The church I attend in Chicago is currently raising $300,000 to make improvements to our church building. The church of a friend of mine who I’m traveling with is raising 5 million dollars to make renovations. Witnessing the poverty in the Philippines makes it so clear to me that we in the West are missing the mark. How can we be so concerned about lighting, sound, and carpeting when our fellow believers in other countries have next to nothing? Why are we allowed to prioritize spending money to improve the appearance of our church buildings over providing basic necessities, such as clean water, to Christians in other countries? It says clearly in the Bible that we are One Church. If this is the case, then why do we splinter off into separate factions that don’t feel a responsibility to help out our brothers and sisters who are thirsty and starving throughout the world? There are many ways in which we can assist through either building wells through such organizations as charity:water or The Water Project or even giving money directly to those in need in underdeveloped countries through the non-profit Give Directly (https://www.givedirectly.org/). Let’s change the way we think about church. The Church is not American, it is global and our family in the Philippines, Africa, South America, and the rest of Asia is desperately in need. I pray we all get this vision to be less myopic with our finances and recognize the poverty of the Church internationally. We are Christ’s hands. The situation cannot be remedied without your decision to do so. Much Love to you all.
