Good morning and welcome to another Thursday Thought
In the panoply of things I do in my
work at the church lies the ministry of benevolence. There are many ways that benevolent
ministries can help both church members and those outside of the membership. Some of the more common needs are food,
clothing, transportation, housing, and help with bills. We do get some of the more uncommon requests
from time to time, such as for denture adhesive, eye glasses, and other such
things. But most of the time the requests
wrap around the more common areas of benevolence.
We can’t do everything that comes our
way. We’re a relatively small
congregation, so we’ve decided to concentrate our benevolent help on food,
clothing, utility bill help, and help with fuel for transportation. I also, as the benevolence minister, have a
sort of cadre of social services people who work in the community non-profit
sector who I trust to provide me with good information should they encounter
someone with a need they can’t otherwise fill.
They will contact me and ask if the church could help their client with
this or that. We usually are able to
oblige, and we trust their judgment.
One such client recently came to us by
way of Suzie, one of my social services contacts. Suzie asked me if there was any way we could
provide a little food and some Tylenol and Ibuprofen for a woman she was
helping. The woman was temporarily
staying in a hotel, had been in the hospital, was in recovery, and needed to
stay in town for a short time. She had
no family or resources. Nor did she have
a way or the ability to go somewhere to get what she needed.
I immediately said we could help. Suzie and I made plans to meet later that
day. I went to the pharmacy and bought a
bottle each of generic Tylenol and Ibuprofen.
The total bill was about eight dollars.
We also provided a small box of food from our food stash that the woman
could use in her room by using the microwave.
Suzie gathered the things together and delivered them to the woman.
Yesterday, I received an email from
Suzie about the woman we helped. Here is
what it said: My client wanted me to
thank you on her behalf for helping her with the meds and the food items. She
felt really lost and like nobody cares. I spoke to her this morning and she
sounds way better than she did yesterday.
This is Jay again. I am sometimes asked how many of those we
help in the benevolence ministry attend services with us or want a Bible
study. Their thought is that the
benevolence ministry needs to be an evangelistic ministry…and that if it is not
getting evangelistic results, maybe we need to be doing something else with
those resources.
Very seldom does someone attend
services because of our benevolence.
Even less often does someone wish to study the Bible or discuss
spiritual matters. Most of the time we
don’t even receive a written thank you like I did with this woman, given
through Suzie her social worker. One
might wonder why that is. I think I have
an answer for that.
By far most of those we serve are not
thinking so much about what we might call “spiritual things” as they are
thinking of ways to survive the day.
That survival could include finding a relatively safe place to sleep
that evening, feeding their kids for the first time in two days, keeping the
electric, gas, or water utility collections department at bay for another few
days, or finding a way to get to work that evening so they don’t lose the job
they have.
Most of the time, these people are
struggling to survive…and I mean that in a truly literal sense. They are expending an incredible amount of
time and energy to just be able to live, let alone have the time and energy to
have a Bible study or clean up for church services. I think you would agree that if you had no electricity,
an empty gas tank, and had just been served an eviction notice from the squalid
apartment you were in, you wouldn’t have a lot of desire to sit down and have a
Bible study either.
What I do find with many of those we
help is just what this woman articulated to Suzie. These people feel like they are all
alone…lost…and that no one really cares about them. Often they don’t have family. They often feel like government agencies put
more roadblocks in their way to obtaining resources than work with them to provide
the help they need. They tell me that
many agencies don’t want to listen to them, act like they don’t have time for
them, or reduce their humanity to a number or an appointment.
Being in need of services is all too
often a dehumanizing, degrading, and embarrassing experience. At RiverWalk, we work to make that experience
non-judgmental and as helpful as possible.
With few exceptions, we insist that we personally meet the one in need. We sit down with them, visit with them, hear
their story, try to make them more at ease, and give them the dignity and
respect they deserve. We may or may not
be able to help them with their need.
But hopefully, we can leave them with a good feeling toward the church
and let them know that we care and are hearing them.
I have long ago lost count of the
times I have heard someone thank me for just taking the time to listen, even
though we couldn’t help with their need.
In fact, that very thing happened again just yesterday. I’ve also long ago lost count of the number
of times we have been able to help by at least temporarily removing the threat
of disconnection of utility services and seeing the obvious look of relief wash
over someone’s face, usually a woman, and sometimes accompanied by a sobbing
breakdown here in the office.
The answer to why we do benevolence is
what I’ve just said. We provide dignity,
respect, a non-judgmental listening ear, and sometimes we can provide a sense
of relief, knowing that at least for now, the collections and disconnections
people have been kept away. That, in my
view, makes what we do here truly a ministry…a ministry to the hurting,
marginalized, and forgotten. It’s a
ministry that’s well worth the time, effort, and resources…don’t you think?
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