Mennonite Weekly Review

The beautiful South African film Yesterday reminds watchers how little separates any of us in the world. Yesterday, the protagonist, works a small plot of earth and adoringly cares for her young daughter.

Yet Yesterday barely has the strength to plant after she contracts HIV from her husband, a miner for whom the stress of being away from home is great. Yesterday struggles to live long enough to see her daughter begin school.

Many real-life families are in Yesterday’s situation. They differ from North American families only in the coincidence of their births.

In recent months many of those North Americans have seen hardship. They have lost their jobs, hours at work or investment value.

It is understandable for such families to hunker down and focus on their own needs. It is also understandable for families who are more fortunate to keep what they have for hard times that may yet touch them.

Yet such reactions do not fit our calling as Christians. Indeed, many churches in places such as Elkhart County — which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation — are sharing resources to meet needs among them.

While such mutual aid is an example for us all, we should not forget others who are suffering more than we are. The poor in many parts of the world have even less than many of the poorest families in the United States.

Mennonite Central Committee and other Christian relief organizations have been forced to cut their budgets. As a result, their international partners will have fewer resources to alleviate poverty and hunger.

As we begin the season of Lent, we ponder what it means to walk with Jesus through the wilderness. We are not being tempted to turn stones into bread. Instead, we are tempted to use credit cards to spend money we don’t have on digital televisions and new cars.

While we seek to avoid the temptations of our times, we also ask how much we must sacrifice to faithfully respond to Paul’s injunction in 2 Corinthians 8 to supply others’ needs from our relative plenty.