“The Abundant Life”

By Sherry Girguis
From September 2005 issue of St. John Magazine

Upon our arrival to Kenya, though it was not my first time being there, I was still struck by the immense poverty of the people around me. How sad and depressing, I thought to myself, as I breathed a sigh of relief thinking of my comfortable life back home that I would return to in six months. I gazed at the children in the streets and shook my head in sadness when I noticed their torn dresses and shirts, and their poor little feet that weren’t protected by shoes. How awful, I assumed, when I saw the people in the village having to walk miles upon miles to work. I mentally thanked God for our two cars at home as we drove past those pedestrians. Where are You, God? I silently asked. Before I could contemplate any further, I felt as if God had answered me by giving me new eyes. What makes you think that My blessings are only money and material possessions? He answered.

Embarrassed at this Divine response, I looked around me, and for the months to come, I came to gain a new perspective on the meaning of blessing in life- one that I hope will last me a lifetime. I looked back at the kids, and saw that they were as happy as could be, playing with their soccer balls made of trash. They seemed much happier than kids at home who got bored of their new toys within minutes. I looked at the joy in the songs and dance of the villagers when it had rained for the first time this season, as they were thanking God for providing water for the crops. I saw the smiles on people’s faces as they walked alongside their friends on their way to work. Christ was redirecting my eyes to see past the poverty in order to realize that where He is present, there is abundance of life. In John 10:10, when Christ says, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly”, He clearly did not mean an abundance of material wealth.

One Tuesday afternoon, one of the congregation members invited us up to her home, which was a small shack in the mountains. It took us about half an hour of serious hiking to get to her house. I was shocked as I realized that she had to walk this way seven days a week to get to work, and when she got home, she had to cook for her two kids, the two kids of her sister who passed away, and her husband. Upon arrival to her home (after all of us caught our breath!), she began to tell us the story of how God was able to change her husband’s heart. “I praise God”, she said, “because He changed my husband and my life is so much better now”. She told us details of how her husband used to drink and beat her and how he wouldn’t even let her leave the house sometimes. She said that the beatings would get so severe, that she often feared for her life. After hearing the story, the priest of her church, Fr. Elisha, would climb the mountain and visit the woman’s husband everyday while she kept praying with tears and faith. Now, she says, life is great. Her husband agreed to be baptized in the church and the two pray together every Sunday even despite negative pressure from the husband’s old friends.

Talking more, we discovered that this woman was the head of the church choir, was an active member of the woman’s group, had a job in the church monastery, and had plenty of friends close to her home in mountains- all whom she had us visit while we were there. After spending the whole evening with her, I realized that this woman was genuinely happy. She didn’t complain about her hike to and from work, she didn’t complain about having to wear the same clothes every day, she didn’t complain about having just enough to provide for her children each day, and she didn’t complain of being bored. In fact, she invited us to stay several days with her in her home in the mountains, promising that it would be “three days of blessing”. After having tea and bananas, she walked us down the mountain and it was around sunset. Within seconds, all of us looked up and gasped at the gorgeous view in front of us. “Do you know how much one of these views would cost in America?!?” I asked rhetorically. The breathtaking sunset and view of the whole countryside was priceless. I want to live here! I thought to myself after my eyes had finally seen past the material poverty.

On our way down the mountain, as if I had just been enlightened, I realized what “abundant life” meant. It simply means making God the Lord of your life and trusting that He will provide for all of your needs. Another verse that came to mind is in John 15:5: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” I came to the realization that there are thousands of people in America who have an abundance of material wealth but are not living the abundant life that Christ promised because He is not part of their life. Many people are depressed, not satisfied, and seeking more. Likewise, one could also look at the poor in Africa who do not have Christ in their life and see the same symptoms. Though the woman we visited did not have material wealth, her life was abundant and her joy was made full. The same can be said with people who do have a great deal of material wealth and put God first in their life, first before their money and their possessions. The common factor that brings people the abundant life that God promises does not depend on what kind of career one pursues, how much they make, or how many possessions they own. On the contrary, the one thing needed is Christ Himself. After that day, I prayed that God would help me find abundance in my own life that has nothing to do with material possessions so that whether I’d be in Africa or in the luxuries of America, my source of joy and riches would be solely in Christ.

I came to the realization that it is hard when we have so many possessions, to depend solely on Christ for our joy and peace like the people of Kenya. That is why I feel like Christ tells us to sell all that we have and give to the poor (Luke 18:22) and in the following passage explains how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God. It is not because God does not want us to be blessed with material riches, nor does he dislike rich people. However, God is warning us that it is difficult to walk along the narrow path that leads to Him if we have material possessions, ungodly relationships and earthly desires that we carry with us through life. Through the simplicity of the Kenyan people, I was able to see and experience what it means to have so little yet feel rich at the same time. When we empty our lives of the things that make us so comfortable, we open the door for God to be our sole provider and comforter. And this, I learned, is the abundant life.