Servinghrrefugees’s Weblog

For two long Americans have thought the organized church, or the government, should be the solution to the problems in our nation and our world. Instead of addressing the real problem these organizations have only applied band aids. Where there has been world hunger, the government has sent food. Where children have been abandoned, orphanages have been opened, and food supplied. Where there is joblessness, ongoing handouts have been given. While these and many other programs are good ideas, they have only addressed the symptom and hardly ever dealt with the illness. We all know the old saying, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, but teach him to fish and he eats for the rest of his life.” Organizations usually begin with good intentions, but as they grow more people are needed to run them and more money is needed to keep them afloat. Unfortunately, this seems to lead to only “giving a man a fish” with so little time or money to “teach him to fish”. With these ideas in mind I am learning why the Body of Christ in it’s simplest form is far better equipped to handle these challenges than any organization. 

While my personal journey has taught me much about the organizations we rely upon for answers, it has taught me even more about my own selfish nature! I have given more excuses in my 20 + years of being a Christian. I would easily throw my hands up and “surrender all” to His Lordship, but then I had children, ball games, family, youth group, a job, grandchildren (soon I hope),  and on and on the list goes. These were not bad things, they were just my things. I don’t remember many times when I really just asked Jesus what He wanted me to do! AUGH!! As far as the needs of the world goes; well, I was faithful to give my tithes and offerings, and to pray for laborers. I even went on a couple of short term missions trips! But in three short years everything has changed. I left the organized institution of religion and found other disciples of Jesus Christ on the same path as me. I also found the Spirit of Christ in strangers in my own back yard.

My prayer is that through this blog many others will be hooked into the idea of serving the Lord right where they live today. Refugees are flooding into this country and are being disbursed into communities across the nation. The world and its organizations cannot handle the needs that are present in society. They only know how to apply a band aid. We, the church of Jesus Christ, have the answers! So, in the weeks to follow we hope to share with you our struggles and our triumphs as we learn to serve the strangers among us, by loving our Lord with all that is within us, and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. It’s funny how I’ve read so many of these words so many times and now, suddenly, they have become life!