Micah Challenge Prayer Friday 4 August 2006
Excerpts from Micah Challenge Youth website 'Micahmorphosis' http://micahm.gospelcom.net/blog1/archives/2006/04/07/on_giving_to_the_poor/index.php.
NYC...
Jason Fileta Jason spends his days trying to organize and network social justice minded groups on college campuses for the Micah Challenge USA. He lives in Grand Rapids Michigan. Blog from 31 March 2006 The pictures below are just a few from my trip to NYC during this last week. I got into Chicago yesterday morning, slept, ate, and saw loved ones and then drove into Grand Rapids during the night. I fell asleep at the border of Indiana and Michigan at a rest stop for almost 3 hours and had the CRAZIEST dreams I've ever had!! Finally arrived in sweet home G Rapids this morning at 5am. Yesterday I was driving into Chicago and when I got off of 290east to Western Ave. there was a homeless woman. Usually I might ignore these folks or offer up a quick prayer, but she was younger and more attractive so my natural reaction was to start looking for change. This was my first fault. She came to my window and politely asked for a favor of $1.75, I lied and told her that all I had was $.35 and gave that to her. She honestly and sincerely responded with "This is such a blessing, thank you so much!" and I replied with a simple and guilty "God bless"... Why did I lie to this woman? Why was it easier to help her because she was young and pretty? I had just spent $36 on gasoline and I couldn't muster up the selflessness to give her a buck? Needless to say I felt disgusted with myself afterwards, but it raised so many questions in my mind. Obvious questions and frustrations with human nature, but also with where I'm at in life. Because I am educated on "development" and the business of helping folks I believe that advocacy and policy change will really help the needy...but this has resulted in a relative insensitivity to the poor and needy when I encounter them on the street that is quite easily justified with "well, I'm helping them in my daily work, so they don’t' need my pennies today". All it took though was this quick display of my selfishness and overwhelming fallenness to remind me of the mercy and kindness God requires of me. 'Jesus have mercy, because it’s obvious that our wisdom is still but foolishness.' Has anyone else out there encountered a similar mindset? That of justifying coldness to the homeless, an expensive purchase, a lazy afternoon because in the "big picture" we are working full time to end poverty...I hope I'm not the only one.
On Giving to the Poor
Judy Naegeli Judy is originally from California, the daughter of a pastor and an electrical engineer. After she graduated from Seattle Pacific University in Washington, she came to Vietnam with the Mennonite Central Committee for one year to live with a host family and volunteer at a publishing house. She works as a manuscript editor and writer primarily on projects that promote cultural understanding between Vietnam and the West.
Blog from April 07, 2006 I don’t know if y’all read Jason’s last post (See “Campus Travelblog,” March 31st), but he told a story about giving change to a poor person and raised some stunning and important questions. At the end, he basically begged to be told that he was not alone in his attitude and
Micah Challenge Prayer Friday 4 August 2006
struggles. I’m here to tell you, Jason and everyone else reading this, that I too deal with the same thing. In Seattle, where I used to live, there are certain intersections that always have homeless people holding up signs asking for money. I always dreaded being caught behind a red light at one of these intersections, because I felt like these people would give me “the eye” and I would have to tell them that I had nothing to give (always a lie). I told myself I was a poor college student and that I didn’t buy coffee every day at the coffee shop. I told myself that these people just didn’t want to work for a living and that their shoes were a little bit too nice to be a beggar on the street. After all, children in Africa were running around with no shoes on every day. But even when I admitted to myself that I was being selfish and prideful, I decided that the opposite mode of thinking wasn’t necessarily the right one either. Should I give to every single beggar I see? Can I spread myself so thin even if I’m not as poor as I think I am? Maybe… In Vietnam, the situation is slightly different. First of all, there are very few beggars on the streets—surprisingly few. Secondly, when there are beggars around, they are truly, without a doubt, extremely poor. Third, I am in Vietnam as a volunteer for an organization that does development and relief projects. And so, the lies I tell myself are different. I tell myself that I’m a volunteer not making much money and that my stipend isn’t more than most people make in a month in Vietnam. I tell myself that they will probably spend any money I give them on drugs or alcohol and that those looks of hunger and suffering are totally exaggerated and fake. And, anyway, the Vietnamese people shouldn’t learn to depend on foreigners for handouts. But even when I admit that I am being selfish and prideful, I still ask the question: as a volunteer contributing in a small way (a very small way) to the development of the country, am I required to give my money as well as a huge chunk of my time? I don’t know… I do know that I’m required to do justice (treat people fairly and with dignity, not exploiting or taking advantage), love mercy (act from the heart instead of the head), and walk humbly with God (admit that He knows and I don’t), but that’s so broad. There are millions of tiny, nitpicky, loophole questions I could ask at this point about each specific circumstance I encounter—questions with answers that could justify my desire to not do as I’m told. But I have to resist the temptation. Did Jesus ask questions when he healed the sick? No, so I shouldn’t either. But I’m not Jesus—I’m a fallen sinful being, and I couldn’t be like Jesus even if I tried. So, what do I do now? I don’t know, and I don’t think I ever will.