[Click HERE for Part 1: The Problem]

After years of trial and error, my best answer is, only give to poor people that you know.  Only give to people that you know their story, you know the people they know, and you know their situation beyond just the things they tell you – in short, people who have become your friends.  This is the best way to be able to sift through all the possibilities and discern the best approach when someone asks you for money.  This obviously requires knowing and living or working around poor people, AND knowing enough of them to match your ability to give.

While I believe befriending those in need and moving into the broken places of our world is what God wants Christians to do in general (Can you imagine what our country alone would look like in just a few years if the majority Christians decided to move into the ghettos, the projects, the trailer parks, and the broken school districts to become intentional neighbors there!), this isn’t the answer for everyone.  So if this doesn’t work for you, the backup plan is to give to people and organizations who know and help poor people.  There are plenty of ministers, missionaries, organizations and agencies that operate more on the stand over/hand-out philosophy instead of the stand beside/hand-up philosophy.  There are also TONS of amazing people and organizations out there doing very cool incarnational ministry (this is Christian-speak for living out the way of Jesus among a specific group of people or in a specific environment) in almost every corner of the world.  These people and organizations are best able to discern the wisest and most effective use of the money you entrust them with because they know the specific people and situations they are dealing with in a close and personal way.

We live out these practices by living among, and intentionally befriending, poor people, giving at least 10% of our income to our church (Matthew 23:23) which does a beautiful job of that incarnational thing I mentioned above, and then give to other missionaries and organizations that know and help poor people.

Give in a way that reflects the radical financial generosity taught and commended by the one you follow, but do it wisely.