Man I'm RICH!

"I just spent three day's wages on a bag of cereal!" These thoughts cross your mind in Uganda.

First of all, I have a maid here. Four days a week, our friend and employee comes to our house and works miracles that we as spoiled Americans have no hope of accomplishing in a house with no appliances. Then, we pay her 5,000 Ugandan Shillings per day. That comes to about $3, and she is banking here because the average annual income is $365.

Second, I have enough money here to buy a government post. Now that's rich. I'm beginning to believe that if I threw down enough cash, they would hire me. This is just an untested theory at this point, but everything I have seen points to it's validity.

Third, I'm a target. My friend who was a missionary for many years in East Africa calls it "shaking the mango tree", because people will come up to you and lay out their problems, looking for you to give money to solve them. You have to be a wise investor in this culture.

Before I left, our church did a series called "How to Be Rich", and I'm grateful, because it helped me to prepare my heart and understand the responsibilities that God places on the rich. Rather than writing out everything I learned. I'll just invite you to check out the series yourself. If you're thinking "But I'm not rich," then start with week one and begin to realize how you compare to the global economy.