Mobile Jesus

Helping hand by Andrew Dallos

Last night I went out with my church to walk around downtown to pray for, care for, and give sandwiches to those in need or for those who asked us to.  It was an amazing time - here are my thoughts on the night:

• I found it hilarious that people thought we were on a pub crawl because we all wore the same t-shirt that said Deep Water (our church name) on the front and "Ask us how we can pray for you" on the back.  It started up a great conversation.  It was a great way to redeem the we all wear the same t-shirt phenomena.
• Being out there creates opportunities to share Christ.  As we prayed for people, listened to people's stories, they reciprocated by asking questions on why we are doing this.  
• Doing it for one night reminded me that this shouldn't be a once a week thing, but a lifestyle to love and care for people with the love of Christ
• I can't love people without the love of Christ because I know that on my own, it will become a duty and something I may resent to do day in and day out
• The more people, the better!  

Definitely will do it again.  You want to join me?

The Poor

For the past have year, I have been pondering the direction of what I should write on in this blog. On one hand, I don't want to write meaningless dribble for the sake of putting something up on a blog. On the other hand, I do want to continue learning how to write and make my thoughts clear and concise by sharing the faith adventure God has put me in. I think I will continue to blog as God teaches me more about life and what it means to be a Christ-follower.

A theme that has been coming up in my life over the past year is figuring out how I can help the poor as a person and as a follower of Jesus Christ. In addition to getting into a church that has a core value to help the poor in the city, God has opened doors to help the poor overseas through a partnership at work.

As this new chapter unfolds in my life, I'm expecting to be challenged with things that will make me uncomfortable and will force me to be more emotional. I will probably be convicted to change habits and how I spend my resources. Looking forward to it...

Supporting a Child

This post is a continuation of the previous one:

So thinking about what I can do, one of my first thought was to do some research on supporting a child in Africa. One of the scenes in the movie was in a re-education facility for children who faced the horrors of war. A lot of children who live in war torn areas are deprived of education and a childhood that we know of here in the West. There are some child support organizations that offer children and their family a new life, both in this world and in Christ.

However, when I was researching some of these organizations, I was shocked to find that the CEO's/presidents of these organizations make six figures in salary and benefits.

What?

Yes, six figures! Not just in the 100,000 range, but in the 200,000 - 400,000 range! I couldn't believe it! Here are children suffering for food, dying, being exploited and the organizations who are there to help are pulling salaries in the hundreds of thousands for one person.

At first, I was enraged and confused. It didn't make sense to me. But after some time, I reflected on the reality of the situation. If I don't give to an organization such as the ones I researched, who would I give it to to ensure that my money is going to be used as I directed?

Not that it justifies their six figures, but they are helping the poor and overseeing the follow up and the things in place to make sure the poor and needy are being cared for. As well, I don't know what these presidents do with their money but they could be giving it away to their own organization to help the poor, the church or other organizations.

At the end of it all, it is not going to deter me from sponsoring a child. There is one organization that's vision and foundation I am quite excited about. As well, their president doesn't make as much as the $400,000 dollar dude. I rather give than not give. The rest I leave up to God cause ultimately, I give to Him.