Requests for help

This week I have had several requests for a substantial amount of help. I've grown fairly accustomed to being asked daily for help in simple ways like asking for food or to use the restroom or phone which I gladly help with. But this week there have been larger monetary requests and it's these requests for help that I'm not always sure how to respond to.

Monday was rent money, and today was a pair of women needing bus fare to Texas to see their mother who was given a month to live. I want to be helpful, but on the other hand I don't exactly want to develop a reputation for having deep pockets so to speak and have the system be abused. Both of these people are willing to work in some form or another for the money, the women offered to clean and the man needing rent offered carpentry or handy man type services. This is great and I feel less like an enabler if we can work out some sort of barter. The church could definitely use a good cleaning, and we're revamping our office space so yeah I could probably use handy man services. But what's a fair wage?? I don't want to take advantage of them either.

On top of these two requests for money I had a man needing to do 60 hours of court ordered community service asking if we had anything he could do. I hate to turn away a volunteer, but what do I ask him to do? He's a chef by trade but seems willing to do whatever I can find for him to do... one thing I would really like to have done is someone to simply wash the walls off... but is that demeaning work? Can I make this man brainstorm programming ideas with me for community service hours?? Can talking about what led him to need to do service hours in the first place count?

Whether or not to give the money or whatever is one dilemma but on top of that once I decided to provide help to the man asking for the rent money, I wanted to suggest coming to worship, but I didn't want the help to seem somehow contingent upon his attendance at worship. Like I'm trying to buy parishioners.

And ultimately I'd like to give a bit of thought to where God is at in all of this? Is it enough to simply write checks? A large part of the meals we give on Thursday is feeding the spirit as well as the body, there's always a message and prayer before the food even arrives. How can I incorporate spiritual support along with the financial support without it seeming like I'm helping 'so that'... you know so that they'll come to worship, or or what-have you. But I guess Christ died 'so that' so that we may have eternal life. Ahhh... see the dilemma?

So yeah the outcomes... I gave some rent money- community service man is coming back Wednesday to see what I've found for him to do, and the sisters... well, I haven't yet figured that one out...