Mood:  a-ok

If you don't know that we are supporters of Compassion International by now, you are either very new to my blog or you have had your head stuck in the sand. We presently are the financial supporters for one child, Marcelo, from Bolivia and we are correspondence sponsors for three other children ~ Feyber from Colombia, Somi from Indonesia and Emmanuel from Tanzania. We love Compassion almost as much as we love our own mission, BCM International, and are always trying to get folks involved in either ministry.

The other day, a Compassion friend of mine...actually the man that got me started with Compassion...invited me to join the Facebook group "Help the poor in Bolivia". Since we sponsor Marcelo from Bolivia, I thought it would be a neat group to join.

Almost immediately I got a response from an old childhood friend of mine. First let me give you some background as to this friend. He was a couple of years younger than me and we went to church together and hung out a little bit together. Emphases on little bit. A couple of years ago I reconnected with him through facebook. We may have posted something on each others wall maybe once or twice and that has been the extent of it.

So, what did this old friend write? Nothing spectacular, just the phrase "Let's help the poor in the United States first!" That was it. At first I thought it was amusing. I didn't take offense at all...until...I went to respond to his comment and found that he had unfriended me! After finding that out, I though, "Wow! He must really be serious.!"

I went through a series of emotions. At first I was bewildered. Then I soon became a little angry. Obviously he hadn't done his research regarding what Sarah and I do. We spend much more money on the poor here where we live than what we would ever spend supporting Compassion kids. Then I became a little angrier. I mean, how dare him criticize me whether he knows what I do for a living or not. It is my business how I spend my money.

Don't get me wrong, obviously I think it is important to take care of our own first, then branch out from there. I am probably using this verse very much out of context, but I ascribe by this verse found in Acts 1:8b:

...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

I try to begin at home, then to the US in general then around the world. We have our ministry here. We occasionally will minister or send our money to help others around the United States. Then we minister abroad.

So, that brings me to this weeks Men's Monday Meme question...actually you know me...it's a series of questions.

What do you think? Should we only help those here at home and forget those abroad? Have those abroad "gotten themselves into their own mess", and we need to clean up our own "messes"? Is it anyone's business what we do with our time and money? Please give me your thoughts on this topic.

Here are the rules:

1. This is a man's meme, so the answers must be the answers from a man. Either the man can answer on his blog, or a wife can interview her husband for her blog. However, if the wife puts it on her blog, she must stay true to what her husband said.
2. You are encouraged to put one of the Men's Monday Meme buttons found to the left on your blog. Just copy the code below the button of your choice. The more folks who link, the more readers you may have to visit your blog.
3. You may answer the question any time during the week up through next Monday. After you answer the question, add the address to your post to the Mr.Linky below. If you could, please only add the direct link to the post to make it easier for readers to find the entry.
4. My answer along with a new question will be posted next Monday. The new Mr. Linky will be added at midnight Monday night or sometime within the next couple of days after that .

And here's the new Mr. Linky:

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