The following is an article I read by Allen Webster regarding his thoughts as he returned home from a missionary journey from Tanzania.  It is something we should consider in our day to day life!

            Though Americans and Tanzanians live on the same planet, they live in different worlds.  In so many ways we a hundred years ahead of them – medically, techno locally, educationally and materially.  We would not even consider trading places with them.  In areas like transportation, food preparation, hygiene, farming and entertainment, their lifestyle does not even register on the same scale with the American way of life.  For these reasons we feel sympathy for them.

            But in other ways, they still have what we left behind.  They seem to enjoy life a lot more than most Americans (cf. Prov.17:22).  They still have time for Bible classes and preaching (1Cor.1:18).  They have large families with plenty of children playing all around.  They still enjoy the simple pleasures we gave up long ago.  They aren’t rushed and have time to “stop and smell the roses.”  For these reasons we find ourselves a little envious.

So, who has the “good life?” You decide…

n      They worry about getting enough vitamins and protein in their diet; we worry about getting too much cholesterol and fat.

n      They wear their clothes out because they wash them on a rock; we throw ours out because they are last year’s fashion (cf. Prov. 18:9).

n      They worry about chasing rats away; we worry about winning the rat race (Mark 6:31).

n      They live in mud huts because they can not afford better houses; we live in houses that we can not afford (Luke 12:15).

n      They are poor and humble; we are rich and proud (Rev.3:17).

n      They die at forty because of disease and poor medicine; we die at fifty with heart attacks and lung cancer (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

n      Their women never wear pants in public (only dresses); ours hardly wear anything at all. (1Tim.2:9).

n      They bathe naked (nearly) in a river for lack of indoor pluming; we have it and (sun) bathe naked (nearly) on a beach (1Tim.2:9; Matt.5:28; Rom. 14:13).

n      They are glad to have any clothes without holes; we won’t wear clothes unless they have the right name on them (1Tim.2:9).

n      Their children are poorly dressed but sit quietly through two hour services; ours are immaculately clothed but get a drink of water every ten minutes and won’t behave (Eph.6:1)

n      We’ve wiped out malaria and typhoid; they are not bothered with hypertension and cancer.

n      They worry about malnutrition, undernourishment and starvation; we worry about anorexia, obesity, and bulimia.

n      They are poor and satisfied; we are rich and discontented (1Tim.6:6).

n      They have little and want little; we have a lot and want more (1Tim.6:7-8).

n      They ask for an extra preaching service each night; we complain if the preacher foes over five minutes (Matt.5:6).

n      They know nothing of TVs and VCRs; then again, they know nothing of dirty movies and seven wasted hours a day (Matt.5:8; Eph. 5:16).

n      They do not have telephones; but they don’t have telemarketers , either.

n      Their pace is slow, but they have time to talk after worship; ours is fast, but we have little time for each other (1Cor.11:33; Heb.10:24).

n      They have no cars so they walk everywhere; we drive everywhere and then walk for exercise.

n      Their men marry seven wives at a time; ours marry seven wives – one after the other (Matt.19:9).

n      They live in misery and long for heaven; we live in luxury and doubt the afterlife (Rev.22:20; Matt.25:46).

n      Their children play with homemade toys for hour; ours tire of electronic games ten minutes after opening them.

n      They are poor, and steal; we are rich, and covetous (Eph.4:28; Col.3:5).                       (continued on back)

n      They believe in superstition and witchcraft; we have motels with no thirteenth floors and read our horoscopes each morning (Gal. 5:19-20)

n      They live in mud huts with no doors, but are unafraid; we live in mansions with alarms and fear for our lives.

n      They have no Bibles but beg for them; we have several that we rarely open (Acts 17:11).