Hey just thought I'd bring this topic back to the top. Ger, who is one of our volunteer staff in senior high posted a good response and a bit of a call out on our practice of doing Random acts of senseless kindness...
RASKS have become a popular way for youth groups to expose thier kids to the reality of life outside peaceful suburbia (or in our case rural Coaldalia). You know I think she is right in many ways. In my/our own defense on the project I will say:
I have kinda seen the RASK trip as more of a launching point or a reason to be 'out there'. Last year when we did it one of our volunteers led a group of boys to a shelter where they spent the night helping the shelter wash dishes and chatted with the residents. To me this residual 'ministry' is more legit than just giving people stuff because we claim to love them in Jesus name. But I think Ger's right in calling RASKS a form of bigotry.
Wow that's a hard charge to swallow. But probably important.
I have ranted to some of you about how I feel about soup kitchens. It seems like these are really convenient ways for us to appease our consciences. And actually - I kinda think soup kitchens are part of the problem of poverty and addictive behaviour. There is not a homeless person in Canada, I am guessing, who doesn't have access to food somewhere somehow. I'm not saying we should deny homeless people food or shelter but that is really the least of their problems. Seriously, if we care about the poor and addicted as much as we brag we do. why don't we set aside a room in our houses to board one of these souls?
1 comment:
Ok - do it. Until we all do it we will need homeless shelters and soup kitchens. I see it the same way as I see YFC chapters. They only exist because the church has failed to do real youth ministry. It is that way with any parachurch organization. Unfortunately the church for the ost part is too busy power-tripping, and programming that it forgets why it exists. We are the problem, you and me.
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