Living in two worlds

August 9, 2008

Living in two worlds

Is it possible that two worlds can co-exist? And can we live in these two worlds at once? There are several ways to take this but the way I am thinking is living in a near third world region located in a first world or “modern” country. Soon after I moved here, I was visiting with another American. She told me, “Nancy, get ready to go on your next mission trip because that is what living here will be like. It is like living in a 3rd world or almost a 3rd world country” (she knows that I went to Ukraine on a mission trip when I was 15). The thing is, this region is located within a rich and resourceful country. Middlesbrough, England, voted worst place to live in the UK. Why am I here? I’ve asked myself that close to 100 times and the day I arrived I stared at my reflection in the mirror and said “Nancy Cheadle, what are you doing here and what did you get yourself into?”

So far, you have seen pictures of the “good” areas of the areas I have visited; the tourist areas. But what about the areas where the people live and how they live? Those I have seen but have yet to show. Recently built structures already appear old and run down due to lack of upkeep and poor craftsmanship, the sheets on my bed are worn thin and have holes in them, some of my co-workers wear the same outfit several days in a row, grocery bags must be reused, it is almost impossible to get Internet access in these parts, the hot water comes on and off in this area, and patients and people I meet ask me several times a day why in the world I would come to this part of England to work. Maybe I shouldn’t be so shocked at all this; after all, many parts of America must resemble this area as well. I suppose I have been more contemplative as of late. I think God needed to take me out of what was comfortable and familiar in order to teach me some valuable lessons that I am already learning and have yet to learn. So far, God is teaching me about humility and trusting completely and only in him, and living sufficiently rather than in over abundance. Could He have taught me these things if I was still in America? Yes. But maybe when I thought I was listening to His voice I was really hearing my own which says what I want to hear instead of what I need to hear.
The other day I experienced a popular activity in this part of Britain…Bingo. I played Bingo with a population over the age of 50 and was the topic of conversation at my table. The woman next to me immediately asked if I was a Christian. I told her yes and then she told me that she had researched and read books about Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and other world religions but that she only found truth in the Bible; yet, she told me that she still wasn’t a Christian. Through the brief times we could speak during the bingo game, I talked to her about my relationship with Christ and encouraged her to choose that day to give her life completely to Christ. Is that why I’m here? Or is it to stay late after the clinic had closed in order to help a patient who was experiencing pain in his ear due to his hearing aid and couldn’t come in during regular clinic hours? Is that why I am here? I don’t know. All I know and all I can reassure myself with is that I am where God would have me for this time of my life.
If you made it this far, I hope you are encouraged by this post to see every opportunity in your everyday goings about that God would have you minister to others in various ways. Some of my posts will be funny, but some will also be about what I am learning and struggling with. I hope I can humor your day or encourage you through my writings.
God bless.

~Nancy

(Please don’t think this is a cry for new sheets!! I don’t want everyone sending me packets of sheets :) )