I am quickly approaching the 6oth year of my existence on this earth. My God has been gracious to me as not only has he saved me from sin but He has given me peace on so many levels.

Yet even with all that, I am confused on the way that people think, especially those with money.

Call me uneducated, (which I am not) or that I do not have any sense of art, (which I do) but I wonder how a painting by a madman (Picasso) of a woman (if you will call it that) with a elongated neck and a terrified look in her eyes, sells for millions of dollars?

If I owned such a painting I would immediately sell it , fearing the world would come to it’s senses and I would have what I believed it to be, a worthless piece of non-art.

Thousands of dollars are spent on “rare” coins because there are only a few left in the world. So what? A “rare” penny is a small amount of copper without any intrinsic value.

Recently someone purchased Babe Ruth’s Baseball uniform shirt for $4.4 million dollars. Perhaps it was washed or maybe the value is in the smell of perspiration.

What possesses the human mind to think that life would be complete with a smelly shirt even if it is the smelly shirt of a really great ball player.

 

The thing that really drives me mad is to think of all the suffering in this world and how it could be stopped if those who are spending their money on coins and shirts and the paintings of lunatics would consider all the good that they might accomplish.

Personal satisfaction that comes with helping others must far exceed the feeling of compiling valuable junk that will go to someone else when you die.

Here in Payatas we need to move as our business of bringing the Gospel to the hurting as well as feeding, clothing, teaching, inspiring, healing…it has overgrown our location as well as the landlady wants the place for her relatives.

We have discovered a place that is almost two hectares in size. It has buildings on it which can easily be converted for our use. We could realize a 2000 seat sanctuary which could also double as a feeding area. Buildings also for schools as we seek to make three levels of elementary, high school and college.

All this would cost $1.6 million dollars for the land and buildings and another $2.4 million to conform it all to our needs including a medical clinic.

All that for $4million dollars slightly less than the price of a really good baseball players smelly shirt.

It seems so silly doesn’t it?

We have been such good stewards of the tiny funds we have been given to minister to the needs of so many. Visiting our websites show over 7000 photos and almost six years of monthly diaries, carefully documenting the work God has allowed us to accomplish.

So far we have applied for grants but it seems big money supplies large organizations. Or buy smelly shirts.

We will however continue on to do the work of the Lord to the best of our ability. We will also pray that God will lay the passion of this ministry on those who might afford to help us attain to greater ministry here in Payatas.