According to the UN, 1 out of every 6 people on earth today lives in a slum. Yet those who intentionally relocate to these communities for the sake of Jesus’ upside-down Kingdom are humiliatingly few. At least 1 out of every 6 missionaries should be moving in to reach out to this, the world’s largest unreached people group. Instead, it is probably more like 1 in 6000 missionaries, just a handful worldwide, who will move into slums. For those called to minister amongst the urban poor, relocating into a slum is one of the best ways to become familiar with the culture and language of a community, and build mutually transformative relationships. Not to mention modelling the upside-down kingdom, as Jesus did.
However, finding your own home in a slum can be a major challenge, particularly if you don’t speak the language. That’s why this article is primarily concerned with addressing the concrete specifics of “how” to move into a slum rather than the theological and missiological question, “Why move into a slum?” So, let’s get practical.
First, a warning. In every city that God has called Servants to start an incarnational ministry team, it has been unprecedented, unexpected and, initially at least, downright strange to the local people. So, begin by asking your local friends and contacts if they know of a suitable place, but don’t be completely floored if people tell you you’re crazy – that foreigners cannot live in a slum. This is a normal and expected response, don’t be discouraged! After all, they are used to missionaries living in fancy villas and missionary compounds, not slums and squatter settlements. But isn’t it time someone modelled a different, more incarnational way?
It might be worth visiting slums where previous team members have stayed, to get an idea of what kinds of places are possible. Sometimes it will make sense to move into a slum where others have lived before to provide continuity, and perhaps an easier landing. If you can, look for something close to where other team members are currently living. This will be important to avoid being too isolated, and nearby team members can provide valuable support in crises. Not too close though – too many foreigners concentrated in one spot can overwhelm a community.
All this should be combined with some serious prayer, and lots of hours wandering around slum communities. Expect long delays and lots of sweaty, dusty disappointing days. When feeling discouraged, whistle the tune to Mission Impossible, or for a more spiritual approach, hum “God will make a way, where there seems to be no way…” and reflect on the absurdity of your situation.
Things move slowly in poor communities and are primarily relational. So find places where people hang out in the slums, perhaps coffee shops or drink stands, and sample the local food or relax over a drink. In the process you can begin to get to know people and ask them about places for rent in the area.
Here’s how it happened for me…[1]
One day I wandered into a slum community known as Victory Creek Bridge. The “creek” had long since left its victory days behind and was now just a black trickle of filthy contaminated sludge. The houses in the community were makeshift thatch or corrugated iron shacks and wooden homes on stilts over the creek and around the bridge. I struck up a conversation with a lady selling “borbor”, Cambodian rice porridge, and eventually I told her I was looking for a house to rent. “The villas that the foreigners rent are all in other parts of town,” Borbor-Lady informed me with a cheeky grin.
“I don’t need a villa, I’m just looking for something small for my wife and I to live in.”
“There are no houses here with air-conditioning,” she protested.
“No, I don’t need air-conditioning. Just something simple will be fine.”
Borbor-Lady shook her head in disbelief and motioned me behind a thatch hut. Pointing up a rickety ladder to a padlocked wooden door, three metres off the ground built into the side of a brick wall, she smiled, “That place is for rent. 25 US dollars a month.”
And so we moved into our first slum home in Victory Creek Bridge community. Borbor-Lady was our landlord. A two room shack, just tall enough to stand upright, with only one window and one door to let light in, was our castle.
Negotiating with a landlord can be quite a tricky thing, especially cross-culturally. Borbor-lady turned out to be a good landlord and we eventually became friends, but make sure you talk everything through with the landlord beforehand to avoid any nasty surprises. Who will pay for electricity, water and rubbish, and what is the rate? Be specific about exactly what you are renting – you may not be getting what you expect! We found one place for rent, a large room, that we thought was perfect. That is, until we were sitting down to sign the contract and the landlord offhandedly mentioned that they would enjoy sharing with us. “What do you mean?” I asked. “Well, we will be in this corner of the room and you will be in the other,” he said with an innocent smile. Clearly, their idea of renting the house to us was different to our own! To avoid situations like this, draw up a simple one-page contract in the local language with the help of a friend, outlining the rent and any conditions. Landlords are often willing to build extra things, such as a toilet, for an advance (e.g. 6 months rent) or extra payment, so consider negotiating this if the house needs changes.
Rent will probably range from USD$10 per month to USD$100 per month. That’s right, per month! It won’t break the bank. Whatsmore, the rent may be negotiable, particularly if the landlord is attempting to charge you above the going rate because you are a foreigner. So don’t be afraid to barter… BUT it is often worth paying a small premium in order to maintain a good relationship with a landlord who will look after you and the house well.
When you look for a place in the slum, the aim is to find somewhere that relationships with neighbours can develop naturally and easily because of daily interaction. For this reason, be careful about large gates. They may look pretty and provide extra privacy, but they may also discourage people from feeling welcome to visit you. Likewise, a second storey house will be quieter, but you may also have less visitors (particularly if the landlord living underneath appoints himself as your personal bodyguard and restricts access to everyone but the village chief). Paul and Wendy Mather, Manila slum veterans, lived in slums and squatter areas for more than 10 years with their children. As introverts, they found a mix of accessibility to people and privacy was very important: “We needed our own time when we could be away from people, but being quite private people we also needed to be somewhere where there would be lots of opportunities for social interaction.”
We advise starting at a reasonably basic level of housing and gradually making modifications/additions as you discover your own limits and boundaries. You will probably never live more simply than when you first arrive. These modifications will often reflect life changes such as marriage and children. In Servants there are young singles in their early 20’s, couples without children, families with kids, even one couple in their 60’s – all living in urban poor slum communities. Each of these phases of life brings its own challenges and concerns, and your housing in the slum will no doubt need to reflect that.
Think carefully about the language and ethnic mix of the slum, and whether these are the people you hoped to reach out to. No point slaving away on a language that is not the heart language of the majority of your community. Slums are often organized along ethnic lines so choose your neighbours strategically.
Ultimately, the house needs to be a sustainable place to live regardless of the season; hot or cold, wet or dry, windy, muggy or frosty – yes we have frosty slums! And there are no prizes for living more simply than others. Kristin Jack, Asia Coordinator says, “This is not a competition to see who can live the most simply. No comparisons please! Each person or family will have a level of simplicity that they can live and flourish at. There are no laws – only grace.” Generally speaking, walking access, rubbish disposal, noise levels, polluted air, water source, drains, etc. should be similar to other residents in the community. But check for these minimum features when choosing a house, which will help it to be a sustainable place to live:
- A door and window that close and can be screened and complete walls – i.e. some privacy
- Roof height: you should be able to stand upright
- Floor area to hold a bed per person, a lockable trunk, a closable food storage container and trunk
- A method of cool storage that fits with sustainable market routines and is similar to your neighbours (e.g a small fridge or ice box)
- Access to a safe cooking place and a safe cooking medium such as cylinder/cooker, or kerosene primus.
- Access to water and a reasonable and effective water filter arrangement
- Electricity for a light bulb and a fan (with battery option) – this may be intermittent
- Your own toilet and bathing place (or shared with a limited number of people)
- Ideally two rooms: spaces for living-sleeping-eating, if more than one person
- Dry floors and a leak-proof roof (except in occasional or annual floods)
- Walls, floor, and roof made of wood, tin/corrugated iron, cement, bricks, or tiles (ideally not bamboo sticks, thatch, plastic, cloth….) – for privacy and security reasons
- You may need to consider parking for a bicycle or motor scooter. Usually, this will be inside your front room.
There are a few common traps to watch out for. Take note of this one, it could drive you insane: beware all karaoke bars! They can make noise levels unbearable and sleep may become a thing of the past. If you are seriously considering a place with a nearby karaoke bar, at least try to spend a night or two with friends in the slum to see if it is viable. On this note, be sure to visit the house at different times of the day and night to get a feel for the place and make sure you don’t get any nasty surprises.
Living in the slum with children can be both a blessing and a challenge. It is certainly not impossible! Some in Servants have even given birth at home in the slum. There are some things to watch out for if you have kids. Check out flooding or water nearby that could be a danger. If you are visiting during the dry season, you can easily see how high the flood waters get during rainy season by examining the line showing water damage on concrete walls. Houses on stilts may need gates over the doors or on stairs to make them safe – but that’s no different from your average home in the suburbs. Remember, hygiene standards outside your home may be impossible to control, but you have a great deal of control over how clean it will be inside your own house. Lastly, if your kids are school-age, consider how far you want to live from their school – those daily commutes through crazy traffic can be a killer.
One of the motifs we use a lot in Servants is based on Jesus’ directions to his disciples when he sent them out as missionaries. He sent them out two by two, to find a third person: a “Person of Peace”. In Servants, we also try to pray and look for men and women of peace, who demonstrate the values of his kingdom: compassion, hospitality and mercy; though they may not yet know Jesus. It may just be a Person of Peace that will welcome you and open doors for you to move into a community. Or you may meet this Person of Peace after you have moved into the community. Either way, prayer and reliance on God will be the foundation of your move, and your relationships.
Kristin Jack suggests a bit of caution about throwing in your allegiance with someone, for example your landlord, who is actually disliked by much of the community, or represents a faction. You then become aligned with that faction too, like it or not, and end up starting off on the wrong foot with everyone. Sadly, that could even mean the local church, if their witness is not a good one. Some of the first people you meet may be those with good English, and they may appear to be quite charming and friendly, but somehow you need to get a feel for how the rest of the community perceives them. Prayerfully consider whether they are truly a Person of Peace as far as the rest of the community is concerned. In many places, ‘friendship’ with the foreigner can be perceived as a means to increase social status and income. Often the only way of working all this out is to spend some time in the community at a temporary location before committing to a long term one. There is no need to rush the commitment if it doesn’t feel right.
Be aware too of who the official (police, village chief, etc.) and the unofficial gate keepers are, whose permission you have to have before you can move into a community. In some places you may have to provide photocopies of passports and visas to local police when you move in. Local cultural brokers can help you find your way through all this.
Finally, it will be important that the slum community accepts your reasons for being there and that there is no significant political or religious opposition or agitation related to your presence – in other words, that you are physically safe. In India, this has been a challenge, as relocation of foreigners into slums has at times been perceived as a political move in order to agitate the “masses” for revolution. Revolution by the masses seems to really tick off the local authorities for some reason. Despite this challenge, God has always opened up a place for us to move in and brought us to men and women of peace who have helped open the way. So its wise to carefully think through how you plan to describe your reasons for living there in the slum. This may revolve around the theme of being a “learner”. For example, wanting to learn the “real” language of the people – rather than what they teach in the classroom.
Moving into a slum can be a big challenge. Paul Mather suggests that “there will always be an element of risk and vulnerability that ultimately will provide opportunities to connect with locals and also to strengthen our faith…”
You’ll need to keep a sense of humour, be willing to be a bit courageous, and ignore the naysayers. It is always a miracle when God establishes a team in a slum community. But God is faithful and the 25 year history of Servants is truly the story of God opening up the doors to one community after another.
[1] Excerpt from “The Urban Halo: a story of hope for orphans of the poor” by Craig Greenfield
[Craig Greenfield is the International Coordinator of Servants and lived with Nay and their two kids, Jayden and Micah, in three different Cambodian slums for a total of six years. They currently live in inner city Vancouver, Canada – which is a whole ‘nother ball game.]
