To give or not to give: that is the question?

I often feel like my heart is in a constant battle of how to live a righteous, generous life here in Madagascar. Being a Christian ‘vazahy’ (foreigner) is tricky sometimes. Christians are called to live generously. We are "blessed to be a blessing" [Gen 12:1-3]. God commands Christians to give without our left arm knowing what our right arm is doing [Matt 6:3-4]. To give extravagantly and, in doing so, to demonstrate the generous love of Christ and His care for the welfare of all people and every detail of our lives. Undoubtedly, God can use us to provide for those in need. Afterall, everything we have comes from Him and we are merely stewarding His resources.

Therefore, perhaps the title of this blog is the wrong question to be asking. We are commanded to give, generously and cheerfully, the real questions are: “how should I give?”; “to whom should I give?”; “how do I give wisely?”.

Sometimes giving isn’t simple, is it? Here are some of my thoughts and considerations about why and some ideas about how we can give in a God-honouring way:

It is impossible to help everyone.

Even if I gave a few pennies (well, Ariary…) to every person who asked for money I’d be opening my purse dozens of times a day. Everywhere we turn there are people begging – knocking on the car windows when we’re stuck in traffic, selling a few oranges in the supermarket carpark, sitting along the street edges, asking for a favour as a friend – it’s heart-breaking and exhausting! The needs are overwhelming and it’s unreasonable to think that one person/family can solve all the material needs they encounter daily. Madagascar is the fourth poorest country in the world and 75% of the population is classed as multidimensionally poor (according to the World Bank). There are no quick fixes but equally, that doesn’t mean we should sit back in our relative comfort and refuse to engage or help in any way.

Honestly, there are times when the easiest thing to do is ignore the needs or even the people. Sometimes it’s just too much, and too depressing. The persistent begging feels intrusive and often I want to shut it out and tell them all that invading my space is not an effective way to get my money! Even making eye-contact – let alone engaging in conversation – seems to encourage the begging to persist. But what would Jesus do?

I don’t want to be taken advantage of.

Often people’s situations are complex, and their needs might not be as they seem. We hear stories all the time of kids sent out to beg by their parents, dressed in their most bedraggled clothes, to portray themselves as having desperate needs to endear inexperienced foreigners into giving. But who are we to judge the circumstances or motives of the person begging? If the 5-year-old who sits at the same spot every day is only there because her mum forces her to beg then this situation is still dire and the child still needs my attention: a look of love, a word of care, or a few Ariary to avoid them getting a beating for coming home emptyhanded. Jesus asks us to be faithful in our care for the widow, orphan, or any other vulnerable person. Perhaps we can show love and care in our whole demeanour and with our verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as sometimes with our money?

I don’t want to create dependence or make things worse without addressing the root cause.

Throwing money at people isn’t always going to solve the core problem/s. In fact, sometimes it can worsen things. Perhaps taking the time to research the underlying issues and investing in addressing them is more effective in the long run? For example, instead of giving money directly to prostitutes (which may create dependence or fuel substance misuse) it may be better to give towards the education of women/children or schemes that help train women in alternative professions. This way you can contribute to preventing prostitution and helping women exit the profession. Giving through existing trustworthy organisations/charities should also ensure accountability and sustainability.

I want to avoid a ‘saviour complex’.

The fact is that Westerners are materially rich (by comparison) and therefore a power imbalance exists. We have notably more control than the materially poor around us in developing countries. We can choose to give or not to give: that in itself gives us power. If we are not careful, we can end up accentuating this imbalance by how we give/don’t give. We need to question our own attitude, motives, and actions to avoid the local people elevating us further or us feeling superior or self-righteous. Historically, vazahy here have a bad name for themselves in terms of how they treat the local people and memories of colonisation linger on (see Simon’s blog post for more detail on this). We want to be different to this but when people comment how are ‘better’ or ‘kinder’ than other vazahy it can quickly go to our heads. Even as Christians we cannot always have the perfect attitude or be the nicest people in the world (there are plenty of nice people who don’t know Christ!) but we are called to be humble like Christ and truly live like we really cannot save the world! We need to approach people with respect and genuine concern, seeking to find out their real felt needs instead of assuming what we think they need. That said, the biggest need of every human will always be the gospel. Our primary concern, even above addressing material poverty, is sharing the hope of Jesus with our neighbours. He is the true saviour of the world and the one we should emulate and point towards through all our words, deeds, and attitudes.

How do I decide who to help?

As previously discussed, we cannot help everyone. But how then do we decide who to support? YWAM missionary friends here in Madagascar encouraged us to think of the kind of groups of people we want to invest in. They urged us to think about specific people or groups of people God is moving our hearts towards (e.g., single mothers or disabled people) and focusing on them. Our friends also suggested channelling our giving to people we know and have a relationship with – this way we can have more of a holistic impact rather than simply giving money to an unknown person.

A Final Challenge

So, there you have it: some insight into the dilemma I face daily here in Madagascar. Ultimately, we are giving to those in need no matter what we do: we are either giving money, giving respect and love, or we are giving the impression that we don’t care. Often, I am torn between generosity and upholding personal boundaries. I struggle to consistently impart respect and dignity to those in need without getting more frustrated. I get tired of the constant pulling on my heart strings when I know that I cannot truly help very individual, even if I give money. Faith in practice is hard work. Yet, I have met Malagasies who challenge me by their generosity. It’s a privilege to witness friends giving out of their poverty. They see a need and want to be part of the solution. I want to be more like them, and ultimately, more like our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave everything to save us in our poverty.

How does God want you to reach out those in your life who experience material poverty? What will you give them? Who has he placed on your heart? How can you generously and holistically help them? How can you "act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God" [Micah 6:8]?