Two worlds . . .

This post is taken from a letter our friend Curt Rhodes sent to us.  It's not from Africa, nor about Africa - but it sure could have been.  He is working with Questscope in Jordan and as always, his insight is amazing.     Two worlds. A line forms outside of a Big Box Store early on Thanksgiving morning. Doors open. People rush in, capturing good deals and pushing their way through crowds to grab boxes of stuff. Low prices entice. In the sharp early morning chill, why line up so early? “You have to be first,” says a smiling customer. “If you’re not first, you’re last.” I saw this on TV. People gather inside the biggest refugee camp in Jordan a day before the Thursday that is Thanksgiving in the US. There’s an early morning chill, but no rushing around. No boxes of stuff to grab here. In place of good deals, there are good conversations. “We are here to put the last, first,” says a smiling Syrian mentor – a professional engineer in that other life that no longer exists. “That means we put ourselves last.” I saw this in the faces of my friends. Two worlds. I know which one I would choose. What if I were a “last?” What if my child, or my grandchild, were a “last?” A no-brainer: I would want to live in a world that goes against the flow – goes against the idea that being first makes others last: somehow okay in that world.  The refugee world is terrible. But they are not. The refugee world is hopeless. But they are not. We figure out with them how to live when they have none of the stuff to live with. And often – too often – without some of those they love the most. That is the most terrible part of all. Things will get worse over the next weeks. Winter winds and rain will come. Death and devastation in the civil war in Syria will rage on. Needs will pile up. But as these things get worse over the next weeks, some things will get better. Capacity will grow as we put the last, first.  We have an additional 400 youth to mentor in that biggest refugee camp, Zaatari, starting in December – growing real strength out of apparent weakness. Two worlds. Which one would you choose? A first world, or the other world where the last can be first? I think the only one with potential for people to thrive is the second one. I think you do too. That’s why we are in this together. Curt