Last fall when the housing crisis became known, a group of us decided to pool our money to help people within our sphere of influence who might have tough times.  We believed it was our responsibility, and in fact our joy, to be there for them.  We didn’t know at that time, nor do we know now, how bad things might get, but we wanted to equip ourselves to help in any way that God might supply.

Our first opportunity came with a family that one person of our group knew whose husband and father is out of work.  We were able to buy that family a month’s worth of groceries.  It’s a small thing, maybe, especially in view of the fact that the family is losing its home.  But even at that, a month’s worth of groceries can take care of one concern so the family can concentrate on their other concerns, including what to do about housing.

What if unemployment hit 10%?  If ten of us each put into the pool 10% of our income, we’d be able to fully help 1 unemployed wage-earner within our sphere of influence.  Ten of us fully helping one family covers that 10% unemployment rate.

There’s a lot of controversy as to whether the government stimulus plans will actually help families.  Regardless of whether you think they will or they won’t, the quickest and most immediate help comes from you and me.  I have some specific ideas that I ask you to consider.

1.        I’m suggesting you help people directly within your sphere of

influence.  I’m not suggesting you become some sort of relief

organization helping everybody who comes along looking for a

handout.  If you contribute to relief organizations or churches

that have relief outreaches, that’s great, and in fact such

organizations need the support.  But my suggestion here is

direct person-to-person help, not just throwing money at

something through contributions and becoming self-satisfied.  If

the recession deepens, or if it becomes a depression, every

one of us will personally know people who are adversely

affected.  It’s these people who we know and have

relationships with that we should be prepared to directly help.

2.       Get together with a group of people and together commit to

helping others in this way.  Open a separate savings account,

either as individuals or an account designated as a pool

account, and feed that account with every paycheck you get. 

If there is nobody at this point within your sphere of influence

who is in need, keep feeding the account.  There very well may

be one or more people who God brings to you as time and

conditions go on.

3.       Be prepared to open your home and your pantry to one or

more people or families who need help.  Money and food go

a lot further when they are used for more than one family.  When I

was in seminary, a bunch of us for various reasons had

extreme money needs.  Since we all lived within about 20

minutes of each other, we got together every night at one of

our homes and all had dinner together.  One member of our

group even gave another member of the group his credit card

with the instructions to use it whenever he had a need that he

couldn’t meet himself.  It was a huge learning experience for

me, not only regarding the economic power of joining

together, but the power of sacrificial love in creating bonds

between people and families.  You may elect to have an

individual or even a family live with you in your home.  You

may have income property that you provide rent-free.  Or you

simply do whatever else your group has the means to do,

whether to purchase a month’s worth of groceries, or to just

 anonymously drop a sack of groceries on somebody’s

doorstep.  If you don’t have the means to do something big,

don’t ever think that you can’t do something.  And the more

of you who do it together, the more direct impact you’ll have

in the real lives of real people within your sphere of influence. 

4.       If you do contribute regularly to a relief organization or if

you contribute to a church that helps individuals and families,

for sure, continue doing that.  But don’t let that be a substitute

for your personal involvement in this way.  As a Christian, I see

this as a personal responsibility given directly to me by the

Lord Himself.  And I believe He gives me more responsibility

than simply getting a tax deduction through my throwing

money at it.  But as I said earlier, it’s not just my

responsibility – it’s my joy!  There’s a joyfulness in serving the

Lord in this way that is really hard to describe.  It may be

because the Lord is so pleased about our obeying Him in this way.

Please respond to this if you decide to do this, either here or by e-mail, so I can talk about what you're doing during KRKS Mornings.  And keep me posted as time goes on as to your experiences.  I want to learn from your experiences, and I’ll post insights as I grow in my experiences.  I believe this is one of the most important things we can do as individuals, as families, and as a nation.