"Why should we keep giving to foreign missions when there is so much need for disaster relief here in the United States?"  My guess is that a lot of people are asking questions like this, either out loud or in their heads.  The question may be especially relevant this month for American Baptists as they give to the World Mission Offering.  

My gut response to this question is 'GIVE TO BOTH."  As American Baptist missionaries we hope and pray that churches and individuals are giving to hurricane relief, and we encourage you to do so through "One Great Hour of Sharing" with ABCUSA.    Giving in times of disaster is the Christian thing to do, and historically, Christians have been generous in the face of tragedy. 

Our Costa Rican brothers and sisters have been incredibly compassionate in asking us if we have friends and relatives in the gulf.  Their compassion has no borders.  I have found that to be true of so many of you in the states as we spent last year in many of your churches; when there is a need, the body of Christ responds. 

At the same time, crises and disasters do not erase the words of Christ given in the great commission.  One could even say that in the face of such crises, the need for evangelism, strong disciples and strong churches becomes even more crucial.  Churches and Christian individuals in the U.S. are able to help flood victims because someone invested in them as a church.  Churches have trained pastors and leaders and adequate buildings because someone invested in them.  Christian chaplains, social workers, and volunteer disaster relief workers (like those from ABMen of the Great River Region) are all able to respond because of faithful giving to ministry and mission. 

Here in Costa Rica, evangelical Christians are still a real minority (5% to 15% of the total population) and Baptists constitute a minority within that minority.  In a country where the cost of living is not very different from that of the U.S., a typical worker makes $500 per month and a typical Baptist pastor may make half that much.  So the need for trained leaders and the need for resources is an ongoing reality.  Many IM missionaries serve in even poorer countries, and the daily needs of the people are just as intense, though less visible and less obvious, than the needs of hurricane victims.  Just as it was true with the hurricanes, when crisis hits, the poor suffer the most.  Many IM missionaries were involved with distributing relief funds after the Tsunami devastated Southeast Asia, just as many churches and home missionaries are rolling up their sleeves now in Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. 

We simply don't have to make this an either-or situation.  The Apostle Paul was dependent on churches to fund his missionary journeys but the Corinthian letters tell us clearly that in the midst of his mission work he took up collections for the saints in Jerusalem who were suffering from famine.  Speaking of the Macedonians Paul writes in II Cor. 8, "And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves firs to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will."   Believers from Europe and Asia Minor gave to help their brothers and sisters in Palestine, just as Palestinian Christians had given to fund Paul's trips to Asia Minor and Europe.  To the statement, "We need to take care of our own first," the kingdom response is that "our own" is really made up of brothers and sisters all around the world and that God has called us to care for all people.  Simply put, there is no us and them.  People who are committed to missions, or have been on mission trips, or have had international guests in their churches find it impossible to think in terms of "us and them."  It's all us, and there is no longer a them. 

Having been a pastor in churches I know that there is a tendency to think of giving as a pie and that there is only so much pie to go around.  I've also been in enough Baptist Churches to know that pie is seen as a blessing and often shows up at potluck dinners.  But I have seen that some Christians aren't so concerned about how to cut the pie, because they are busy making more pies.  Churches that function out of fear of scarcity usually cling more tightly to resources, whereas churches that are generous with what God has given them experience blessing and provision.   I'm not advocating some TV preacher prosperity gospel here, but I am saying that generosity begets generosity, and with the amount of resources we have (especially in the U.S) we almost never have to choose between good causes.  The Great Commission is biblical, and so is disaster relief.  So let's give to both. 

Between writing this and editing it an earthquake has devastated parts of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.  Let's give!

Thank you for your giving to the World Mission Offering and to the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering.