helping people

We help them. I know you have a lot of snow in Dayton....I'm not much good at shoveling snow

 

We dont give out money, but the deacons check them out and if they seem legitimate, we'll pay the bill or fill the gas tank. There is one lady that calls about every other month and we have had to stop "helping" her. She has enough for her cigarettes, and all the area churches kinda warn each other when folks like that make the rounds.
I'd like to think people wouldnt take advantage of a church, but they do.

 

We will go and visit the home prior to helping. We take this opportunity to give the gospel and any other counseling necessary. We also use this as a way to verify the need. I have had people call and tell me they had no food. When we arrive, we find their cupboards loaded. Most of the time, once we mention that we need to stop by and visit, we are told to never mind.

 

Our church is very new (1 yr. old January 31st, 2005), but that doesn't keep away the freeloaders. More than once a month, we have people calling wanting money. Most of them say their name and say, "We have been to your church several times and we just love it." Of course, they can't remember anything about the building or the fact that we are in a storefront.
We had one guy stop by and say he was from out of town, almost out of gas, he had been attacked and robbed. He went as far as showing a gash on his head (not fresh). Two weeks later we see them shopping in Wal-Mart. They gave us a dirty look and commenced to shopping. We talked to a pastor friend of ours from a neighboring city and sure enough they had been to his church a few days prior. Same story and everything!!
If you decide to give money to people. BE CAREFUL and PRAYERFUL about the situation. It's awful to say but there are people who are professional bums and they make a good living by taking advantage of those who want to help people in need!

 

In the last church I pastored we had a deacon's fund, but by church policy it was limited to members or attenders of our church. If people came looking for money, etc. we just sent them over to St. Vincent de Paul where they could get food and gas vouchers. Some of their money came from public funds, so we considered that a right way to deal with them.

If you choose to give them a job, you better be careful. Some of these people are professional beggers and they may cause you problems with your insurance liability. It is usually just easier to give them gas, food (no cash) and keep track of their names and addresses in case they return.

In one city I pastored the police took care of these needs through public funds. All the church had to do was call the police and they would check out the people and dispense the vouchers.

A final thought...if you are going to help those who are really in need, sometimes you are going to be taken advantage of by others.