One of the burning questions as we started to consider partnering in ministry with Pastor Chandra and Nathaniel was the primary question of what needs to be done. We knew that the girls they care for don't have much - they are materially poor. We knew that we wanted to do what we could to alleviate that poverty. This was the impetus of our desire to send financial assistance to help with the girls needs. (See my prior post, Getting To Know You.) After a while, we began to fear that just sending money would make us the "bank," and that wasn't our purpose.
A wise friend of mine who pastors a church in a nearby community recommended I read a book that addresses many of the problems faced by Americans who wish to engage in this kind of ministry: When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor...and Yourself (by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert). This book was shocking to me, and I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone interested in anti-poverty efforts. The thought that money wouldn't cure all of their problems was obvious to me, but that it might create additional problems was new. The second chapter deals with establishing the problem of poverty. The author describes efforts of the World Bank after WWII to pump financial resources into impoverished areas to elevate the poor. After decades of varied but disappointing results, they sponsored a survey in the 1990's to determine why. They asked the poor what it means to be impoverished. Here are some of the responses:
- For a poor person everything is terrible - illness, humiliation, shame. We are cripples; we are afraid of everything; we depend on everyone. No one needs us. We are like garbage that everyone wants to get rid of (Moldova)
- When I don't have any [food to bring my family], I borrow, mainly from neighbors and friends. I feel ashamed standing before my children when I have nothing to help feed the family. I'm not well when I'm unemployed. It's terrible. (Guinea-Bissau)
- When one is poor, she has no say in public, she feels inferior. She has no food, so there is famine in her house; no clothing, and no progress in her family. (Uganda)
- If you are hungry, you will always be hungry; if you are poor you will always be poor. (Vietnam)
The author continues making the point that "while poor people mention having a lack of material things, they tend to describe their condition in far more psychological and social terms than our North American audiences. Poor people typically talk in terms of shame, inferiority, powerlessness, humiliation, fear, hopelessness, depression, social isolation, and voicelessness."
I mentioned before in a post that when I first Skyped with Pastor Chandra and Manjula that I left with feeling scandalously wealthy. I concluded from this that what they needed most was money. We felt led after a time to begin sending them a monthly amount to support them in their life and ministry. This did not have the effect of bringing us closer, at least not like I expected it would. The misunderstanding was mine entirely. After reading the book, I began to view the relationship in different terms. It was no longer giver and recipient, but partners in ministry. I realized as well that they had many things to teach me, and this shift would change my relationship with Christ completely. I also realized that our friends don't have many material possessions, but they were not powerless, hopeless, inferior, fearful, depressed or voiceless. I envied their wealth in this way.
When we speak to them and ask them what they want, they say "Keep pray for us, and come to India to help us." They don't ask for more money, and in their effort to stay accountable to what they receive they send us monthly receipts. More than anything else, they desire energy and strength for their travels, as they take the Message to remote villages. These are not impoverished people. They have yielded their lives for the benefit of those around them to honor Christ, and they have a joy and an urgency that I have never before encountered!
There is a philosophy that is growing in our society that all religions contain equal portions of truth, and that faithful adherents to any of them would be rewarded in the end for their faithfulness. In this line of thinking, someone who would take the Gospel of Christ to someone living in a place where Christians are in danger is doing them a great disservice. Better that they be good Muslims or Hindus than become Christians and be disowned by their families, tortured, imprisoned or killed for apostasy. On this topic, allow Pastor and Manjula to weigh in on whether or not Christ is worth the risks. They heard Jesus say "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life - no one comes to the Father except by me" and "go, therefore, into all the world and make disciples of all nations." They moved into the slum area of Bangalore where they live by choice, passing up the opportunity to live more comfortable lives. They were jailed a few years ago by radical Hindus for preaching Christ to the poor. The people to whom they minister hold any manner of other world views. When they hear the Gospel, they say, "please come back - we want to hear more!" It is powerful testimony to hear the joy in the voices of those who are risking it all for Christ.
There is a philosophy that is growing in our society that all religions contain equal portions of truth, and that faithful adherents to any of them would be rewarded in the end for their faithfulness. In this line of thinking, someone who would take the Gospel of Christ to someone living in a place where Christians are in danger is doing them a great disservice. Better that they be good Muslims or Hindus than become Christians and be disowned by their families, tortured, imprisoned or killed for apostasy. On this topic, allow Pastor and Manjula to weigh in on whether or not Christ is worth the risks. They heard Jesus say "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life - no one comes to the Father except by me" and "go, therefore, into all the world and make disciples of all nations." They moved into the slum area of Bangalore where they live by choice, passing up the opportunity to live more comfortable lives. They were jailed a few years ago by radical Hindus for preaching Christ to the poor. The people to whom they minister hold any manner of other world views. When they hear the Gospel, they say, "please come back - we want to hear more!" It is powerful testimony to hear the joy in the voices of those who are risking it all for Christ.
This summer has been such a transformational time in my life with Christ. Pastor Chandra, Manjula and Nathaniel have given me a higher view of God, and this has encouraged me immensely. I am also humbled and thankful to have been appointed to this task, to support them, pray for them and participate with them in their effort of making Christ known to all nations. As I look back over the months of talking, reading, praying and thinking, I can see His hand at work.
Grace,
Todd
Grace,
Todd
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