Funeral Support

During our security briefing, we were told the guards at the gate to our home are employed by the embassy and are NOT our staff. Therefore we do not have to feed them or pay them as we would hired staff like housekeepers or gardeners. When we got home in the afternoon, one of the guards appeared at our back door and informed me his mother had died and he needed money to travel to the east. We talked for a while and I discovered he has a wife and three children here in Lusaka, that his mother was a Christian and that she died with family close by her. I contacted my cultural “authorities” on the issue. Everyone concurred, I did not need to give anything, but this kind of request is not unusual and to be expected somewhat regularly. In Lawndale collections are taken up all the time; for deaths, for birthdays, for folks on hard times, for special circumstances and losses. It occurred to me this morning, when the guard appeared with a letter from the security agency stating the truth of his claims that Nabal was in the same position we were. David and his men had been protecting Nabal’s sheep (read walled house) and Nabal had not asked for this protection (-neither had we. In fact the bars etc are rather distressing). When David asked  for “whatever comes to your hand or whatever you can find for them” in I Sam 25:8 it was quite similar to my guard who likewise did not specify how much he wanted or needed he just stated his situation (read help with funeral expenses). Nabal refuses help and as Abigail reports he is a fool, just as his name would indicate. Back to my dilemma, would a fool give or not give? In our American way of thinking, we might help family, a friend or a longtime staff member or close coworker but someone we don’t know who has to introduce themselves? This is almost like a beggar on the street. We might also consider it foolish to give without assuring the veracity of the claim and foolish to give knowing this might bring other requests. On the other hand, perhaps this African way is more Biblical. Nabal certainly suffered the consequences of his miserly spirit. God says, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord. And He will pay back what he has given” Prov 19:17.