Few
days ago, I was reading a book “When Helping Hurts; How to Alleviate
Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself” by Brain Fikkert and Steve
Corbett. I thought it would be good if I wrote down some piece of writing.
This writing however has nothing to do with what the author says in the
book. This is in regard to the development workers that we see in our
communities, particularly in Christian I/NGOs. I think we all need
to see this from scratch.
I know
a couple of friends in the West who help in third world countries for the
development projects in order to alleviate poverty, to empower the people in the
poor communities , to improve their economy or in different fields as
well. What I want to highlight is that we workers here have failed to realize
the empathy, emotions and heart bits of those who render us the task into our
hands. As I am writing this note, I ask myself this question, “How honest
have I been in my work?” Have I been genuine on how I am
spending/allocating the resources that old mama had donated for the poor
people? I think God is aware of it and we cannot hide the fact. How do we utilize
the gift which some people have donated out of their heart, even sacrificing
their food, doing overtime work that they would have something to share with
others.
A
couple of years ago, I was working in a Christian school in New Delhi. This is
what the school principal told me when she visited Australia. She met one of
the ladies in the church who used to sweep the church floor every Sunday
morning. One fine morning, she came and asked the principal if she could
share with her about the school in Delhi. Her tears was rolling down as she was listening to
the principal and, with a delightful heart she prayed along with the principal.
She used to earn the very minimum that was just enough for her survival.
However she had saved $50 to donate for the school work. In fact that $50 was
not easy to earn. She had to clean dishes, clean the floor, and sacrifice her
comfort zone and all. Nevertheless, she put complete trust in God and in us
that her donations will go to the right place and to the right people.
What
makes me wonder is that we people (may) have missed the mark and, even try to
brag and struggle to adjust to a low level life-style while we work for
marginalized groups and needy communities? Staff facilities, therefore just
turn out to be a snare that causes us to get off the track. People raise funds
for us, working day and night, spending their energy and all. But when the
funds arrive here, how do we use the funds given by the poor lady in the west?
Perhaps her heart would cry if we used it for our comforts in the name of
working for the poor. I heard somewhere that the prosperous lifestyle is only
possible because of the poverty of the world. There is a link between
prosperity and poverty. We may argue with these views but fact is fact and
it will not be altered by our debates and discussions.
Two
days ago, one of the missionary expats came to my house for dinner. After
dinner she asked me if I could look onto her bus-ticket and check the departure
time of her bus. I was surprised to see that she took a bus which is not at all
easy for an overnight journey. She was old enough to take Nepalguj-Kathmandu
flights. I think she could have had the money as well. But she liked to travel
on the bus. I am just giving an illustration which we may grasp easily.
Sometimes, there are an options that need to be prioritized by doing things
through a conscious heart, rather than a conscious mind alone.
Dr. C. B. Samuel was talking during the
first plenary talk at Micah Network’s triennial Global Consultation in September
2012 in Switzerland. “…when a young person comes for an interview in Christian
organization, he is very clear that he will not work for the poor if you do not pay him per month
salary which a poor family earns in two years.”[1] The
bible is very clear your life style is part of injustice. I think
we need to listen the complete audio sermon to get the overall picture of how
C.B interprets about the God of Justice from the book of Amos. The question
remains the same. Am I being an example of what the God of the bible tell me to
be?
1 comment:
It is very useful and most present era to be talked about. I've reallt been blessed through this this article. I wish u to keep on write such article which will sensatise to people who are missusing the donation given by many ladies like the lady who used to sweep the church.
Post a Comment