Cleanliness

Those of us who love and serve nomadic people don't like to admit to it, but we've noticed it. Others are more blunt and less avoiding of stereotypes and might just say it. Nomads, and other indigenous people (especially those recently or unwillingly settled) when measured by settlement standards, aren't very clean. Sorry, I've said it. There certainly are exceptions. Instead of pretending we don't see it, or bending our minds to excuse it I thought maybe we could talk about it.

So, imagine if your home moved regularly. Imagine that most of your waste was natural waste, food scraps etc. Basically, all of it biodegradable. When you left would it make more sense to have it all in one place or spread out? If it was useful to another creature after it wasn't to you, would you burry it or leave it? Which disposal methods would be the fastest for mother nature to clean up before you returned a year from now?

See, so often adjusting to settled life and the spread of the gospel have happened near the same time in indigenous communities. So, as they adopt different practices for waste disposal they may also be learning about Christian values. Some missionary stories even equate the two and I think this is unfair. Cleanliness may be next to godliness in western culture but it would be a mistake to judge others by our own standard. (Are our cities and homes really cleaner when we have mountains of waste piling up somewhere?)

So, the next time you see a overgrown yard, or food waste left behind in a park or an untidy home try not to let it irritate you. Let it speak to you of people who would really rather be living on the land. Don't think "who do they expect to clean up after them?" Instead remind yourself of the situation at your city tip (dump).

God's creation has serval inbuilt waste management systems that work best on a small scale.