Rural Homestay Lessons Learned: Humility

Humility. This is something I so often long for, but pride seems to win out. A competitiveness and superiority rear their ugly head instead. This week I experienced humility like never before. I experienced it when people bowed down to meet me. I experienced it when my sisters knelt to wash my hands. I experienced it when my four-year-old niece taught me how to peel cassava with a knife. I felt so unworthy of their time and attention. Although so often I subconsciously act or think like I’m superior, I’m not. At all. I didn’t deserve the attention and respect they showed me. I experienced this the most when I went to see Joyce, who had invited me to her home to see her children. When I got there with my sister, Joyce wasn’t around. We sat there for an hour and a half with Joyce’s husband’s other wife and about 15 children. Then Joyce came, greeted us, and started cooking. Soon the children were chasing around a chicken, and I was being served soda and biscuits. It was so humbling that it actually made me sick to my stomach. It was difficult for me to take it because there were children all around who were hungry and whose clothes were threadbare. Why should I be eating my new friends biscuits and drinking her soda while the children just sat there and watched me? When was the last time they had soda and biscuits? After three and a half more hours, Joyce invited me into her little home and served us a feast. We had rice, fresh fish, and the chicken the kids had been chasing around. It brought tears to my eyes. These people valued me enough to give me their best, simply because I was their guest. I didn’t deserve it but in humility I took it. It made me wonder, “Am I willing to sacrifice my beset so others can know their value?” How dare I ever let “superiority” hold me back, when truly I am so far behind in understanding the value of people? It was a truly humbling experience to see people give of their best, knowing I far from deserve it.

This is Joyce. She came to see me just before I left!