that I must buy and put down some grub control product that is supposed to eliminate them. But I also remembered that we did not always have a grub problem, because of certain nosy fowls that would frequently invade our lawn. Early in the morning their loud crowing would sometimes wake us up as they prowled over the grass eating every insect they could find. We have now discovered that grubs were one of the insects they were pulling out of the ground. I can remember my wife and I complaining to each other about what a noisy nuisance the crows were and wishing they would find another place to congregate and feed. I sometimes would even chase them off the lawn when I saw them walking around. Well, we got our wish with the arrival of the turkey vultures that began to settle into the trees in the lot across the street. We now know why, as they were raiding the crows’ nests in our area and eating their eggs as well as feeding on any dead carrion that was around. The last time we counted, they have grown to over thirty birds nesting in the branches of our neighbor’s tall pine and spruce threes. Instead of the squawking noisy crows, we now have the grubs and the ghastly ugly vultures staring down at us from the treetops.
This has reminded me of an important spiritual lesson. Sometimes God gives us the noise and inconvenience of the crows of life’s problems to keep under control the grubs of our sin, pride and rebellion. To keep the Apostle Paul humble and dependent upon Him, the Lord would not deliver Paul from his thorn in the flesh, which many believe was his poor eyesight.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 says, “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. (8) For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. (9) And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (10) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong”.
So has God given you the squawking crow of a difficult job, an imperfect mate, a nagging health problem that the Lord seems not willing to heal? Are you forced to resort to your knees in prayer over concerns about keeping your job, paying the bills and meeting the mortgage payment? Don’t forget these may be God’s crows that control the grubs of covetousness, the pride of self-reliance and false security that so often comes with the accumulation of wealth. We have all too often seen people yield to the sins of covetousness, pride and lust and become the vulture food of the Devil. Proverbs 16:18-19 says:
“Pride [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. (19) Better [it is to be] of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud”.
I wonder if Berney Madoff and the victims of his ponze scheme would now agree with this verse? All of his proud investors were given the exclusive privilege to reap the fortunes of his great financial wizardry. Now they have learned that the spoils they were dividing were there own and their proud wizard can no longer produce the allusions of wealth as he sits penniless in jail.
Watch out, if you don’t like the crows you may end up with the grubs and the vultures! “Count your blessings and name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done” and one of them may even be a squawking crow.
Jim Wenger
PS: These growing populations of vultures in our area also remind me of another Bible verse:
“And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; (18) That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all [men, both] free and bond, both small and great” (Revelation 19:17-18)
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The Pond, the Foundation and the Fireplace Chimney
John 14:1-3.
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. (2) In my Father's house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also”
In the town in which I am employed as a school bus driver, there is a park located along the French River. Adjacent to this park is a property that is in the process of being subdivide into housing lots with some of these lots fronting the river itself. As you walk down the access road to these lots and proceed to its end, you come across another smaller pond that sits away from the river. Overlooking this pond on a well situated hilltop is an overgrown stone fireplace chimney and foundation on which a house had never been built. The location of this would-be home is beautiful and the spot in which this foundation and chimney sits was well chosen. I could vision a quaint snug cabin setting on this foundation, with smoke lazily coming from its chimney. From its location I saw the sun shinning down upon the pond through the trees along the shore, watched the fish jumping, and heard the birds singing. I was moved to break out in a song of praise and thanksgiving to God for the beauty of His creation.
But I was also moved to marvel why this house was never built and the pretty stone fireplace never used to warm the one who had it erected. Whoever owned this land and began to build this cabin never completed it. Whatever dream he had, never came to fruition. It reminded me that life lived under the curse of the fall is often full of crushed hopes, unfulfilled dreams and unfinished projects. For some, what starts out as a dream, becomes just an unfinished, painful disappoint. It also reminded me of the words of the Apostle James:
“Go to now, ye that say, Today or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: (14) Whereas ye know not what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (15) For that ye [ought] to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that (James 4:13-15).
Psalm 75:5-7 also says:
“Lift not up your horn on high: speak [not with] a stiff neck. (6) For promotion [cometh] neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. (7) But God [is] the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another".
We must never forget, that all that we are and what we are able to accomplish in this life, is because of the gracious goodness and providence of God. Paul says to the church at Corinth:
“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which [was bestowed] upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).
If you have your proverbial cabin by the lake and the fulfillment of many of life’s aspirations, hopes and dreams, give God all the credit and thanks.
Let us also never forget that there is a promise that Jesus makes to all who believe in Him that will make the best cabin on a beautiful lake look like a hovel beside a puddle and the biggest mansion a dilapidated shack. It is a promise that will make the poorest saint and the biggest failure of life’s dreams and aspirations eternally rich, successful, prosperous, and happy beyond one’s boundless imagination. It includes an eternal mansion beyond ones wildest dreams and guaranteed royal service of none other then the King of King’s and Lord of Lord’s himself in His eternal presence. When you leave this life believing in the one who made it, you will forever forget the empty foundation and homeless hearth of life’s most bitter sorrows, disappointments and failures. No matter what your life’s accomplishments may or may not be, or the weight and magnitude of your sins, by simply believing in the one who made this promise you can make it eternally yours. Jesus said in John 14:1-6:
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. (2) In my Father's house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also. (4) And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. (5) Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? (6) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:1-6).
Jim Wenger
