We're going on a 2 week visit to the Asha project, which works with slum dwellers to help them improve their living conditions and gain better access to basic facilities.
We're going with Tearfund - a UK-based Christian relief and development charity - as part of one of their "Transform" teams.
Despite the name, we're not primarily going in order to "transform" India, Delhi, or even the slum that we'll be working in. Most of our duties will be fairly menial and could quite easily be carried out by local residents rather than by Europeans (and one South African) who've flown half way across the world in order to be there!
The main reason we're going is in the hope that we will be "transformed" by the experience.
I've called this blog "searching for treasure" in homage to some of the comments Jesus made comparing treasure on earth with treasure in heaven. Here's a brief selection:
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."
- Matthew chapter 13 verse 44
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
- Matthew 6 verses 19 to 21
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
- Luke 12 verses 32 to 34
When Jesus talks about "treasure in heaven", does he mean that we should give up being materialistic in this life, so that we can be showered with gold and possessions and be as materialistic as we like in the life to come? - I don't think so! I think Jesus is calling for a change of heart that begins to appreciate what true riches really are - riches that will last, both in this life in spite of our circumstances, and on into the life to come. He's looking for people who are rich inwardly - who really appreciate what life and love are all about - rather than people who are rich outwardly - who live on the surface and only for themselves!
That last verse I find particularly challenging - "Sell your possessions and give to the poor" - not a command that very many of Jesus' disciples - certainly not this one - seem to take very literally! "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also". Where is my heart? Is it with Jesus? With the destitute and dying and all those, rich or poor, who he cares so much about? Or is it locked away in my own selfish little bubble? - worrying about my riches, my comfort, my well-being - hedging and protecting what's mine in a needy greedy world?
What would happen if I really did sell my possessions and give everything to the poor? Did Jesus expect all of his followers to do this? The evidence seems to be that not all of them did and certainly most of them don't now! What does Jesus require of me? What does my heart require of me? How will I respond to the poverty I see in Delhi?
I believe that treasure can be found in unlikely places - amid the poverty and squalor in the Delhi slums for example! I expect to find people who have nothing, but are richer than me, as well as those who use their worldly "treasure" - their time and resources - to store up for themselves treasures in heaven - to "gain friends for [them]selves, so that when it is gone, [they] will be welcomed into eternal dwellings" (Luke 16 verse 9).
Maybe it might kick me out of my apathy and encourage me to start taking Jesus a little more seriously - and maybe I might become a little richer as a result!
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