Our team leader encouraged us today to keep our eyes and ears open for needs among the Nigerians working with us that we may be able to meet monetarily. These are people we would consider poor- they have school bills they struggle to pay, their family members have common diseases that we would not get in America but here, if left untreated, can be fatal. I appreciate Andy's, our team leader, heart to give anonymous gifts to help specific problems without these people even direct asking. God says to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, go visit the prisoners in jail. And then I think about the church in America.
In my 25 years up until recently I can only think of a handful of times where a collection has been taking to help a need of a specific family. And why is that? I can think of two reasons. The first is that we ignore the problems around us. If we see a need we don't think it is our place to help out or maybe we are too concerned with ourselves to think about others. But in the book of Acts we read that the early church gave to everyone as they had need so that they had everything in common. I pray that the church will return to this.
Another reason I can think of why the church in America is not giving to meet specific needs of specific family in because we do not know any needy families. We separate ourselves from the poor while Jesus spent time around tax collectors (rich but hated), prostitutes, lepers, children, pharisees, Romans, sinners. Do you almost exclusively spend time around other Christians, and mainly Christians in your own church?
