Desire Armed

I was having a conversation several weeks back with a friend in the seminary who is from Uganda. He has a passion for helping break the dependency that the churches and communities in his home country have on American Christians' money.

He told me that many of the Ugandan pastors and leaders feel pressure--indirect and direct--from their American supports to the extent that they have to model their ministers in such a way to keep supports and attract new ones.

This has become even more problematic in the past few years because American Christians now follow trends of charity (fashionable giving) based on the most recent issue. (Is human trafficking still in vogue?)

Which brings me to Haiti. Not to say that boots on the ground in Haiti isn't a good thing. They most certainly need our help and our financial resources. But already I am hearing that schools in Uganda that are dependent on donations from Americans to help fund the educational scholarships low on money that they are not sure how they will be able to operate. This, I am told, correlates to resources being diverted to Haiti.

A snippet from New Wine's an upcoming conference we'll be hosting has really got me thinking about how best to respond to Haiti, Uganda, and our very own neighborhoods.

People often think of caring for the poor in terms of giving them fish to eat, or better, teaching them to fish. Neither approach moves us beyond charity which keeps the poor dependent on us and is demeaning to their humanity. Community development involves partnering with the poor to own the pond. How do we sustain such community development?

The real question I ask about Haiti is whether our relief effort will allow them to sustain themselves, or if our relief effort will make them dependent on us. Money is required for both. However, the first one seeks for the resources that are put into Haiti to be reproduced by Haiti for Haiti. The second one would manifest itself as Haiti only having resources as long as we are sending it to them.

That will not last. There will be another cause right around the corner that will require our attention. We will have to respond by sending aid, workers, and money. Haiti will be on her own, but will she own the pond?