This one might be a little radical. But stick with me.
Lesson #5
Give Someone a Job.
Yep. Hire Someone. To do your cleaning, laundry, cooking, landscaping, gardening, whatever. Be creative.
I can hear you saying, You’re telling me to hire a maid?
Well, I don’t really like that word, but basically, Yes. Giving someone a job is the best way to help that person get out of poverty.
We do this all the time in Africa. We have two people who work for us full-time. I know that full-time help is much more expensive in America. So try once a week.
But I know the stereotype. Only the rich and lazy have maids and gardeners and cooks.
Well, we’ve already established that you are rich. Get used to the idea.
And lazy? Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. Having full-time house help frees up hours of time that I can invest in ministry. You don’t have to use that time for watching television. Volunteer in a pregnancy center or make meals for people who are sick or better yet, get to know your neighbors.
It’s time that people in the west stop seeing these kind of jobs as a luxury, and instead see them as ministry.
I’m not suggesting that you hire someone and then make sure you are never home when she is around. I’m suggesting that you hire somone and then invest in his life.
Which involves talking. Getting to know him. Finding out who her kids are. Having the family over to dinner. Discovering his goals and aspirations, and then helping him meet those goals. Encouraging English classes, if needed. Helping her take college classes. Teaching him new skills that will help him move upwards economically.
And maybe even spoiling her kids at Christmas. Don’t you think that would be much better than buying presents for an unknown, faceless “poor” person who will probably lose his dignity because he can’t afford gifts for his kids himself? How much better for the family to receive gifts from her generous employer!
What I’m talking about is messy business, folks. Trust me. There are many times when I would just prefer to do my ironing myself, thank you very much, because it’s emotionally hard and complicated and just plain messy to be that involved in a person’s life.
But isn’t that what we are called to do?
Like I said, it’s much easier to just throw money at the problem. Or pick up a few extra gifts at Christmas for a person you will never meet.
But that’s not going to end poverty.
So think about it. If you are on a tight budget, maybe you already scrimp and save and sacrifice to sponsor a child overseas or support an Indian pastor. And what I am suggesting is that it would be just as valuable (maybe more so) to scrimp and save and sacrifice to hire someone.
It’s not a luxury; it’s ministry. If you are willing to see it the right way.
And the last one (for now!): Part 5
gutmanfam
Hmmm… that's an interesting one, and I hadn't thought of it that way before. Maybe I'll make sure the Boss reads this post! 🙂
Heather and Adam
I agree, I think that hiring somebody can really be one of the best ways to support others. This is one of the few ways that I can stomach paying the amount of money we have so far to stay at our guest house in Ethiopia. I have looked at all of the jobs that we have helped sustain and all of the families that we are supporting. Adam
Erin
I keep thinking about this one. I see your point, but I feel there are other sides to the issue.
I think there is something very good in physically working hard & doing your own work. I don't want my children to grow up feeling like high class folks who don't scrub their own floors.
What to do?
Perhaps there is a middle ground. My husband grew up in comfort wealth (father an MD), but still learned a strong work ethic. His father did hire weekend help for yard work & such, & my he & my husband (as a kid) worked along side the man that they paid to help.
Hire household help & then work as a whole team together could be good?
Erin
*comfortable wealth was what I meant to say…
p.s. came here via my fried Julie Handel & I am blessed by your writing!
Amy Medina
Erin–I definitely understand.
I struggle with this too because this is the life we live in Africa, and I too do not want my children growing up with an elitist attitude. At the beginning, I REALLY struggled. And certainly this is a matter of conviction for every family…and a matter of personal taste.
So how I get around this issue is:
–my kids still have chores. Our house cleaner does not do everything.
–I still have chores. And living here, I don't have a lot of things like a dryer, dishwasher, etc., so there is still plenty to do for both my house cleaner and myself. But I know this would be different in the States.
–We treat our worker as a part of the family and with a great deal of respect (at least, we are trying to!). I insist my kids treat her with respect and treat her work with respect. She is not a "maid."
I know a family here with older children, and every few months, each child "apprentices" with one of their workers…follows them around for the day and does what they do…to teach the kids the skills and also another way to show respect to the worker. I love that idea and will do it when my kids are older.
I think it's also the attitude behind it that's important….would the person be hired only to make my life easier? Or would it be a means of ministry to that person, and means of freeing me up for "different" work?
Thanks for commenting! And I am certainly not saying that this should be the conviction of every Christian–just that it's possible to see it in a different light.
I like to remind myself that even the Proverbs 31 woman had servants. 🙂
Erin
I love the idea of apprenticing under the people whom you have hired. that is great!