Money, Mercy, and a Mission

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.  James 1:27

I don’t know the timing of this event but a mission agency called Compassion Corps had a team volunteering in a village in Africa that had had a bumper crop of grain. In a conversation with a volunteer the leader of the village  talked about not knowing what to do with the extra. The volunteer told him the story of Joseph and the seven years of abundance and how he stored up the grain for the seven years of famine that God had warned him was coming. (Genesis 41:29-30) The man heard the story and responded by storing the leftover grain.

The next year their crop failed but the village had grain when others did not. Someone from another village went and asked the leader why they had grain. He told them that the Christian God had told him to store the grain from the previous year.

I was astounded that this African villager would give credit to God – exactly where it was due – rather than to the man who had told him the story. It made me realize the truth of Isaiah 55:10-11,  “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

God prepared this village to hear the Gospel by first teaching them that His Word is true. A Christian willing to spend some time and share the truth of the scriptures was able to change a village, there is a Christian church there now.

One of the hardest things about being a Christian (for me) is knowing how to spend my time and money. Every time I read Luke 6:30 which says, “Give to everyone who begs from you,” my  heart drops to my stomach. I definitely do not give to everyone who asks me to give to them. I would have nothing if I did.

As I have looked to see what the commentators say this verse means, they disagree. Matthew Henry says it implies that we must give to those who “need” and others say it means we always give so that we do not deny someone in need by being unwilling to give to someone of whose needs we are uncertain. Others say we only need to obey this command without question in the household of faith. I am left with my questions.

My new policy on giving is to not give the minute I am asked but to pray and ask God how He wants me to spend the money we have to give as it is limited and I want to give wisely. I have been praying since Saturday when I heard the presentation about Compassion Corp at a speaking engagement in Wallingford, PA. The Bible Fellowship Church there supports “Compassion Corps” and had invited them to come to the women’s retreat and give an update.

They have a compassionate ministry to places in Morocco, Liberia, and Uganda. They are attempting to support orphanages and schools in these places where there is little education or means of making a living. Another goal, as I understand it, is to help people (especially women) have sustainable ways to generate income.

I was encouraged that Compassion Corps is looking for ways for the people of the villages they visit to sustain themselves when they are gone. They go, they teach practical skills, they try to support the educational system that already exists so children can grow up more educated than their parents, and they visit the orphan and the widows in an attempt to encourage, build up, and share the love of Christ.

Because I did not grow up in a Bible believing church, I find the concept of missions difficult to understand in the way that we often operate in foreign countries. I have paid attention and tried to understand the message and how it is received. We seem to throw a lot of money at projects and buildings and call it “missions”. Our missionaries share the gospel but admit that the most fruit comes when the local people do the sharing.

I will have to work out all of my questions about missions with the Lord. In the meantime, I am impressed with an agency that works to relieve the suffering of orphans and widows, not temporarily, but in an effort to help the nationals they serve sustain themselves in the long run.

You can check them out here:  http://www.compassion-corps.com/  I had to go there to see where to send my donation.