The Cost of Climate Change
To be honest, the heading has little to do with this post - I wanted your attention and for you to consider what it costs to live in another country.
Every time we have moved into new accommodation, we have been confronted with different costs. For example, in our first unit we were expected to pay for a cleaning lady and the winter heating of the block's stairwell - we thought that was a bit rich as no one actually lived in the stairwell or made it dirty. We were paying for community rubbish removal in our next unit - no one had their own bin. We have huge winter heating costs in our present house. These are just a few examples of expenses which we just didn't expect to pay, but have to pay. The funniest bill we have to pay is for free radio and television - try figure that one out.
Since we live here by the generosity of Christians throughout the world, we are concerned to use our finances wisely. Obviously we have to pay our bills, but we can minimise the costs as much as we can - we shove all our spare towels between the windows to reduce winter drafts. Furthermore we have an attitude towards finding savings and long term quality, rather than spending or using something that will break quickly. I think toys fit into this category. Plus there is nothing better than being frugal - we minimise driving the car and don't buy unnecessary furniture. We're probably not very old-school compared to other missionaries when it comes to frugalness. Also DIY is long term cheaper too, so we have built our own gardens for food and continue to recycle our (own) tea bags.
By far our most outrageous bill is the winter heating. Unfortunately there is little we can do about it. One of our neighbours has started putting a layer of insulation on his house. This is by far the best way to retain heat during winter and to keep cool during summer (see this advertorial i.e. its an advert but written in a way that people will be deceived into thinking its wise opinion). So here comes one of those missionary stories...
I was chatting with my landlord this morning and mentioned how our neighbour is putting the insulation on the house. Despite identifying the age of our accommodation, the expense of winter heating, the benefit to the house, and so on, my landlord said bluntly he would never get insulation for us. Obviously it is a big cost. And he doe not expect us to be around long enough to make it worthwhile, despite showing him my shiny new permanent residency card (valid until 2022!). At the end of the day he was not paying the bills. Our concern for costs is not his concern.
Unfortunately, most Slovenes we talk to about the gospel of Jesus Christ take the same approach. My concern about God's judgment and salvation through Jesus Christ are of little concern to people who want to live their lives their own way. I suspect most people are more aware of the cost of that decision than they make out, but their minds have been made dull to the consequences.
As the end of the financial year draws closer, we continue to be thankful to our supporters. Without their generous provision, our heating bills would be the least of our concern. Without their generous provision, more people would be deaf to the real concerns of life without Jesus.
In the meantime, please enjoy our dessert-cost-cutting-measures, or in other words, our raspberries...
