Thoughts About Helping Others

This past year has been an amazing but challenging year.

In God's Word we are told to bear one another's burdens (Gal. 6).  The church is described as a body (Rom. 12:3-5;  1 Cor. 10:31-33, 12:12-26) and of course, we are to take care of our body.  Some of the questions that I have been wrestling with involve how the church in the United States (US) can help the church in the Dominican Republic (DR).  There are many books of this and while I have read some of them, my years in the DR have been a continual learning experience when it comes to donations from the US.  Let's take the following example:  

A Dominican church has a $200 need.  As a church, they can save and it might take them months to raise that money.  But if an American team comes, the team might hear of the need and cover it.  Let's say this happens.  A few months later, the Dominican church has another need, so what do they do?  Some in the church start saving for the need but others might say "let's find an American team that can help us with this."  And so they do and the team generously covers the need praying God for the opportunity to help their Dominican brothers and sisters.  What happens when the church has another need?  Very quickly there is the danger of the church seeking American teams for all of their needs.  If this goes on for long, the Dominican church members may forget the need to give.  

Certainly we, Americans, are blessed to have a lot of material wealth.  Many Dominicans are materially poor.  I often wrestle with these questions, "How do we, Americans, use our resources to REALLY help?  And how do we help in a way that gives God the glory?" 

To be clear, I believe that most people who donate desire to give the glory to God.  And they desire to really help, often asking us good questions to be sure that they are bringing what is really needed and giving in a way that really helps.  The challenge I see is on this end - sometimes it seems that God is forgotten when the gifts are received and a need is met.  And as my example above shows, even well intentioned gifts have a danger of teaching people to see the materially rich instead of God.  

Some of the problems are - 

First, it is so easy to think that those who more have are better than those who don't have as much.  It is easy to judge people based on what they have. Second, it is so easy to relax when we have things and trust in those things. And third, it is so easy to believe that getting "this" or "that" will make everything better.

With each problem, our view of material possessions is flawed.  There is nothing about one person that makes them more deserving of having possessions than another.  In fact much of the inequality of wealth in this world is a result of our collective sin.  Everything we have comes from God and ultimately belongs to Him.  All these "things" are temporary and cannot be trusted.  Do we really believe that "stuff" is going to solve our problems or fill our souls?  I hope not.

These problems seem to be universal problems.  I have seen them in different cultures, with the materially rich and poor.  I can even think of stories in the Bible which convey these attitudes.

This past year, Becky and I have had the privilege of walking through some very tough and uncertain times for Pastor Alex and his wife, Carol.  If you haven't kept up with this story, you may want to read the entry "Lessons in Helping Others".  The lessons I shared in that entry were powerful for me and helped me to keep my focus on God.  They are:  

Lesson 1 - Go to God and ask Him to fix the problem.

Lesson 2 - Wait on the Lord and He will tell you what to do.

Lesson 3 - God is with us when things go well and when things don't go so well.  He is worthy of our praise regardless of the circumstances.  

Thinking about this past year, a few other thoughts come to mind -

1.  We glorify God with our gifts when we seek Him, asking Him to make clear what we should give and how we should give.  He will make this known.  

2.  I believe Christians should be generous.  Acts 20:35 instructs us:  In all things I (Paul) have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" The question for me isn't "should we help?" Rather it's "how should we help?" Certainly we want to ask good questions, we don't want to blindly give.  

3.  Could it be that God wants us to walk through tough times so that we might feel our need for Him deeply and so grow closer to Him?  While it's hard to admit, it appears so.  

I don't feel that I have answers, but I think it is good to raise these questions.  We have wrestled a lot with these things in a desire to make the most of our time and resources.  We realize the trust that many place in us when they give.  We know that many gifts are given sacrificially and our desire is to use them in a way that glorifies God.

If you have any thoughts on this, I would love to hear them!

Two books that have really challenged me in the area of Giving and Helping Others are:

The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn
When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert

"Tentmaking" Pastors and Alex's Business

How does a pastor survive in a small church in a village where a majority of people in the village are unemployed?  This is easier to do when you are single or married without children but what about  a pastor who is married with children?  How can he survive?  Does he need to leave the ministry?  This question is one of many that we have had to consider if the churches in rural communities are to grow and have a sustained ministry.

What have se seen so far?  Well, pastors live like everyone else does.  They tend a garden and sell extra crops, some raise animals to sell.  Pastors take any opportunity they can find.  Some may start a business.  In the Bible we know that Paul worked as a "tentmaker" (Acts 18:3-4) and that is what is needed.  We need "tentmaking" pastors.

In Buenos Aires, Pastor Alex and Carol are "tentmaking" as well.  Until he hurt his back, Alex worked as a butcher in Buenos Aires.  Carol worked alongside him, plucking chickens and keeping the business records.  Because of his injury Alex had to close his business.  Now Alex is recuperating and he and Carol were thinking about how they will make a living as Alex continues to pastor.

A few weeks after our initial discussion, Alex shared that after much prayer, he felt he should go back to being a butcher.  Being the town butcher really helped him keep in touch with the towns people. You see, here people buy meat for the next meal or the day.  Many don't have a refrigerator with a freezer.  So instead of buying food for a few days, they buy the perishable food for that day.  As a result, people buy from the butcher whenever they have money meat. As the local butcher, Alex gets to see most everyone in the community during the week.

Now when I first heard Alex's plans, my first thought was…you are going to injure your back again!  But Alex had thought about that and planned to hire a young man to work with him.  Also, he has ordered some pulleys that will make lifting the meat much easier.

I suggested to Alex that he build his business slowly and not get into any long-term debt.  He agreed and said he would be visiting his old clients (schools) in the next week to see if they would be place orders with him again.  A week passed and he called me to say that all but one of his clients were ready to make orders.  All Alex needed was a freezer and he could start.

So we started praying that God would provide the money for a freezer and that night I received an email from someone asking if Alex had any needs.  The timing was of God and the amount being offered was more than enough for a freezer.  A few days later we were able to purchase a freezer.  The plan was made that Alex and Carol would pay back the cost of the freezer and that money would be used to help provide a loan to another who is developing a business.

This past Monday, Becky and I visited with Alex and Carol and right away Carol pulled out their business records.  She showed me all of the orders that they had in just 10 days and the profit with each order.  All we could do was praise the Lord!  Alex said to me "Ricardo, you have been buying our propane gas (for cooking) for some time now and I thank the Lord for that, but now I want to thank the Lord that I can buy the gas myself.  Glory to God!"

It has been an amazing year walking with Alex and Carol.  It hasn't been easy but we have seen God work.  The stories of God's provision are numerous.  And now we are getting to see the pieces come back together and we are stronger; our faith in God has grown.  We give the glory to God!

Escape to Paradise Island!

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a time to get away.  Schools are closed all week and most businesses and the government are closed part of the week.  Dominicans go and visit family or go to the beach.  We decided to do the same and planned an overnight with friends.

Just off the north coast is a small sand bar that is surrounded by a coral reef.  It is called Paradise Island and we were able to visit it last week.  As you can see, it's not big and hardly an island.

A total of 22 people, four missionary families from 3 different mission agencies, spent a night together at in a small hotel.  Here we are at dinner.  Ben is right in the front on the right.  Elena can't been seen well and Becky and I are on the far end of the table.

The reef is beautiful with many fish to be seen.

On the way back, our boat had a fun ride through the mangroves.

This trip reminded me of how important it is to take time away from the regular routine.  It was really good to have relaxed time with other missionaries and be able to talk about life.  Particularly at dinner, the conversation focused on how we can support one another and work together.  This was exciting and encouraging for us as we have a desire to see ministries working with one another more.