Where Most Needed.

by alexluffrum

The phrase in the title is one which in recent times has become common in the world of charitable giving. Take a glance at any charity website, there you will find a recommendation from the organisation asking individuals to donate to the ‘Where Most Needed’ fund, giving the charity the freedom to move your much appreciated donations to situations that are an immediate priority. In the past, charities have needed to make specific appeals for individual needs, which in principle might seem reasonable. However, the funds frequently far exceeded the specific need. The charity is left with a headache as to what to do with the excess funds, which have been donated for just the one particular need.
All charitable trusts face the issue of how to ‘unfence’ that which has been ring-fenced. Clearly the charity is not ungrateful to those who have donated their hard earned offering. Legally the charity is bound by the requirements of how and why the fund was set-up. To break free from the fetters of the ring-fenced funds requires much legal hoop jumping, which is a costly process both financially and in time.
Charities have sought the legal processes to assist them in resolving their headache issue – how to prevent donated monies from being tied in to one specific project or fund. In its simplicity, the resolution to place funds donated to a place Where Most Needed has enabled charities to accumulate and direct the monies directly to the source of the most urgent needs.
There is a good biblical principle recorded in one of Jesus’s parables, which has similar connotations to Where Most Needed. The Good Samaritan parable recalls that two ring-fenced men were duty bound to be used for their specific requirements. Nothing wrong in principle with the roles in which they were engaged. But in the moments where they could easily have been used for great benefit, they were tied up for other purposes, thus leaving the beaten and robbed man without the help he could have had. The parable  continues. A Samaritan man, with his donkey, money in hand, was able to put himself to use, Where Most Needed. The result. The afflicted man gets more than he could have bargained for. His wounds patched up. A night or more in a local guest house. The bill for all expenses incurred paid for by The Samaritan.
Ever wondered how we too could be The Good Samaritan? Where are the most urgent needs in our communities? What use could we be put to Where Most Needed? Your skills, your gifting, your personality, your experience, your life long learning could all be used Where Most Needed. I am being personally challenged to consider very carefully where I can be put to good use Where Most Needed.

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