Chicago

Chicago was definitely lots of fun. I enjoyed the windy city and I especially enjoyed the company. I liked walking everywhere even though my feet were sore everyday...it reminds me of Taipei when I walk everywhere...

There was a dilemma for all of us, I think, regarding how to respond to the many people that asked for money (some directly, some indirectly). I had that dilemma in Cambodia as well except the poor were a lot more bold and the poverty was right in your face. How do you really help them?

Jesus quoted part of the verse - Deuteronomy 15:11 (though He used it for a different context) - "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward those of your people who are poor and needy in your land"

So I know the commands of my God...but what if I don't know whether just giving them money helps at all? There's so much sin and corruption in Cambodia that children are exploited to beg for money and the money that they "earn" is taken from them. I desire to help those children yet, how?

Perhaps sometimes, Christians are called to look like fools...called to give generously even though we know it might not be helpful. But I don't think we should see the money as the most important thing we're giving them. The passage that kept on popping into my head while I was in Cambodia was this: Acts 3:6 - Peter and John were going to the temple to pray and a a lame beggar asked them for money. Peter replied, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk"
If we have money, it is just the tool that can be used to get that first foot into the door of someone's heart...but it is the power of the gospel and of the name of Jesus Christ that totally blows that door open.
Because honestly, I don't have a lot of money. I'm a student and still dependent upon my parents who work very hard to support me still. But I often forget that I possess the most life-transforming gift in my hands: Jesus Christ.
I suppose, then, that I shouldn't worry about looking like a fool...for it's all about how God sees me, and not how men see me: "Am I now trying to win human approval, or God's approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ" - Gal 1:10.