At the MCC Great Lakes gathering on Saturday, May 2, we heard a report on the work of SWAP (Sharing With Appalachian People).   A short film emphasized that while outside volunteers coming to KT give much in terms of physical labor and monetary donations, the people there have much to teach the volunteers. This quote, attributed to Phillip Yancey’s The Jesus I Never Knew seems to underscore that point.

The poor, the hungry, the mourners, and the oppressed truly are blessed. Not because of their miserable states, of course – Jesus spent much of his life trying to remedy those miseries. Rather, they are blessed because of an innate advantage they hold over those more comfortable and self-sufficient. People who are rich, successful, and beautiful may well go through life relying on their natural gifts. People who lack such natural advantages, hence underqualified for success in the kingdom of this world, just might turn to God in their time of need. Human beings do not readily admit desperation. When they do, the kingdom of heaven draws near.  (Borrowed from a daily devotional email of Plough Magazine)