Always An Alternative

I will never forget a day, many years ago, in Kenya, driving a lonely road over the very high plains. Along the road were scattered dozens of rusting hulks of massive Canadian farming machinery - designed for planting and harvesting wheat. It was a government to government arrangement. Someone, somewhere in one of the bureaucracies decided that wheat could be grown in the thousands of acres in these highlands. There were also persistent rumours that funds were siphoned off to destinations unknown....

Big mistake. The mistake being , first of all, that wheat was not the staple food in Kenya. Maize, or white corn, rice and beans are much more the staple foods in Kenya. Thus, millions of dollars worth of machinery were rusting into the soil, because someone in some government didn’t do their homework. And someone, somewhere, was making a killing on a project that did not work.

Somehow, there is a mind-set in Government and even in industry, that they are highly efficient. Government, because they have the dollars and enough bureaucrats to make sure it is done right. Industry, because the bottom line guarantees the drive for efficiency. Unfortunately, they are both wrong, though business usually works better than bureaucracy.

In the long run, it’s not really their fault in many ways. The Church has abdicated its responsibility in such things as health care, looking after the poor, and feeding the hungry. Slowly, the governments of the worlds were saddled with these responsibilities. It worked much better when God’s people took seriously biblical admonitions such as found in Leviticus 19:10:

“And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God.”

God was talking to individuals here, not corporations or governments. Then in James 1:27 read:

“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”

Most hospitals, educational institutes and charities in North America were started by Christians. They passed into the hands of others by attrition or default. We read about Jesus’ teaching on this subject in Matthew 25:37 and 40

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, "LORD, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ......... And the King will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

Truly serving Jesus, is serving the least among us, and around the world. Some churches are rediscovering this, and have begun to reach out to the most needy of the world. Government plans, as good as they ‘might’ be, work or do not work dependent on the people at the grass-roots level where the need is being met. Non-government organisations (NGOs) do the job better because those involved have a sense of calling, and a dedication beyond the salary. In 1 John 3:17 we read:

“But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?”

It’s the love of God that makes the difference. In Psalms 41:1 we read:

“Blessed is he who considers the poor; The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.”

That’s why an organisation like Cal Bombay Ministries is more successful than some of the best plans governments can make. Simply because, for a pittance, we can collect new and almost new hospital equipment which would otherwise be scrapped. We send it to Sudan where it is received and used as precious and vital.

Yes! There is an alternative to wasting time, resources money and lives!