Turkey: Black Sea - 2010

The secret to helping without creating welfare

There is a huge issue that doesn't get talked about a lot in ministry to the poor. That issue is how do we help people that need assistance without creating dependency??

This is a big issue on the plate for Children's Cup as well. We help thousands of children throughout the world and our vision is to see them raised up to be world changers for Jesus that are contributors. That means that they will have to learn to work hard and take the initiative to take advantage of opportunities that come their way.

One of the ways we do this is by having SERVE DAYS at our CarePoints. We work together with the community to decide a way that all the kids can best serve the community to show the love of Jesus and to teach the children that our purpose as Christians is serving.

This past week my family together with a little army of orphaned children did exactly that. We had a little rally to talk with the kids about the importance of serving. Then we marched out in the community to help a homestead of a very elderly couple that was in desperate need.

Wow, did it mess me up to see ORPHANS out there serving... washing clothes, cleaning the house, raking the yard, and collecting firewood. Levi and I were with the other boys on the firewood patrol. We walked for about a mile and a half to the little forest to cut some firewood for the elderly couple. Our little group of 7 year old to 12 year olds promptly went to work cutting trees and chopping them into small pieces to be used for a cooking fire.

All the kids had a great time, an elderly couple experienced the love of Jesus, and the next generation learned that it is better to give than to receive.