Euro, dollar, pound, yen, shilling, quetzal, centime, rupee, peso... these are all different kinds of world currency I have encountered. Without money I would not be able to buy food or travel places. In the Philippines, I use the peso and centavo (Cents). One, five and ten pesos are coins. 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 pesos are bills. A 200 exists but is not easy to come by. I don’t want this to be a lesson on money in the Philippines (you can Google about that), I want to share about the poverty that I face and tend to breeze right by.
I have been in the Philippines for 2 month….crazy to think about really. One of the first things I did (even before I recovered from jet lag) was exchange my US dollars for pesos. I got 44.45 pesos for one US dollar. At the beginning, each time I spent my pesos, I struggled to understand it. For example, when they said it was 88 pesos for that drink and sandwich, I was paying 2 US dollars for that meal.
The other day my roommate and I took the wrong Jeepney (a form of Public transportation here). So we had to get off, change routes, re-pay for a new Jeepney to get us back on track, and take a third one to school. In the end we spent 20 more pesos than usual to get to work that day. In the states, taking the wrong bus or subway meant spending 2 or 3 more dollars. Here, we did not even spend one US dollar for three public rides. Another example, I got a pedicure and spent 300 pesos (including the tip) so I spent less than $7 in US money. This whole currency exchange really just blows my mind.
Think about it…. I probably spend about 1,800 pesos in a week. Someone in the US could spend that much money eating out or going on a date. As I think about what we use money for, I realize money can be very powerful. It meets many pressing needs and many people desperately need more. Learning to budget here has made me think a lot about my daily needs. God says in the Lord’s Prayer “Give us this day our daily bread.” How much do I really rely on this promise that His provision will be enough? I do not want to let money become an idol. I don't want to worry about needing more in my daily life. Trust me, moving half way around the world forced me to totally take this verse to heart now. I still struggle but being here has truly opened my eyes to how much we over price everything and make money more important than it really should be.