Recently I received a letter from Partners International, appealing for funds for an orphanage in Nigeria.
I know many of you have received similar requests from other charitable organizations. The appeal told of 100 children living in an abandoned mission station far from basic services such as telephones, running water, electricity or government health services. Under the guidance of a Nigerian pastor, Partners International has partnered with other charities to get needed supplies to them.
I have seen circumstances in other parts of the world where caring people committed their lives to assist their own people. When they appealed for outside help, amazing things happened. I remember walking through a Philippine village with another national leader, Arsenio Dominguez. He told me of his arrival there – he had pitched a tent and settled with wife and small children on the banks of a robber-filled ravine. Throughout the day the robbers passed by his camp on their way to “work.”
Arsenio took me to visit the cottage industries he had founded. Not far from where his tent had stood, I watched skilled wood carvers preparing crafts for export. I visited the primary school and heard happy songs; I walked through the college campus and met serious students. I heard of the fishing-boat project; Arsenio raised money for boats, provided them to families, and then taught the people to fish. He founded many similar projects. Each project breaks another family or village free from the cycle of poverty.
Arsenio also took me for a walk through Manila where we met many beggars along the way. I had expected that, but Arsenio’s actions caught me off guard. He never passed a beggar without stopping. Often he didn’t appear to greet them; he simply reached into his pocket, produced a coin, placed it in the outstretched hand, and moved on. It stunned me. Conditioned by North American culture, I knew they would spend it on alcohol or drugs. I knew many of them made a business of begging; they likely had more money than Arsenio. I knew many of the children would hand it over to an overseer or pimp.
"I see you are puzzled," said Arsenio. "I know all your arguments against giving to beggars, but you overlook the main reason to give. I give as an act of worship. Jesus said, that whatever I do for one of the least of these, I do for him. So when I see an outstretched hand, I see it as the outstretched hand of my Lord. I give only a tiny coin, all I can afford. What the beggar does with my tiny gift becomes his and God’s responsibility, not mine."
I learned a lesson from a poor man in an impoverished country. Arsenio has since died, but his work carries on. Robbers no longer live in the ravine and our hero’s family and co-workers now occupy decent houses. The community, although shoddy by our standards, has changed. Many strangers pass by to the new medical clinic staffed by volunteer professionals including Arsenio’s daughters, both medical doctors.
I thought of him when I received the Nigerian appeal, and asked, “How can I ignore the outstretched hands of 100 children in Africa?”