They look around and here is what they view of their children:

As a loving Mother, I know what I would do if I showed up to check on my children, and this is what I discovered: Those living in a fancy house with fancy cars would be required to TRADE PLACES with their brothers and sisters. They would have six months to build their brother and sister a house and they would be required to vacation there for two weeks every year. Why? The time spent in the third-world country building the home and building the community up will leave a lasting impact on the wealthy child: they will be proud of the impact they have made on their new community, learn important lessons, and want to return and reconnect with the new friends they met along the way.

In addition, they will be required to pay all the bills for the house in advance leaving the exchange family a pre-paid credit card loaded with the past 3 months’ total of their credit card spending. Why? Because half of what they spend will more than suffice. Your marginalized brothers and sisters won’t need anywhere close to what you spend monthly. If I had to bet, they would be cautious about spending as they try to stock up on supplies to bring home for their family, friends, and neighbors because they have learned to genuinely love and respect one another through their struggle for survival.

In return, your brothers and sisters from third-world countries will be required to attend transition classes daily to learn basic life skills, to take care of themselves and your fancy home: basic health, budgeting, cooking, raising children, how to use technology, alarm systems, learn to navigate transportation, and find part-time jobs so they can leave some treasure behind for you because you have so generously opened your home and life to your brothers and sisters! They will learn how to use computers, start small businesses, navigate the internet, and take classes at community colleges on online courses that fit into the prepaid credit card budget you have left them. Just imagine, you have given someone more than hope; you have given them a foundation to build a future!

Luke 12:48 states, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” 

Now if you are open to sharing, I would be interested in knowing what your brothers and sisters living in poverty, could expect if they traded places with you (can you share a picture of where they will live? What about how much money will be on the prepaid credit card? And maybe give them an idea of what to expect in the community and an idea of what they can do as they immerse themselves in your community): they currently do not have clean water, they are hungry, there is no health care, they are without education and the basic fundamental needs that so many take for granted.

If I expect you to share then I will. Here is what my trading places sisters can expect. (And I picked mine out while I was in Ghana recently. A lovely young lady, Emanuela, and her Mother sat behind me on a bus trip. Emanuela is an aspiring author; she writes poetry and novellas. I imagine she might take some creative writing courses while living in my home in Charlotte, NC. Maybe at the University of NC, Charlotte. Or possibly at the community college depending on her and her mother’s budget for the 6 months based on my prepaid credit card balance. She might enjoy the pool, the beach, and kayaks, and probably meet many friends at social groups for young women her age and writing meetup groups.

I’m not sure about transportation. I will need to work that out before my social experiment becomes real. They won’t have licenses here. Maybe that can be part of my non-profit funding drive: Ubers for trading places. Anyway, my new friend Emanuela and her mother will live in my condo on the lake and have $8286 to spend. I will be excited to see what she writes and how they experience the United States and our people. Are we open and welcoming to them? Do they feel at home here or prefer to go back to Ghana? Are my neighbors kind to them?

Now, in return for my effort, diving back in, I expect 20% of the proceeds from all the books and revenue she will realize while I back her. So, yes, I am somewhat practical about this, I would like to show up in the end, having not been completely depleted of energy, I think. I know you all want to be generous and have a chance to rise again to collect all your pieces and find yourself, your soulmate, and your besties. I know I want to find mine. Heck, Maybe all of you are my besties!

This is all a theory I have concocted. And I have been told that I think too much. But I say, why not consider as many wild ideas as we possibly can until we all reach the highest height of what we can and will be when we reach the fullness of our PROMISED LAND, which has been PROMISED to EACH AND EVERY CHILD?

I am confident we should make a great plan where we do not lose a single one of us! Who’s in?