Double~take | sponsor child

Is it Christ-like to give without the love?

I

have a sponsor child. His name is Emmanuel, and he is from Uganda. I’m going to get into trouble for this, but the only reason his name popped into my head today was because I recently started getting all my yearly statements to fill in my (Australian) tax return. Including all my tax deductible Red Shield and charitable donation receipts. What happens when the Red Shield doorknockers meet the people they aim to help? What happens if they never meet? Who is The Salvation Army, anyway? Which of course was the cause of my guilt pangs as I realised I had forgotten about Emmanuel AGAIN, and hence, I (who give time and money) never meet Emmanuel or his family (who struggle to make money) even in my thoughts.

I set up a direct debit from my bank account so that someone in Australia relieves me of $20 a month, and sends it to Emmanuel to pay for food and school stuff. And then I promptly forget about it. Repeatedly. I do have some redeeming features; namely that I brought all his details to Canada with me so I could write to him like I’ve been meaning to for months; and I ensured that my bank account had enough funds to last out the year, because I knew I’d be busy when I got here, but still. And there’s the disturbing fact that I can forget that someone is relieving me of enough cash to support a child.

I am saved by the guys on the other end - the Ugandan Salvos who give out the money, and, I assume, as much love and attention as they can considering they’re vastly outnumbered. Is it sufficiently Christ-like to give someone the supplies they need, without the love that goes with it?

So of course now the answer pops into my head - if I don’t have love, I gain nothing. So I’m left with two options. That I’m a completely unloving jerk, and I should save my money (Not an option. Just because I don’t gain from it doesn’t mean Emmanuel doesn’t); or that I should alter my definition of love to include direct debit (maybe, but I still only get credit for the initial thought that instituted the ongoing transfer.)

Ultimately, I guess the chances of my meeting Emmanuel are slim anyway; and that the small gift I give so distractedly can be greatly used by God, regardless of what I get out of it. I guess if a few more people invested in such a small gift, my contribution wouldn’t seem so insignificant. At least in light of the overall outcome… kudos to direct debit.

Double~take appears every Saturday on theRubicon. Find past Double~take posts and a bio of Stephanie Hung here.

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