Our family has what we call a Help Fund. We put money in there in order to help people in need. That is stand-by money, in case God leads us to someone in need.
As we are no longer a member of any church, we are not obligated to give our tithes and offerings to the church. So we pool our money in the Help Fund together with some offerings. Then when we pray, we get sensitive to those people we know whom God is leading us to help. It could be a missionary who needs support, a pastor who needs rest, a friend who has a medical condition, a mom who has difficulty in sending her kids to school—it could actually be anybody that God leads our way.
We are just thankful to God for the privilege of becoming His stewards. We do not have much. I mean, we are not part of the financially powerful people in the world, but we are thankful in the privilege of being able to help other people who have more needs than us. And God has honored that by providing what we need.
Setting aside this Help Fund and honoring it by not getting personal expenses from there preserves the pool of money so it is available whenever someone is in need. That way, we get to take part in the ministry that God has for us anytime.
You don’t have to have a lot of money in order to do this. My husband always says, “Charity is sharing your bone to the dog.” This simply means that you share whatever you have. You don’t have to have millions in your bank account to help. Whatever you have can already go a long way.
