So we continued driving back home. Once we entered Zhuhai downtown I saw a lot of beautiful lighting on the streets. It was pretty late already, yet there were still many people hanging out. It really was a city full of energy. I felt proud of my home country. When we reached the custom, we need to leave the car and walked over for custom check. This joyful trip was about to end. I was holding a bag of leftover and then I closed the car's door.
Suddenly, someone pull very hard on the bag of my food. My first thought: robbers! But when I turn back, I saw no one. Then I looked down. I saw a little girl, around 7~8 years old, was pulling my bag. Besided her there was a shy little boy, seemed to be her little brother. This girl spoke to me in Mandarin: Give me, give me. I didn't eat for two days already. To be exact, these was what she said:
叔叔, 給我, 給我, 我二天沒有吃東西.
This girl was a beggar I believed. Did she really eat nothing for two days!? I doubted. But watching a little kid begging for food, I felt bitter. My first reaction was to give her the food. But a defensive thinking came to my mind. If I gave her the food now, what would happen? Would other beggars rush to me for more? I couldn't handle that... So I hold on this bag for some moment, while she kept pulling for the food. At the same time I yelled to my mom if I could give this girl the food. My mother was surprise to see this situation but she immediately said yes. So I released the bag. The girl said thank you to my mother (not me) then started to run. I wanted to give the girl some money, but I hesitated for other consideration. Then she disappeared inside the crowd.
After I went back Macao, I were very unhappy for many days. I was upset although there were many modern development in mainland, some children still need to beg for food on street. I was more upset about myself. Why couldn't I just give her the food without so many second thought. Imaging a picture of a big guy fighting food with a little girl ... shame!
Now when I pray before dinning, I truly felt the mercy God had put upon me. I thanks HIM for providing me food, without the need of begging. In big dinner such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, sometimes I recall the face of that little girl.
It has been five years already. This girl should be a teenager now. I hoped her life had improved. I understand no country can eliminate all poverty. But I felt sad to see kids begging for food in the middle of a modern city downtown. I offer my prayer for a better life of ordinary people in China. I also buy some Chinese stocks hoping to help the economic and creates more jobs there.
3 comments:
i can echo that feeling. after reading the touching story, i've wanted to write some feedback for a while but i don't know what to say. also talk to another brother very recently on similar scenarios we saw in southern china, and we could not find the best way to handle it for many reasons and concerns. give the kid some spre change or some food? will even more kids come over? is there someone commanding them behind the scene? they are all valid questions but we also sound a bit selfish and self-protecting. anyway, it is an issue that affects more than just the children in china. the overall standard of living needs to be improved and not just the small group of people who catches the money train. we are talking about just meeting basic needs for everyone. that's the first step. to be frank, while the desire to help china do better is appreciated, i really doubt how much buying chinese stock and supporting chinese business will really help that kid begging for food at the corner of the street and the poor peasants in the southwestern portion of the country. it may help, in theory, by eventually creating more jobs or better paying jobs; or, it may just only make the small group of rich people even richer. i don't know. one last thing, i did't see any beggars in beijing last summer. the government probably has tighter control in the capitol to keep a nice image. or is it because beijing does better economically than southern china? May God have mercy on these people who are poor physically and spiritually, and show us, as Christians, how to be the channel of His love and grace to china.
Although I may sound cheesy, I would like to express my admiration to those visiting the Beijing orphanage. Express love and hope to them are much more important than money.
Reply 米迦: Yes that's always in my mind. Action pending though ... - S. Cafe
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