If you don't spend your working day in the office of this church, you may have no idea how many poor, desperate people come in looking for help. I don't see them all. Diana and Esther, our Administrative Assistant and Financial Secretary, are the ones who have to deal with these sisters and brothers. Perhaps you'll keep that in mind the next time you phone to schedule a meeting or to check the status of your pledge. If Diana or Esther seems a bit distracted, it might be because a person who hasn't bathed in six weeks is sitting three feet away.
Some poor people are docile, polite, compliant.
Some are furious that the church is not meeting their needs. Human service agencies in town already had turned him down. I told him the church didn't have that kind of money. That was a lie. We've got that kind of money.