Making a difference

There are a lot of ways you can make a difference in the lives of others. There's no formula for the best way to do it. You can have a passion you want to work from or you can take suggestions from others and follow their lead. Either way, if you're looking to make a positive impact, hopefully you're going about it with your heart fully engaged. I write this because I believe there is a huge piece of the puzzle that often goes overlooked when it comes to charity and volunteer work. That piece is responsibility.

In addition to having the heart to want to help I believe we can't be ignorant of our responsibility in helping others. And no - I'm not talking about how you should help others because you're in a position to do so. I'm talking about helping others in a way that supports long-term growth and goals. In other words, a way that's sustainable.

This isn't a glamorous topic by any means. In fact it's rather boring if you don't like to use your brain for a lot of critical thinking. Anyways...

I've come to realize ignorance really is bliss. Once you start gaining knowledge your world rockets in a new direction - and you can't go back. That's how I feel about what I've been learning in the context of charity and volunteer work. There's so much to think about when it comes to responsible giving (time, money, resources, etc.). It's so easy to get caught up in wanting to alleviate suffering in the world that we jump on the short-term fix bandwagon. The most common is when we send money or supplies to people in need. This can be great in helping people with their present needs and even better when there is a disaster situation; but have you ever given thought to how this is helping change lives in the long-term?

I ask this question because there is a conundrum that we face as individuals who are trying to help those in need - especially the poor. The problem is this: we want to help relieve suffering and eradicate poverty, while our gifts only tend to alleviate a momentary struggle. There are actually a good deal of articles and literature out there that speak to this problem, however, it's one that your average-joe hasn't given much thought to or tried to understand. It's just so much easier to see a presentation on a need someone has identified and give a check than to be the guy who asks the probing questions. Nobody wants to be that guy. Nobody likes that guy. But I bet if you heard of a great new way that you could invest your money and earn a nice return you would want to know how. You wouldn't just fork over the money no questions asked. At least I hope you wouldn't. The questions is, why should your giving (and again, I mean time, money, resources, etc.) be any different? You're making an investment in the lives of others.

The truth of the matter is that most giving done in the world today often creates an unhealthy dependence and can perpetuate the problem that you are hoping to solve. Take poverty for instance. Say you give a monthly allotment to an impoverished family in the developing world. There are many good things that this money can do in the lives of those people - like buy food or help pay education expenses. But all too often this only creates a dependence on the donation. The family comes to expect this monthly stipend. Yes, this will increase their standard of living slightly but it does nothing to help them on the road out of poverty. In fact, you might just be helping the poor stay poor, albeit with a few less worries.

Maybe you're OK with that? I'm not. If our goal is to help eradicate and not just alleviate, I believe it's our responsibility as givers to ask the tough questions. Or maybe it's just one question and maybe it's not even that tough. Maybe it's just a matter of asking, "how is this going to help long-term?" It's my hope that by bringing this topic up for discussion it will cause us to stop and think. If we do it collectively it can lead us to some great solutions. After all, I think we all want to see entire lives changed for the better not just a few days or weeks of those lives.

Please don't take my comments here as if I don't believe in helping to alleviate present suffering now. I think we should and I think there are lot's of good ways of going about it. My goal here is to simply spark a new way to think about your giving. I want to encourage others to do their due-diligence in giving and really examine how they are affecting the world for the better. 

Hopefully you have heard about microfinance and how work in this area is helping bring people up out of poverty in a way that doesn't form dependence. If you haven't heard of it or if you would like to learn a little more on the subject, I recommend reading the book The poor will be glad. I recently read this book and it encouraged me to write this blog post. This post only skims some of the points of this book but I believe it's a good starting point if you've never given this subject much thought. 

Let's try and change the world in the most responsible way we can.

I encourage discussion so feel free to post!

The Bear!

You ask and you shall receive -- here is a picture of the bear!

Volunteer Article

I was asked to write an article about how my Bolivian experience has changed my life - and I wanted to share. I don't know if anyone reads this blog any more but by the off chance someone actually is, I hope you enjoy. It's straight from the heart.

Sitting down to write this little piece I have no idea where to start. How do you summarize important things in life? You want people to share your experiences – see it the way you saw it – with all the beauty, heartbreak, hope, despair, ugliness, brokenness, love and faith that went along with that. But the fact of the matter is that it’s just not possible to do. I can try and package some words to make you convinced that, yes, my life was changed, but this is my story - and to you that’s all it is.
              

I can promise you that you won’t have the same experiences as I had. So I could tell you about how I was able to befriend someone half my age who had no parents or siblings to look to. How I was able to be a stand-in father for a child who thought he was going to have to sit alone while the other kids had their dads come to school for father’s day. And how I will never forget his smile when I walked in. I could tell you about pulling a homeless kid off another while they were trying to stab them with a knife. I could tell you about witnessing the senseless violence committed against an 8 year old. I could even tell you about trying to get through to a 14 year old who spent a good chunk of his life being manipulated by a child molester. But I could also tell you about embracing someone in tears after they told you that you were like an older brother to them. I could tell you about being on the receiving end of smiles from so many innocent children. I could tell you about receiving a teddy bear from an orphaned girl who has almost nothing but wants you to remember her. And how that bear has more worth than all of my possessions combined. I could tell you about living like Jesus did in a new way made his words more real. But that would be an understatement. Or how I was able to see God in the faces of so many children who want to love and be loved.

Of course this all goes without mentioning that being a part of a group of people who are passionately trying to positively affect people’s lives was in and of itself impactful. To have people to cry with and talk with and laugh with, who are all experiencing similar things as you, is invaluable. I could even tell you a little about E.Coli, my friends Sam-n-Ella, ruptured eardrums, second degree sunburns, falling off cliffs or pulling out cactus needles.

 I could tell you about all those things but they would be barely more than just words to you. Maybe you would be able to create some very interesting mental images but you wouldn’t understand those experiences. Not the way I do. It’s my story. You get to create your own. That’s what I want to encourage you to do. GO. DO. Be that character in the story that God wants to write with your life. If you want to do something that matters, something that you will never forget, something that you know your heart is calling you to do – step out. And do it.