Alligator Arms
My friend Rusty (an Auburn man) uses this metaphor all the time. When it feels like what you want to touch is just out of your reach. No matter how hard you think, how far you stretch or how strong your body, you can’t grab hold. Can’t do anything with it.
Alligator arms.
That’s how I felt last week in Haiti. My first visit. Toured around with Kurt Candler, Executive Director of The 410 Bridge. We saw the mass grave hiding 200,000 bodies (maybe two thirds of those who died in the earthquake at 4:53 p.m. on January 12, 2010). We saw refugee villages where 200,000 people still live. We saw extreme poverty. We saw 80% unemployment. I could go on and on.
Thousands of churches, ministries, international relief agencies, the United Nations . . . . almost every non-profit is trying to help Haiti. It’s the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere in almost every category. Estimates say as much as $10 billion has flowed into Haiti since the quake. Estimates say poverty is worse now than before. Go figure.
Six of us spent four days touring around and talking exclusively about the poverty of Haiti, what could and should be done. I came to two conclusions. Only two.
1. Differentiate between charity and development and be clear which you’re getting involved with. Development . . . the sustainable kind . . . has to be ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’. The 410 Bridge folks convinced me that we only make a sustainable difference when we encourage and equip people to fish for themselves. This is not to say we don’t give people fish. That’s charity. When Jesus said “I was thirsty,” He didn’t finish the sentence with “and you dug me a well in only 24 months!”. He said “and you gave me drink.” Charity is good. Charity is necessary. But charity is different. It creates dependency over time.
2. “Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone” is wise but extremely difficult. It requires discipline. Visit Haiti, see the poverty and you’re ready to do something. You want to fix it. You want to make a big difference for a lot of people fast. But you can’t. You’ve got ‘alligator arms’. It’s like trying to dip the ocean dry with a coffee cup. It ain’t happening. But you can make a big difference to a small number of people, if you pick a specific need or community and commit to that little part. The 410 Bridge asks churches, businesses, families and individuals to make a multi-year commitment to community, sometimes as few as 1000 people. In a few years, you’ll know people by name. The children you sponsor will be kids you’ve played with. The clean water, schools, health care, businesses and churches that evolve will have your fingerprints on them, alongside those of the people who live there. Under the microscope, all the prints will be those of Jesus. His aren’t ‘alligator arms’. They reach all the way to you, to me, and to the people of Haiti.
“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” said Robert Browning. Reaching beyond our grasp is another definition of faith.
Let’s don’t ‘kick the can’ of extreme poverty into heaven’s realm and go back to sleep. Instead, let’s do what Jesus would have us do.
“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” 1 John 3:17
Question: Will you ‘do for one what you wish you could do for everyone’? Tell us here.
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