Why I support Five Talents
I am Ronnie Barker---or am I?
In the well known height, class, wealth sketch, tall, bowler hatted John Cleese
was the wealthy, upper class, city gent; medium height, trilby hatted Ronnie Barker was the middle class, white collar worker; and short, cloth capped Ronnie Corbett the poor, lower class, blue collar worker. Everyone knew their place and their station in life.
In Matthew c19 v16-22 a young man asked Jesus, what must I do to receive eternal life? Keep the commandments Jesus replied. What else he asked? Sell all that you have and give to the poor, then come and follow me, Jesus responded. The young man went away sad, because he was very rich. (I think that the 'all', here, means all that we can afford. Be generous in our giving to the poor.)
Surely this story is not about me. I am not very rich, I know my place, I am Ronnie Barker, middle income, so that is me off the hook!
But let's look at some world statistics:
1.4 Billion people live on less than US$1.25 per day, that's 'extreme global poverty'.
600 Million children live in extreme poverty.
Populations below the poverty line:Zambia 86%, Haiti 80%, Swaziland 69%, Gaza Strip 63%
9.2 Million children under 5 years old die each year. That's 25,000 per day!
885 Million people do not have access to clean water.
2.5 Billion do not have access to adequate sanitation.
75 Million children do not have schooling.
Life expectancy in Tanzania is only 46 years.
How fortunate I am to live in England's 'green and pleasant land'.
Now where do I stand?
Measuring myself against this list puts me right in the centre of the story above, I am a rich man (comparatively), I have become John Cleese!
So with this realisation, what should I do with any spare cash? I must follow Christ's instruction and give it to the poor.
I commend to you Five Talents as a channel for your donations to reach the poor. Five Talents micro financing scheme recycles your money, loan-repay,loan-repay, loan-repay, loan-repay.
Measure yourselves against the poor, not your affluent neighbours. What stream of income etc. do you not need that could help supply the needs of the poor? Think about it and then act upon it.
Christ said, in as much as you did it unto one of the least of these, you did it unto me.
A short 'stand alone' story
Recently I had an '0' birthday and decided that I would treat four of us to a meal in a restaurant. We checked venues and menus and selected where we would go, but for some reason did not book it up.
One of our friends is an OAP living on the state pension and sometimes, due to her generosity to others, runs out of money and can only afford to cook just a jacket potato for her dinner.
How could I justify spending close to ½ a week's pension per person on one meal? How many micro finance loans could Five Talents make for the price of our meal, 4, 5, 6, 7 or more?
I cooked at home, and sent the money we did not spend, to Five Talents.
25th May 2011
In the well known height, class, wealth sketch, tall, bowler hatted John Cleese
was the wealthy, upper class, city gent; medium height, trilby hatted Ronnie Barker was the middle class, white collar worker; and short, cloth capped Ronnie Corbett the poor, lower class, blue collar worker. Everyone knew their place and their station in life.In Matthew c19 v16-22 a young man asked Jesus, what must I do to receive eternal life? Keep the commandments Jesus replied. What else he asked? Sell all that you have and give to the poor, then come and follow me, Jesus responded. The young man went away sad, because he was very rich. (I think that the 'all', here, means all that we can afford. Be generous in our giving to the poor.)
Surely this story is not about me. I am not very rich, I know my place, I am Ronnie Barker, middle income, so that is me off the hook!
But let's look at some world statistics:
1.4 Billion people live on less than US$1.25 per day, that's 'extreme global poverty'.
600 Million children live in extreme poverty.
Populations below the poverty line:Zambia 86%, Haiti 80%, Swaziland 69%, Gaza Strip 63%
9.2 Million children under 5 years old die each year. That's 25,000 per day!
885 Million people do not have access to clean water.
2.5 Billion do not have access to adequate sanitation.
75 Million children do not have schooling.
Life expectancy in Tanzania is only 46 years.
How fortunate I am to live in England's 'green and pleasant land'.
Now where do I stand?
Measuring myself against this list puts me right in the centre of the story above, I am a rich man (comparatively), I have become John Cleese!
So with this realisation, what should I do with any spare cash? I must follow Christ's instruction and give it to the poor.
I commend to you Five Talents as a channel for your donations to reach the poor. Five Talents micro financing scheme recycles your money, loan-repay,loan-repay, loan-repay, loan-repay.
Measure yourselves against the poor, not your affluent neighbours. What stream of income etc. do you not need that could help supply the needs of the poor? Think about it and then act upon it.
Christ said, in as much as you did it unto one of the least of these, you did it unto me.
A short 'stand alone' story
Recently I had an '0' birthday and decided that I would treat four of us to a meal in a restaurant. We checked venues and menus and selected where we would go, but for some reason did not book it up.
One of our friends is an OAP living on the state pension and sometimes, due to her generosity to others, runs out of money and can only afford to cook just a jacket potato for her dinner.
How could I justify spending close to ½ a week's pension per person on one meal? How many micro finance loans could Five Talents make for the price of our meal, 4, 5, 6, 7 or more?
I cooked at home, and sent the money we did not spend, to Five Talents.
25th May 2011