Empowering the Poor

It's critically important that we not only meet the spiritual needs of God's children, but that we also meet their physical and emotional needs. Many missionaries make the mistake of going someplace and acting like Santa Claus, handing out goodies wherever they go. This is a terrible mistake because it reinforces powerlessness among people who are supposed to be served. What we need to do is become the hands of God, establish relationships with people, nurture them, and empower them to change their own lives. If we don't do this, then things will never change - especially attitudes of helplessness.

An example of what we're talking about comes from Sarah Corson, co-founder of SIFAT, a missionary training organization. When she was a missionary in Bolivia during the 70s, a mission team was visiting from the states. One lady in that group noticed that all the children in the village, which was at about 15,000 feet elevation, had no shoes. She determined to buy each child a pair of shoes and told the pastor, Benjo, that she wanted to give each child their shoes so she could "see the look in their eyes."

Benjo explained that she couldn't do that. When missionaries give items to people, he explained, that reinforced that they were dependent upon others for their needs. He told her that he had a solution that would work. The village was in terrible danger of mud slides because the mountaintop above them was deforested. He said they had been working with an organization that provided saplings and he needed people to put the saplings in burlap bags, carry them up the mountain and plant them. He gathered all of the children in the village and explained this problem to them. He then told the children that each child, small or large, who bagged four saplings and planted them on the mountains, would get a new pair of shoes.

The children got busy and the missionaries watched them and talked with them about what they were doing. Not one child mentioned that they were getting new shoes. All they talked about was that they were saving their village. This is empowerment.

Another brief story Sarah told us was that a lady in the village had cancer and it would cost $300 to go to the city and get treatment. Another visiting mission team heard this and counted their money. They had $300 they could spare and told Benjo they wanted to give it to the lady. Again, he told them they could not do that. He said there were other people in the village who needed medical care and it would cause strife in the village if she got money and they didn't. He also told them that it also would reinforce that needs could only be met through missionaries giving them things. It would result in reinforcing powerlessness to change their own circumstances.

But again Benjo provided a solution. He said the woman had a teenage son and he could work after school. Benjo said he had things that needed to be done around the church. He could take their $300 and hire the boy to do the odd jobs and pay him with that money. The young man was thrilled about being able to "save" his mother's life. That's empowerment.

We desire to implement the same kinds of things in Honduras. Our goal is not to "hand out" everything, but to provide people with opportunities to become empowered to change their own lives. Whether it be through jobs we provide at the ministry, training and discipling leaders, English classes, nutrition classes, teaching healthcare, or whatever, our focus is to touch their lives spiritually, physically and emotionally. And of course, the widows and orphans we will care and provide for regardless of their abilities, but we will also try to find ways they can partner with us in the ministry, ways they, too, can become empowered to change their lives.

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