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MentorNet #27 George Patterson and
Galen Currah, January 2005 These guidelines have grown out
of observations of relief workers’ activities during disasters in which thousands
of persons were left destitute and suffering, due to hurricanes, earthquakes,
famines, drought, war and so forth. 1. Disasters bring out the best and worst in people,
requiring wise discernment on the part of those who direct relief efforts. · Compassionate people respond
quickly, giving generously to those in need, and volunteering to serve on
relief teams. · Selfish people also respond
quickly, and are among the first to volunteer as relief workers. · Wise relief coordinators learn
quickly to discern these two types of volunteers. This discernment requires
vigilance and close cooperation with trusted local leaders. Without this
precaution greed will soon become the greatest impediment to distributing
relief supplies to those who need it most. Greedy people devise ingenious
ways to get control of goods meant for those in need. Cases are innumerable
of truck drivers, warehouse workers and other helpers who have pilfered huge
quantities of relief supplies during disasters. No relief effort is immune to
this abuse. 2. Relief efforts coordinated by Christian workers can give
better and longer lasting results if they follow Christian principles. · Observations show that great
numbers of people come to Christ because of disasters. The Holy Spirit uses the
distress to force people to focus on ultimate realities of life and death. · Churches are often born or
strengthened as a result of disasters. Christians, both local and outside
helpers, often offer the most sacrificial service. Congregations of believers
discover greater depth of purpose. · New believers in disaster areas
can be formed into cells that will grow into congregations, provided that
believing relief workers know how to do that and are not hindered by an
organizations’ restrictive policies and managers. 3. Relief coordinators must clearly discern the difference
between emergency relief work and long-term development work, and not confuse
the two. · Relief workers are ‘Good
Samaritans’ who show compassionate love in a practical way to those who will
die if not cared for. They meet immediate needs any way they can, without
regard to the principles that should guide long-term work. · Long-development workers, on the
other hand, need to analyze well possible long-term results of their aid.
They must take much more care not simply to give food or medicine away, and
to avoid building dependency. They must work very closely with local leaders
and see that the people of the community take initiative and leadership in
their development projects. Wise Christian community developers integrate
their efforts with other church ministries and church planting. · Observations of Christian relief
and development work show that some spiritual gift inventories confuse
condescending pity with true compassion. People who scored high in
‘Compassion’ sometimes manifest unwise, condescending pity and are too quick
simply to hand out money or goods to the needy, thereby building unhealthy
dependency. · Emergency relief projects often
evolve into long-term development, especially where poverty was severe before
disaster struck. Workers who are experienced only in relief work may need
more training to deal wisely with long-term development. Facing
life-and-death emergencies accustoms them to quickly meet dire needs of the moment
without giving thought to long-term results. 4. Poverty fosters greed and requires a spiritual response to
overcome it. · People born in painful poverty,
when brought together with more affluent people, have an instinctive desire
to spread out the wealth. From childhood they have consciously or
unconsciously developed a habit of getting goods or money from those who are
more fortunate, in any way they can. It does not bother their conscience to
lie and cheat to do so, because they have been taught to grasp what they can
when the opportunity arrives. Rather, it would bother their conscience not to
steal or cheat to gain small amounts of money or goods. · Those who are born and raised in
extreme poverty, including some Christians, commonly exhibit some form of
‘communal greed’. Conscientious believers overcome greed with prayerful,
biblical instruction. · Showing a condescending attitude
toward victims of poverty inevitably stimulates greed. · Relief coordinators must discern
the difference between condescending pity and helpful compassion. Mere,
condescending pity builds unwanted dependency among the poor who come to
depend on outside aid and wealthy patrons rather than upon hard work and
their own resources, which, over time, increases their poverty. 5. Missionaries and denominational leaders must give relief
to all who need it, and not limit it to their own people. · During times of widespread
emergency, most missionaries and denominational leaders put aside sectarian
interests and provide aid to all who need it. As a result, thousands come to
Christ and congregations grow rapidly. · Unfortunately, other leaders
focus on their own people and channel food, medicines and other relief
selfishly to the needy of their own organization. This has given a very bad
testimony for Christ on a few sad occasions. 6. Wise Christian relief and development workers remain alert
to opportunities to respond to spiritual needs where they are wanted. · When Christians show compassion
and equal treatment of all those in need, regardless of class, caste,
ethnicity or religion, local victims often recognize that Christians are
different from others. Matt. 5:16 · Christians’ dependence on God
and prayer, as well as their own worship times amidst disaster, that others
observe, can have a powerful drawing effect. (1 Cor. 14:24). · Disaster often provides the
earliest opportunities for national and local congregations to become
involved in communities where they used to be unwanted or that they used to
neglect. · People in dire need are often
much helped by the spiritual practices of Christians who pray with them,
counsel them, show them love, and point them to a Power that is greater than
their gods and religion. Tit. 3:8 · Integrated relief and development
have long proved more effective than single specialty services to
communities. 7. Wise Christian relief and development agencies make church
planting and reproduction a stated part of their strategy, and they train
their workers in methods that work in needy communities. · Every relief and development
effort benefits from co-operating with ‘grass-root’ organizations that are
already part of their communities. Long-term development planners seek such
organizations that have a capacity for community action. Churches do that
very well, so that church planting is an important part of development
planning. · Both development and church
planting principles and practices are part of all workers’ training, even
though some will specialize more in one than in another, according to their
gifting and job requirements. Program personnel must be committed to helping
each other succeed in their efforts. · Just as local people should be
primary implementers of development practices, so they make the best church
planters, after they come to faith. For that to happen, program personnel
make new churches a part of their vision, their goals, their objectives and
their instruction. · As a general observation,
church-planting missions that also do relief and development will do more
lasting development than will community development agencies that focus only
on development, and community development agencies that also do church
planting will plant more churches than will a church-planting mission that
focus only on church planting. · Just as relief and development
agencies produce and provide simple, practical instructional materials for
use of local populations, so they should produce and provide simple,
practical evangelistic and church planting materials. · The apostle John summed up our
responsibilities: “Whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in
need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and
truth.” 1 John 3:1718 To view or download earlier MentorNet
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