Below is an email that came to our church account this
morning:
Greetings in the name
of Jesus Christ,
My name is Pastor
M. I am serving a small congregation
started one year ago. We are ministering
house to house ministry we have not gone far in spiritual and I my hands I am
taking care of 15 orphans who’s how had problem of food, clothes, shelter, and
school fees.
It is my humbly request
to join us for this orphans with any merciful support God can touch your hearts
I will be happy to hear your kind response on that. We are inviting you to come here in Kenya and
share with us.
Yours Pastor M.
I get at least one or two emails like this nearly every
week. Perhaps they glean the email from
our church website or from sermonaudio.com.
I read a news report this morning noting that 40% of the world’s
population is now online. There are
several possibilities with this email.
First, it could legitimately be from a Pastor in Kenya who is seeking
help in his ministry and for the care of orphans. On the other hand, it could be a complete
farce.
I do not have the time to investigate such unsolicited
requests for help, and it would be poor stewardship of my time to do so. I have absolutely no
idea where this email is coming from. It
could be coming from Kenya, the Ukraine, or from someone down the street.
Even if this really came from a person in Kenya, I have
absolutely no way to know anything about this man. He could be a charlatan seeking to get funds
from naïve, "wealthy" Americans by tugging on their heart strings about orphans. On the other hand, he could really be a Pastor
in Kenya trying to take care of orphans.
Even then, I know nothing of this man’s theology. He could be part of a
cult with heterodox views. He could be
raising these children to believe false doctrine. He could be mistreating them.
The point is that I know nothing about the person who sent
this email or to verify and investigate its content. Even if legitimate, I cannot go to
Kenya. I cannot observe this man’s life
and ministry on a day to day basis. I
know no one in Kenya who could give me a reliable report of his character and
ministry. Even if I knew something of
him both I and my church have already made decisions about the stewardship of
funds for missions and mercy ministries, and we give to legitimate ministries
that we can confidently support. Therefore,
I cannot respond to this email and can offer no help.
I state all this (which is probably already obvious to most
others who also receive these kinds of emails) to provide some warning and
counsel to others (who may be less familiar with these kinds of appeals). Apparently some well meaning folk do respond
to such emails, and this is what keeps them coming.
JTR
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