About This Issue

Missionaries that work among the poor and needy cannot ignore their physical and vocational needs.  But social issues are complex, often steeped in cultural tradition and not easily understood by foreign workers.  In this issue of wec.go we present some of the heartaches and challenges workers live with day to day in trying to come along side people in their daily lives.

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Steps or Stumbles?
The Tension of Social Injustice

In today’s modern, mixed-up world what does it mean to be a loving neighbor like the Good Samaritan?  Have you ever thought about how convenient it was that the injured man in the parable was in an isolated location? But what if you live next door to your "neighbor?" You can’t get on your donkey the next morning and ride away from it all. What does it mean to love your neighbor? Meeting the crisis of their immediate needs seems to be what the story implies. Then I ask, what is a crisis? Are crises only life and death matters? Or does crisis mean anything with long-term consequences if left untreated?  A worker in India wrestles with these questions as he seeks to be Christ’s representative. 

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Social Injustice:
The Impoverished and Disabled

Welcome to My World

As a worker in Equatorial Guinea, a missionary struggles with the complexities of serving in a country of extreme poverty. “Living in the midst of poverty is not easy. It is not fun. I don’t feel noble. It is very confusing.  Jesus tells you to have compassion.  Where’s the line drawn between being generous and creating dependence? How do you know when you are being compassionate or are just throwing a few bucks at a problem hoping to immediately solve the issue? And talk about existential issues. Thoughts such as ‘If I were born in Equatorial Guinea instead of the States…’ can keep you up all night.

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It Ain't Always Easy

The Lord sent Neil Donoghue and his family to Chad to build wheelchairs and to provide assistance for the disabled as best they can. The times when they can do nothing to help someone are difficult to accept.  However, after reflecting on the book of Matthew he was reminded that it’s not up to them to fix every problem. 

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Social Injustice:
Women and Children

To Be Somebody

Being the daughter of an unmarried woman in a nomad settlement is to know what being “marginalized” means.  Yeshe dreams of running away where no one knows that she is “fatherless” .  Perhaps if she were somebody else it would not be so bad to be an illegitimate child who does not know her own father.

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The Village Report

If the world were a village of only 100 people what would it look like? How many people would be Christian, Muslim or Hindu? How many Americans, Africans or Europians would live there? What percentage would speak what language? How would their wealth be distributed?

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"Molly," My Mom

Henry Bell, the present director or WEC Canada, recalls the impact of his missionary mother “Molly” in Liberia.  Molly worked constantly, either organizing the home, providing nursing care or delivering babies in the clinic. Her life spoke even louder than her clear verbal testimony of Jesus’ love. As the Liberian church grew, Molly became distressed by the lack of teaching offered to women.  Her burden and passion to see this problem addressed resulted in a successful program that has stood the test of time and nearly 25 years of civil war. 

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