Why go to another country to help people when there is so much need right here?
Everywhere you look, there is need... The recent hail storm left families in need right here in our city. Violence and poverty just across our border leaves people in need constantly. Poor choices made by fathers and mothers leave children in need. Terrorism and war leave many countries in great need. Where there are people living, there will always be need...
So, how do we decide when to help, how to help, where to help, and who to help? Why do we reach out even though our own resources are so greatly limited much of the time? Why do we go to a country on the other side of the world when people in our own country need help right now?
It's easy for us humans to ask questions like these, but seldom do anything ourselves to tangibly help someone else. You wonder why your church won't "do something" about a need you have noticed, when the truth is, your church is constantly doing things to tangibly meet the needs of people. Perhaps you as an individual should take care of those around you instead of waiting for someone else to do it. Perhaps you as an individual should take food or clothing to someone less fortunate than you. Perhaps you as an individual should provide assistance to someone whose car or home needs repairs. Why do we allow ourselves to think "the church" should do this or that instead of realizing WE ARE THE CHURCH. YOU ARE THE CHURCH. Who represents Jesus Christ to this world? YOU. ME. WE, who call ourselves "Christians" -- Christ-followers -- do. When Jesus exhorted us to love our neighbors as ourselves, he wasn't speaking to or of an organization. He was speaking to us as individuals...
Now, when we come together and organize ourselves as a group, we can do things that would never have been possible had we remained simply individuals. We can actually go together to another country and make an impact with what God has given us to share. We can put our monies together and actually meet a much greater need than we alone could have ever met.
As leaders of an organized group of Christ-followers, Monty and I have the responsibility of deciding what tangible needs we can help meet. Besides the many and varied ways in which we tangibly reach out to those in our own city and country, we strongly believe in partnering with leaders in foreign countries who share a similar outlook on outreach and ministry. It is vital that we get to know them and are able to trust that the money we give them will be used in the most effective ways possible, and that they hold themselves to the same high ethical standards in handling donations as we do. In other words, the who, what, when and where are not just random.
We also know that we can't do everything, and we can't help everybody. We have to pick and choose based on our criteria, just as other organizations pick and choose based on their criteria. And, we are certainly not the only organized group of people trying to help other people. We are simply providing another avenue whereby YOU can get involved on a larger scale.
One of the reasons I believe every person mentally and physically able should go on an outreach trip to a foreign country at least once in their lives is because of the life change that will take place within them. Nothing impacts your life in the way a global outreach trip does. You realize how blessed you are, how much you have to give, how small your outlook on life typically is, how you should be less inwardly focused and more outwardly focused, etc., etc., etc.... One thing I know for sure -- if you leave your comfort zone and go on a trip such as this, you will see the world in such a different light that you will become more aware of the needs that surround you every day and more likely to do something about them.
Another reason I believe in involving yourself in a global outreach trip is simply because it is a good thing to do. It is a right thing to do. And, the more right activities we can stack up in our lives, the better!
And, of course, I believe in global outreach trips because they are a tangible, literal, physical way to help someone else. When you are surrounded by people who can't believe you would come from the other side of the world just to meet them, just to help them, just to love them, the look in their eyes is undeniable. There is no greater reward.
Why go? I have all the reasons I need...
c2009 Lorenda Houston
