SYMBIOS- What's in a Name?

The Ox Pecker and the Cape Buffalo

The cape buffalo is one of Africa's largest and most fearsome animals. Even lions cannot harm an adult. Yet this beast cannot survive without a little bird called the oxpecker. This small bird removes blood sucking ticks from the ears and nose of the buffalo which is its source of food. The bird also provides an alarm system for the herd as it makes a loud hissing noise when a predator approaches. The two species live in a symbiotic relationship.

God has designed a similar relationship with the poor and the rich. We desperately need one another. The poor are "rich in faith" and the place where Christ Himself chooses to dwell. When we touch them we experience Him. The rich have an abundance of food, shelter and clothing... often too much and too much money tends to distract and steal our devotion from Christ. Like the buffalo and bird, we both have something the other needs and life happens when both are brought together. SYM - together and BIOS - life. Join me in finding life and giving life...it's not always where you think it is.

-Jim Pesce, founder and General Director, SYMBIOS

Email jimpesce@sympatico.ca