Christians Enabling the Invasion

Why I am suspending my donations to Samaritan’s Purse

An issue every Christian wrestles with is when is apparent charity not loving with God’s love but instead toxic and enabling.  Every Christian should wrestle with this question and often.  For we are to feed the hungry, visit the sick and lonely, and more.  But we are not to enable destructive sin nor are we to disregard our neighbors instead of loving them.

I can better express the problem with real life examples.  Many are foolish enough to give money to panhandlers.  Heck, even I have done it in times past.  But more often than not, the money goes to buy drugs or simply rewards and invites anti-social behaviors.  Worse is when someone stops traffic to give to a panhandler — yes, a car in front of me has done that on more than one occasion.  Is that loving the neighbor trying to drive behind you?

Providing space for the homeless can be noble.  But what if a church allows a homeless encampment on their property in the midst of a neighborhood?  One such church is Montavilla Methodist Church Portland.

Neighbors who live near a church that has allowed people to camp in their parking are fed up, claiming it’s been a source of crime, drugs, and other suspicious activity.

Located in the parking lot of the Montavilla United Methodist, the camp has been a point of contention in the neighborhood for years.

Julia Tuhoy lives near the church and said people have been living on the property over the three she’s called the area around Southeast 80th and Ash Street home. She said not only does the property itself have suspicious and concerning activity, but it also spills into the surrounding streets.

“It’s been a few years of feeling the consequences in the neighborhood of encampments that go unchecked,” Tuhoy said….

“There’s obvious drug activity,” Tuhoy said. “It’s pretty unsanitary. There’s usually garbage and human feces that ends up in my yard from the area.”

Criminal activity and safety are also a big concern among Tuhoy and her neighbors.

Is Montavilla Methodist Church loving their neighbors?

I know first hand that dealing with the homeless is not a simple question for churches.  My small church has assisted at least two homeless as they strove towards independence.  But we also tolerated a certain homeless man frequently on our property . . . until we found out he was using our corner to deal drugs.  We had to face up to the fact our tolerance up to that point was not loving our neighbors living around us.

Separately, in a public park near me, a local Christian charity calling itself “Church Without Walls” was feeding homeless.  Sounds loving, does it not?  But guess where the homeless therefore gathered.  In that public park, making it unusable for families.

An excellent podcast by Adam Coleman contains some good straight talk about when supposed love is not loving but instead enabling toxic or even deadly behaviors.

The Leftist Solution Is To Enable The Problem, Not End It

He addresses mainly political situations in the podcast.  But much of what he says is applicable to the church as well.

Which brings me to the topic du jour concerning Christian charity — aid for migrants headed for and entering the United States and Europe.  Obviously many of these migrants and supposed refugees are fleeing bad situations.

But when they skip any number of safe areas and go through dangerous areas, such as the Darien Gap on foot or the English Channel on rafts, to enter the U. S. or the U. K., they are country-shopping.  Most are military-aged young men who are country-shopping.  And most of them are far from good guests.  In the U. S., most do not bother to show up for their immigration/asylum hearing.  Most immediately get on welfare.  Many take housing on the taxpayer’s dime.  And, as we are finding out the hard way, many are dangerous criminals.  (By the way, don’t bother with the usual tedious woke gaslighting about the above in the comments.  I will delete gaslighting.)  And I have not mentioned how mass immigration can harm the culture of host countries.

So when Christian charities and NGOs provide logistics for the migrants, that is enabling and toxic.  And it is not loving one’s neighbors who are U. S. and U. K. citizens.

I’ve long known World Relief and World Vision are deeply involved in aiding mass and illegal immigration.  I’ve been disappointed to find out Samaritan’s Purse is, too, if on a smaller scale.  I thought they were wiser than that.  Apparently not.  This video from Evangelical Dark Web is eye-opening (even if I think it goes too far to say Franklin Graham is lying. That he delegates and trusts too much is perhaps more accurate.).

The involvement with RV4 is particularly concerning.  And Samaritan’s Purse is aiding migration camps by their own admission. (Emphasis mine.):

Tens of thousands of migrants have benefitted from relief—food, safe shelter, counseling, or medical care—provided by Samaritan’s Purse at multiple locations within Colombia since 2018. Over the past few years, well more than a million Venezuelans have fled to Colombia, their western neighbor, and another 3 million or so have left for other countries in the Americas and beyond.

“For other countries” but mainly the United States.  But, Europe, you aren’t left out.  Samaritan’s Purse is aiding the Invasion there, too, with prepaid debit cards and more.

So I have suspended my donations to Samaritan’s Purse and have politely informed them why.  (And in case you are wondering, my donations to Samaritan’s Purse through the years have been . . . substantial.  I will just leave it at that.)

For I will not willingly aid the Invasion.  I unwillingly aid it through my taxes too much as it is.  I oppose the ongoing invasion of the United States and Europe.  I am convinced it must be stopped and mostly reversed.

Why?  Because I’m mean and awful?  Well, I am mean and awful.  Yes, I’m a bad Christian.  But on a good day I do try to love my neighbor anyway.

And loving my neighbor includes stopping the Invasion, not aiding it.