Just One

Sometimes, when we look at poverty, we can feel nothing but the overwhelming largeness of it all. We cannot wrap our minds -or our arms- around it. We hear statistics like 660 million people living without adequate sanitation... and that they live on less than two dollars a day. We are slammed with a barrage of images: children with flies on their faces, men digging through garbage, and women selling themselves just to put food on the table. If we have a heart to begin with, it is broken.

And so we have a choice: do we spend ourselves entirely, giving of our time and money in a desperate effort to fill the bellies of the world, or do we close ourselves off in bitterness and disenchantment? Because if we do give of our money, sending it in via the number on the screen or the offering plate, how do we know that it ever does any good?

Here is my proposal: give, and give, and give some more. To one person. Invest yourself in poverty you can see- and become a part of their world. I do not mean to say you should quit tithing, or even give up the child you a currently supporting in the Philippines. On the contrary, give to someone you see every day, and begin to understand poverty by making it a part of your world.

While the giving of financial support can make a change in certain circumstances, the value of true, deep and lasting relationship cannot be denied. For example, there is a church here in Chattanooga who has, for the past 5 years, invested heavily in a homeless woman who came to the church for help. I should correct myself -she was homeless. This woman had drug problems. She was vulnerable, wild, and capable of harm. She was unlovable. But she was loved. Several individuals from the congregation made her a part of their lives- and they a part of hers. Countless hours were poured into phone conversations, doctor appointments, counseling, coaching, feeding... you name it. After years of this, the woman changed. Slowly. But surely. She has now been picking up others for church- those who are homeless, helpless, and in a world of trouble. She has come to every church event for years, and attends church regularly, and with a joy and excitement that is contagious. She even got a place of her own to live as well as a job.

But you know what is the greatest part of all? This woman, Kim Davis, became a valuable member of her congregation- someone needed and loved! Kim passed away this week. And she is mourned and will be very much missed. When she left this world, she left as someone who was a part of a community. She was a contributor, a leader, a servant, and a true believer in Jesus, her savior.

So try it- just one person. Be Christ to them, and give, and give, and give some more. The Lord may just bless you with a Kim.