Do Something or Do Nothing? -Jason

What is a Christian’s response to seeing others in need? As we drive around here in the Dominican, there are plenty of people in need. Little kids out in traffic asking for a handout, people who clean your windshield for a couple of pesos, people who have infected limbs walking/crawling/or dragging themselves around in order to get a donation. What should we do in the face of this?

In your city, when you walk by someone begging who looks like they could use something, do you feel guilty when you walk past them? How about when someone comes to your church and asks for help with the rent or with groceries, what is your church policy? What are Christians supposed to do about all this need?

I am going to take a risk here and expose my thinking on this issue. It may be that you and I disagree. Please do not take this as a personal attack towards anything you have done or have not done out of the kindness of your heart. If I am wrong, I am open to debate where it is reasonable and loving – we can agree to disagree. But you are welcome to challenge my thinking by adding a comment on this blog.

I am thinking that it is better, in general, to do nothing about the needs that are all around us. Here’s why…first, whenever government gives a handout, what does that do for people – does it help them, or does it hurt them? Could it be that in an effort to help we actually prolong the situation – we make it possible for this to be the way that someone makes a living. Second, I am not in a position to know about the person asking me for money – if I knew an organization working with that person, I would trust their judgment, but I have no connection to the person. If I really must give money, it would be better to do it through a person involved in the person’s life. Third, my definition of need is probably warped – it is definitely out of line with the majority of the world. I would say that most of the time (except in cases of genuine emergency) the best thing to do is nothing.

“How can you be so cold?” Let me tell you a story. A little girl down here is always at the same intersection – she can’t be more than four and there are three “lanes” of traffic on both sides of the road. It is very difficult to watch this little girl make an eating gesture and then reach out her hand toward our car window. Yet, we can see her mother just a little ways away waiting for both her children to get the donations. The mother knows how to work the system. Now I look at this little girl and I have to be honest – I want to smack that mother. Here is a little girl who was meant to be in relationship with God, meant to be in relationship with people and meant to take dominion over the earth using her own gifts and abilities given to her by God. Yet, she may or may not be alienated from God (I do not know), she is alienated from people, she is not taking dominion but is rather being trained by her mother to be in subjection to the world around her. What is this little girl’s path? What do I say about that path when I hand her some money? Have I helped this little girl?

“So, what should be done?” If people are to be changed, they will not be changed apart from Life. A person starts with a relationship with God. What we do then happens in the context of relationship and it encourages the other person to become someone who can invest in others using their abilities and talents – this is a changed life. In the example above, a businessman here in the Dominican could find out about this mother and offer her a job which gives her the ability to bring her kids. If she is willing, the table is set for genuine change – you can see how that would be the case. Some are not willing to work; the Bible says something to them for their own good. It has never been good for man to be alone.

In our case, we hope to build relationships with a group of people and live out this process. I do not want to see people live like this little girl. Yet I know that passing out things is not going to solve this girl’s problem, it only encourages it when it is disconnected from relationship. I want people to know Him, to experience meaningful relationships and to live out their God-given design. We trust that the Lord will continue to allow us to have these kinds of opportunities.

The problem is not the response; it is the kind of response. There are enough Christians to make an impact on our world. We will need to invest more time in people though. Who is in your world that could benefit from the Life that you have living in you?

Celebration - Jason

As we live life, we have lots of celebrations. We celebrate pregnancies, births, graduations, marriages, engagements, birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s day, anniversary’s, New Years, Thanksgiving, and on and on. Then there are the little things – an exam passed, a game won, etc. There are lots of opportunities for celebration.

Recently, a Dominican pastor asked us to come to Sunday night service, because his 6 month old daughter was going to be dedicated. We could tell that this was important to him and so we made sure that we were there. It was pretty incredible. The father/pastor bought a cake for the congregation - it would have been a sacrifice for him to do it, but he was so happy about this opportunity. They decorated the church with balloons and streamers. The service revolved around this event. People dressed up, the baby was in a nice dress, relatives and friends were there, etc. The family stood up front and there were two witnesses with them to symbolize the agreement the parents were making before the Lord that they would do what they could to raise this child to walk with Him. It was serious, but it felt momentous.

During the singing, there was a little dancing (lots of percussion makes that easy) and then the service was over and it was time to eat the cake. This is the part that really struck me, so I am going to drag this out for a minute. What would happen at your event if it were time to eat the cake? What if the event was a church service which was supposed to start at 6PM and it was now 10PM? Most of the time, the cake is cut and there are servers there trying to make sure everyone has a piece…and there may be some frustrated folks upset about the timing.

But this was such a treat that they didn't cut the cake right away, instead they all took pictures with it. Group shots, individual shots, etc. The family even wanted a picture with our family behind the cake. All the while they were scraping frosting with their fingers and sticking it on people's faces and laughing it up. Imagine that – do adults do that?! They do this little kiss thing on the cheek here and one lady had frosting on her face and then kissed another lady – smearing frosting on her cheek. Finally, they cut the cake, laughing and joking the whole time. No rush, just enjoying the moment.

It was so much fun to watch. I was thinking about David dancing before the Lord as the ark made its way into Jerusalem. When Michal got upset with him, he said – “I will celebrate before the Lord.” For me, this experience was a reminder to celebrate before the Lord. Slow down, enjoy the event, and consider the joy that God intended for this moment. I think we Americans are at a disadvantage when it comes to this kind of celebration, because we always have so much more to do…we complain about being busy, but we like it. But does the busyness get in the way of genuine celebration? Is there an aspect of celebration that is a choice or do we believe that genuine celebration only happens when we are caught up in the moment?

Everyday Circumstances - Pamela

We’ve officially been in the Dominican a month and as I look at the time spent I feel like I could write so many different things. I’m amazed at how God has protected us and molded us in so many different ways. I think for me it’s been an uphill climb to change my way of thinking not only with how the culture works down here, but also in my every day circumstances.

For example, the Dominican has issues with the electricity and water going off at random hours. When this type of thing happens I find myself struggling inside. Sometimes I am in the middle of doing the dishes and the water goes out; other times I'm in the shower…all soapy…no water! It is so hot. When the electricity goes out, the fan, which was my lifeline to be cool, now does not function. When these types of basic things are no longer available then I tend to have attitude issues.

The things that I was so used to having in the States on a consistent basis I took for granted because it was always there to meet my need. I didn’t have to worry when I stepped in the shower that the water would turn off in the middle of being all soapy. I could wash my hands anytime all day long; I could even drink the tap water! I find it easy to become frustrated in the midst of my circumstances.

The first week we were here the electricity and water problem made me feel like I was going to cry because I was just so hot and wanted a fan to blow on me, or I just wanted to take a shower so I didn’t feel so hot and sweaty. After a month of being here I can see the Lord starting to shape my way of thinking because of my circumstances.

I found myself being more thankful. I would say in my mind “thank you God that I have this fan to blow on me, thank you God that I was able to take a complete shower, thank you God that I can have ice in my refrigerator!” My way of thinking started to shift toward what was available today that I could enjoy rather than what I didn’t have.

Many times when the electricity went off, God would send a fabulous breeze my way to simply say “I love you Pamela and I know you’re hot, here’s my way of cooling you off.” I can see that God cares about the little basic things in my life and sometimes I think to myself… “ it seems so ridiculous that these things are really bothering me,” but it is in the circumstance that things become much more clear.

The Lord is continually shaping and changing my way of thinking and when the water and electricity go off it doesn’t seem as big of deal now then it did my first couple of weeks. I’m in a continual state of being molded and shaped by my heavenly Father. May we all grow together in our walk of faith!

Stranger - Jason Hilgeman

When we are growing up, our parents tell us, “Don’t talk to strangers!” I remember being a little scared of strangers. I can’t remember the context, but it seems like we even watched videos or something that had this little phrase: “stranger danger.” In fact, I have never heard any kid say that when he grows up, he wants to be a stranger. Everyone else may be strangers, but I am not a stranger.

Living in a foreign country has given me the opportunity to think about what it means to be a stranger. Because although I never wanted to be one when I grew up, I have found that I am one right now. It has helped to illuminate some of the Biblical parallels. Consider:

Hebrews 11:13 - All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.

1 Peter 1:1 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,

1 Peter 1:17 - Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.

1 Peter 2:11 - Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

I don’t have to try and act like an American here in the Dominican. I am an American and it shows. Sometimes before I can even say a word… “Oh, Americano.” They know we are Americans, because we are strange.

The Lord has called us to be strangers. As I have reflected on our experience here, these are some principles I have been thinking about:

We have different values. Dominicans just value different things. Time, labor, protection from theft… For example, to buy bolts in America, I would run to Lowe’s go to the aisle, look at all kinds of bolts, I may even pick some up until I decided on the right bolts. Then I would take them to the self-scan and be out of the store fairly quickly, off to complete my task. Here, it takes work to drive, at least for me. When I get to the hardware store, I go to the counter where they have help with bolts, screws, etc. Take a number. Wait until my number is called. Then I try to describe what I need in Spanish and by playing the game Guesstures. The guy behind the counter then goes and gets what I want and offers to let me inspect all of whatever it is. I think I am probably strange in that I just tell them, “it’s OK” without much inspection. Then they write a little receipt and I am off to the cash register. At the cash register, I pay and am given three receipts which the cashier stamps “paid.” They go to the guy who is bagging what I just bought. He checks off each item and stamps all three receipts again and keeps one. Then I take the remaining two and drop one off with the guy at the door as one final check. Now back to the car and home. What would be about three minutes in the U.S. takes much longer here.

We have different priorities. As an American, I place getting things done as a high priority. It’s not that Dominicans do not want things to get done, but “mas tarde” or “mañana” are fairly common words. Relationships are important here and having them actually helps to get things done. I have been waiting for our internet to be fixed for more than three weeks with multiple attempts by a native Dominican to help. However, our friend here knew someone who works at the water company and so when we went to get our water hooked up, what we were told should take three days was accomplished in one afternoon.

We have different methods. From the first story above, you can see that the way things are done reflects an attempt to accomplish different values in different ways.

None of these things are good or bad necessarily. But it illustrates that who I am (an American) makes me strange in the Dominican Republic. I am a stranger. Something is not right about me fitting in here and it is more than just the things that I do and say, it is who I am. The truth is that I can become more and more like a Dominican, but I will never be a Dominican truly – I will always be an Americano.

With that background, meditate with me on the idea that we are to be strangers here on earth. I have been reborn – I am truly a citizen of heaven. As much as I act like an American, those values, priorities, etc. are not reflective of my true citizenship. I am in Christ and as one in Christ, the old “I” was put to death and there is now a new “I.” That new “I” is sourced in His life. These are facts. How much though do I live my life as if my American values are my values? Do I allow myself to consider that many of those values are contrary to who I now am? Have I found that Christ is my life?

To illustrate that further, His values, His priorities, His methods, etc. are based on the way things really are. So take your marriage. God has designed marriage to be a certain way. When we treat marriage that way, marriage is great. When marriage in thought, action, or intention, becomes something other than what it was created to be, it leads to hardship and heartbreak. Maybe you are struggling in your marriage though and so you determine to think the way that God thinks about marriage. The way I understand Scripture, you will still struggle. It would be like me determining that tomorrow I am going to wake up and think like a Dominican. It just won’t happen, because I am not a Dominican. The best intentions will only lead to frustration, because the problem is not in my efforts, the problem is deeper, it is who I am.

Instead, the answer is to see that Christ is now my life. Pick any area and learn from the Lord to think the way that He thinks about it. Allow Him to make the changes. Find Him to be strength. Don’t try to abide in Him, recognize that you do abide in Him. I can’t just be conformed, I must be transformed from the inside out! Trust someone who is trying to be different in a different culture…the kind of transformation that the Scripture talks about is nothing short of miraculous!