People in America have their minds engulfed by selfishness. They think “Oh, I need to see that new movie.” “I need a vacation to Hawaii.” “I need that new TV.” In a third world country or in any poor family it’s, “We need food for supper today.” “Can I afford a 15 minute motorcycle ride that costs about 2 dollars?”

Priorities are very different in another country or maybe even a poor family in your town. Here in America we are obsessed with looking good, fitting in, and being popular. In Africa they are just worrying about surviving, paying the shared water bill that’s about 60 cents, the rent, and rarely the electric bill.

When I lived in Africa, we had guards because we needed them to get help if someone tried to steal something from us. They were paid about 60 dollars a month with sometimes a few loans, but that was it. With that money they would get the normal dollar meal of rice and beans. When we left Africa, we gave a couple hundred dollar loan to our one guard to start a small used clothing shop. He got one load and they sold fast and soon were out. They got another load that he spent most of his money on. Unfortunately, the truck that was bringing the clothes was impounded because the majority of the other goods hadn’t had the proper paper work done. His wife has a good reliable job but now he can’t provide income for his family. Now his loan is gone. Not many people in America have that happen.

We need to set our priorities straight--the needs before the wants, the starving before the rich. If you categorized yourself into one of these two groups, rich or poor, what would you be in? How can we be content in our rich lives when there are kids starving to death because of poverty and corruption? What will your move be?