A kind-hearted friend thought out loud, “How can I justify spending $2000 to visit India for two weeks to help with aid projects when I could send that money to a missionary friend there who could live off it for a year?”
Good question. It’s a question that captures many of the challenging decisions that must be made when want to help others. It can even be a little paralysing and depressing to think about. But it’s worth it.
How can we best use our excess?
$2000 dollars could:
- fund a new hobby like scuba diving that we’ve always dreamed of;
- take our family on a well-needed holiday;
- dig a well for clean water for a village in a developing nation;
- support four orphans for a year;
- fund a trip where you see projects, encourage locals, and come back inspiring others to give and go;
- buy about 500 happy meals (can’t buy happiness though)
I’m still working on a great answer. But here are some thoughts so far.
Remember the purpose of your heart, that God-given desire to help and put others before yourself.
If you are led by need it could do your head in (or make you a hero like Mother Teresa?). I try to pray about financial decisions and be led by God.
In Ecclesiastes, a Hebrew book of wisdom, it says, “There’s a time for everything under the sun.” As long as money is not your god then it’s just money, it comes and it goes.
What are your thoughts about how we can best use our excess?
I have a friend who, when his trip to India was cancelled because it was a dangerous time to travel, bought his girlfriend an engagement ring with his savings. Years later he took a team of teachers to a slum in India to help train the teachers there - that trip completely transformed the way the teachers taught and disciplined and those teachers were so thankful. Then they came back and inspired the students and school families to give even more. Money is powerful, but love is more powerful.
ReplyDeleteok, it was my husband! love you babe:)
ReplyDeleteBut a simple question. Would you have still have married him without a ring?
ReplyDeleteOh, and I bet that ring had a diamond on it, don't get me started about diamonds.
I am kidding. The story, and sentiment are lovely. But everyday when we spend our money we are making decisions, value judgements, compromises on how we interact with those around us, and how we respond, or don't respond, to the inequity in the word.
I am not sure there are any right answers, but perhaps simply being aware that we are making these choices is the "right" thing to do.
Thanks to both of you for the blog.
Actually Sarah and Mark were before their time with an ethical engagement ring! Wish I'd thought about it more when I was younger. I think getting young people to go overseas (or interstate - our aboriginal culture is as different from western culture than you can get) and see other people would help make them less self-focused and more passionate about justice (love in action).
ReplyDeleteI think when we were younger we didn't know anything about anything, but we happened to get a sapphire instead of a diamond.
ReplyDeleteI think this blog is really about living from the heart and about encouraging each other to good works. You just don't know the value of something that you give or say or do, each act can't really be compared. What is valuable to one person isn't valuable to another. But when you live with love, and selflessness, as a number one priority - then the answers you provide will be valuable to that problem or person. Not saying that we're there, its just the beginning of the journey for us.
I have heard the argument (if you can call it an argument!) quite a lot that it is much better and worthwhile if you just send the money to where you would like to go on a short term missions trip. Its not that i don't see value in this - but i know personally that my whole perspective on missions/giving money to missions changed once my eyes had actually been exposed to how people in India lived. My missions giving went to a whole other level once I had gone. Also made me so much more aware of the needs - i can't see and then do nothing!!
ReplyDelete