Saying "no"

Another story from Peru.

I sat in on a meeting last Friday the 11th with some ChildReach Ministries staff and a man named Ulysses. Ulysses wandered into Hannah's Home toward the end of our work day asking to meet with us. Ulysses was blind from diabetes but ChildReach recently helped pay for an operation to restore some of his sight. He was thanking us and asking for more help. He showed us how gangrene is eating away his foot and said he needs an operation soon to save it.

ChildReach does not have the funds right now to do this and explained that to him, also noting that we try to help as many people as possible.

We told Ulysses "no".

And I felt fine with that. We prayed for his healing and he kept thanking us and told us of his faith in God.

But over the last few days I have thought of him often. Especially this morning in church. Our sermon was about how we are blessed to be a blessing to others, specifically financially. And right now I feel like a hypocrite. I feel like I've done the very thing that James wrote about in chapter 2 verses 15 and 16: "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?" (NIV)

What good is it indeed?

I wonder what Ulysses is thinking right now. I wonder if he thinks I'm as big a hypocrite as I feel like. Isn't faith without action hollow? James goes on to state that it's dead.

So I'm on a quest to figure out how to help Ulysses.