Several weeks before Christmas, God gave me the idea to start a special campaign for our benevolence fund. I called it 100x$100 and sought out 100 people to give $100each to the benevolence fund to help people with their utility bills. It was a tremendous success and God richly blessed the generousity of His people as they gave into this fund.
At Christmastime, we were faced with the decision of how to distribute the money. This is not an easy job. We want to be good stewards, we want to bless those that truly need it, and we want don’t want to miss anyone in our congregation who may be in need, but too shy or ashamed to admit it. We prayed and prepared to distribute the money.
During this time, we received phone calls from individuals requesting money. One of them was quite determined and called several times. She wasn’t specific about her need, but just wanted help however we could. We, as the Pastoral staff at New Life, prayed about how to help her and discussed it among ourselves. With this one individual, we could not come to an agreement. One pastor said “This”, another said “that”, and I was confused about what to do for her. As the days before Christmas ticked away, we felt pressured to get her something, so we came to a conclusion we all agreed was best and left it in God’s hands.
Today, she called again, spoke to our Sr. Pastor and wanted more help. When I first heard her name, I wasn’t sure it was the same woman…same first name, different last name. I searched our records and found that the phone number was the same. On a whim, or divine inspiration, I ran this new name through our county’s database of court records. This woman’s name came up with 2 1/2 pages of records, including a crime of forced entry/robbery against a very respected family in our community and several other similar crimes. I was shocked! I should have looked under the other name, but I’d seen enough.
I called her back, wanting to confront her, nervously unsure about what to say. I asked her about the two last names and she claimed her last name was the first name given, not the second. I simply told her that we had helped her at Christmas and couldn’t help her further. She was a bit disappointed, and we ended the brief phone call.
I’ve thought about it off and on today and wondered, “What would Jesus have done?” I’ve also wondered if we handled this wrong. I don’t know the anwer. I am saddened to feel like we have to question the heart of the people we help and I know that even people with the worst of criminal records can be transformed by the love and touch of Jesus Christ. I hope she appreciates the help we gave her in the name of Jesus and that He works in her heart and changes her life. I pray she reaches out to us again, not for silver or gold, but for a treasure that is worth more than any other in this life, eternal life through the forgiveness of sins in the name of JESUS.
Pray for her…whatever her name is, He knows the truth!!