Your Global Impact

Back in the 1930s two brothers from Australia learnt how to make a difference in another nation. The Leahy brothers went to Papua New Guinea as explorers and adventurers. I learnt about the work of the Leahy’s and their impact on highland cultures when I studied anthropology in the first year of university.

The aspect of their story that stuck with me was about the value of shells in highland societies. The population of the highlands consisted of many people groups with diverse cultural beliefs and practices but the value of shells and trading in shells was something they had in common.

Shells were incredibly rare and impossible to find on the side of a mountain except through trade. Shells were dowries. Shells were power. The shells might pass through dozens of people groups through trade before reaching the heights of the mountains. With each trade, with each step further away from the coast, the shells would gain value and power.

The Leahy brothers came with a small truck and simply drove crates of shells up the mountains. It made sense to them. They could get what they needed, food and labour, easily this way. The locals were happy too. Getting the shells was easier and cheaper than before. This was a new opportunity for all involved. But of course the economy of shells and the value around it was ruined.

Nations and people groups are closer than ever before. Whenever we spend money, these seemingly small decisions are reverberating around the world. Our impact can be positive and it can be for the worse, but we will have an impact.

We can take advice from a Hebrew prophet who wrote:
“…what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

Let’s act justly. Where we can let’s pay fair prices and support fair trade and always support the freedom of those who are powerless.

Let’s love mercy. Consider how we can shift the existing imbalance by sharing some of our excess with a farmer who can’t afford heart surgery for his sick child, or by investing in microlending to encourage small businesspeople in developing nations.

Let’s walk humbly. It’s so easy to be arrogant when you’re comfortable.

What other suggestions do you have?