You might recall my displeasure at having to tell a couple of mothers that I had nothing to offer her for her hungry children the other day.

It happened again.

While in Paxólas, a slum area on the outskirts of Ubaúna, we were updating pictures of Seed of Hope children. A mother comes up to me with tears in her eyes and asks me, “Don’t you have anything I can give my children? They are hungry. I have nothing to give them. Won’t you please help me?”

We currently have 123 children in our Seed of Hope program. This guarantees them a meal daily, clothing, some medical care and help with schooling. It operates through the patronage of Americans supporting the children for $30 a month, or $1 a day. We have another 67 registered to receive help, but don’t have sponsors for them. There is an additional 100 that are “pre-registered,” i.e., they are on the “waiting list” for sponsorship.

Bottom line: we have far more mouths than we have money to feed. There is no way we can add someone else in. Ten kids in Tianguá who are in extreme danger were promised a trip to the head of the line even though there are no funds available.

So, I had to tell this mother, as nicely as I could, that I couldn’t help her children.

Do you have any idea how loudly these words rang through my head:

…you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

I’m not real happy about this…