I’m going to let you know right up front: there is no answer to what I am going to post, wonder about or ask. How’s that for a warning? 🙂

As a pastor of a church, we get a lot of requests for help…none more than at Christmas time. I’m going to be totally honest here: it is uber tough saying, “I’m really sorry but we aren’t able to help.” I’ll give you just three scenarios we have been hit with just this week.

Scenario #1: Someone calls the church secretary’s private cell phone saying, “I got your number from you at the Thanksgiving dinner your church sponsored” then begins to tell a story of a father who had heart surgery and 4 boys who will not have a Christmas. First flag: the secretary was not at the dinner. Second flag: we do not know the person calling nor has she given us the name of the family needing help.

Scenario #2: A mom calls requesting help. First words were “we are new to Spencer and are looking for a church home. We were wondering if there would be any help for our kids for Christmas.” First flag: that first line. Second flag: the second line following the first one. The back story does seem to make this legitimate. 

Scenario #3: A man who is a friend of some folks in the church has been hit hard with the death of his wife (died of cancer in the past year) and then his sister and brother-in-law just recently (no insurance to cover burial expenses). We have been asked to help in any way (probably with a gift card to a grocery store).

All sound legitimate. And perhaps they all are. I may have sent up some flags but that does not negate the very possible need. What does the church do? Let me give you a bit more information. Since October we have filled over 100 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes (20 more than last year). Helped with filling backpacks for Liberian pastors and their families, teachers, and others. And recently helped the New Beginnings Pregnancy Resource Center with their Tree of Love (gifts for children and parents).

Now these requests. I truly have mixed emotions. I have seen/we have been victims of abuse of the system. People who make the rounds and do rather well. But I also don’t want to allow that abuse to cloud a legitimate need to help. The church is often accused of being cold and heartless and not caring about others. I don’t want OVCF to be seen as one of them.

Remember at the beginning I said there is no easy answer? There is also no easy answer to this question: what would you do if you were in my shoes?