The Blessedness of Dependence (Jason)

Claudinho washes cars at a Volkswagen dealership by day and at night he takes a class to prepare himself to enlist in the military as an officer.  Adilio is in seminary, studies English and French, and is involved with his church.  Paulo works and is heavily involved in Sombra Road House activities.  Anderson currently lives at the rehabilitation center and visits every other weekend.  I look at the lives of these guys and see how they rely on others.  If Sombra Road left Rio tomorrow, the bottom would fall out for these four guys.  Anderson, no doubt, would feel the affects most poignantly.  He would return immediately to the streets as his only living relatives are homeless.  All four of these guys’ lives are built on dependence, especially Anderson.  

The natural human tendency is to move away from dependence toward self-sufficiency. Financially speaking, this is the American dream.  Our golden parachute can become a twisted fiber noose suffocating our ability to trust that it is God who provides.  Kristin and I are just as prone as any to trust in our own means.  In fact, I feel my attempts at self-sufficiency pressing in on me daily like a runner in the Peachtree Road Race caught in a massive wave of athletes.  However, Kristin and I consider it a blessing to live in dependence upon your support.  It is one more area in our lives where we can see God’s sovereignty in action.      

Anderson, whether he feels it or not, depends on Sombra Road.  He depends on Jeremy, Carol, Kristin and I being there for him on the weekends when he comes home.  He depends on Tom Carson back in Atlanta to help steer the ministry and to give counsel to Jeremy and I.  Like us, Anderson also depends upon you, our supporters, who give faithfully supporting this whole system.

Thank you.