A Walk to Beautiful

The other day I had the chance to watch an African documentary titled “A Walk to Beautiful” as part of the African Film Festival in Sydney. The documentary highlighted the difficulties millions of African girls face in childbirth due to the lack of medical services and poor practices. Many of these girls end up giving birth to still born babies after experiencing up to ten days of labour. The stress of their labour often damages their bladders subjecting them to a lifetime of incontinence and stigma. The documentary highlighted the work done at the Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia. The girls who are lucky enough to make it to the hospital stand a 93% chance of being cured after surgery. To this day, there are still one to two million women suffering from obstetric fistula.

Needless to say, I was in tears by the end of the documentary.

The constant question plaguing my mind was ‘Why? Why do these poor women have to suffer? Why do people in the west have such easy access to medical services and not Africa? Why would anyone want to perform female genital mutilation on their daughter? Why does God allow such inhuman practices in His created world? Why, Lord?’

One of the hardest things I find to reconcile is the inequality that exists in the world. I’m constantly at turmoil with the bountiful material blessings I have in my life and the awareness that, in so many parts of the world, there are people who have not only nothing but have immense suffering too. There always is a deep aching and sorrow in my heart when I watch documentaries like A Walk to Beautiful. How does one reconcile the inequalities in the world?

I often try turn to prayer, trusting that God knows what he’s doing and that he’s in control. But almost always, I don’t know how to pray. There is so much suffering in the world, so much injustice, so much brokenness, so much turmoil, if one were to pray, where and how would one even start?

I bought a jacket that cost $120 the other day. It’s a very pretty jacket. I really wanted it. I knew my conscience would come back and haunt me for buying it. A part of me knows that in and of itself the act of buying a jacket that costs $120 isn’t wrong. (The price of a jacket is relative. Compared to many other jackets, $120 is nothing. But that is a debate best left for another day). If you’ve got the money, and if you’re a good steward of it, buy the jacket. It is not wrong.

The other side of me however, struggles with the thought of the poor African person living in the other end of the world with no money. How much would my $120 have done for him?

I need to be a good steward of my material blessings. We all do. But where and how do we draw the line? Is there a “cap” to the amount a person should spend on a jacket? When is too much, too much? How many jackets should I own in the first place? Do I need so many bags? How many shoes is the “right” number? Is buying expensive jewelry wrong? What about buying many “cheap” jewelry?

I don’t know.

Every time I encounter someone else’s story of suffering I always promise myself that I will never complain again. I make a promise to use my money wisely. To only buy things that I need. To not waste. To be generous. To live simply. Unfortunately, all these promises have time and time again been broken.

There is no easy answer. When I see God in Heaven I will ask Him for answers. In all the sufferings of the world, there is only one certain hope that anyone can have – the hope of eternal life in a perfect world when Jesus comes again. The hope that is achieved through Jesus’ death on the cross.

I may not be able to make sense of the fallen world around me. But I can make sense of what is told to me in the Bible. And it is only through this hope that I can live, because without it, life really wouldn’t be worth living.

I will end this post with a passage from the Bible. This passage has helped me and many others get through this difficult journey called life.


Romans 8: 18-30

18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.