Of Course…

Late last year when traveling through a village in central Kenya Jena and I came across a 4-year old orphan girl suffering from club foot syndrome. For those of you not familiar with club foot, it is a birth defect that affects the feet, typically causing the feet to turn inwards and sideways. It’s a disability that is correctable but only if caught at an early age. Zinnat was four and nearing the maximum age for which surgery would be effective. Her disability was severe and she was nearly incapable of walking. Generally speaking, girls are already a marginalized group, orphans more-so, and a disabled orphan girl… Hard rural life is rarely kind to even the most able of people; for her there was not a great deal of hope.

Of course we helped her… Well, no…. Not “of course”.

The world is full of need. I pass by it on every trip. Every village contains its own stories of the destitute. Every street-corner is a home for a beggar, cripple, or orphan of some kind. There are always hands tugging at my shirt sleeves. There are always voices calling out. Sometimes there are no words; just silent eyes imploring.

But I don’t have time to stop for everyone. I have a mandate to fulfill. Clean Water! Clean Blood! That’s what I’m here for. I don’t have programs and strategies for addressing all the needs of Africa. I don’t have money for investing in every problem I encounter. And I have two, maybe three weeks to be as productive as possible and then I have my own family, desperate to have me back home again. Besides there are other people better equipped to handle these other “sectors” – agriculture, nutrition, medical care, education. We all do our part. Clean Water! Clean Blood! That’s my part. I’ve helped lots of other people…

It’s not easy being a NGO worker. I have performance expectations. Some placed on me by my organization. Some placed by donors who give money. Some by my own intrinsic values. There are goals to achieve, outputs to accomplish, I have funding I have to invest, and reports to write. We have to be accountable! We have to prove we are making a difference! You can’t do that without numbers. Yes… the almighty ‘number’.

So you see – not “of course”.

Maybe you think I’m crazy or callous or even heartless. Let me ask you a question: how many times have you been ‘wowed’ by a number and then walked away to go buy a coffee or check facebook? Those numbers are made up of actual people just like Zinnat. Or do you think poverty is just an issue in Africa? Are needy people just those with financial problems? How many needy people live in your area? The guy you always see hanging out near the highway with a “hungry” sign. The bum that asks you for change while pumping gas. The kid in the raggy clothes shuffling home from school. How about an alcoholic neighbor or a couple caught in a destructive downward spiral in their relationship. But you’re like me right? You’ve got a job, a family; someplace important you need to be… maybe you volunteer at your church or soup kitchen, or your local chapter for Habitat for Humanity. You give money to charities, and that should be enough right? You can’t help everyone you pass by, and there are certainly organizations that are reaching out to the needy in your area; ministries that are better equipped to deal with those types of ‘issues’.

You want to know something? Mostly I’m just making excuses. But I’m not the only one making them. Sure, I literally can’t help everyone out there. I don’t actually have either the money or time to affect significant long-term change in every person’s life I see. But the funny thing is, some of the most important things you give don’t cost money or even take a lot of time. But it takes something most of us aren’t willing to give… ourselves. The short moment it takes to look someone in the eye and make them feel valued; a brief conversation; a word or a touch that conveys meaning and affirmation – that I can give to everyone I meet.

Intentionality with a little compassion. It doesn’t take much. And most of the time, that’s the best thing you can do for someone. In the word’s of a very wise Rwandan man I know, “you Americans are too concerned about solutions. You need to understand the importance of the ministry of relationships.” And he’s right.

The funny thing is, relationships compel action. Jena and I did do something about Zinnat. I could have walked past but we took a moment to talk to her, pray together, let her sit on our laps and hear her story. And those moments of intentionality affected me perhaps more than Zinnat. We researched clinics and found one in Kenya that specializes in corrective surgery for club foot syndrome and we made sure Zinnat got there. She’s recovering now and this month Jena is visiting her to see how she’s doing.

I wish I could say I always respond to people with that kind of compassion, that kind of relational action. But I don’t. And there’s really no good excuse for it.

How about you? What’s your excuse?