“the church people very good…”

"you church people very good. you help us a lot." so said mdm X, a hindu lady in her 50s. that had also been echoed by uncle A, a buddhist man in his 70s.

occasionally, we also heard from ms Z, a muslim lady saying that.

who were mdm x, uncle A and ms Z? they were among the hundreds of the poor and marginalised people that our catholic church, under the  society, society of st vincent de paul (SSVP) are helping.

SSVP is an international society and in malaysia, it is a government registered society under the registrar of society. to find out more, read about it on our website (which i maintains).

almost all the churches in our country has SSVP and it is refer to as 'conference' – 'conference of ___' (the name of the church). eg the church of the assumption in penang (a UNESCO world heritage icon!), the SSVP society will be known as 'SSVP, conference of the assumption'.  

SSVP helps the poor, the needy and the marginalised, irrespective of race and religion. in fact, about 80% of those we help are non christians! those whom we help regularly, we refer to them as 'adoptees' since we adopted them to be help every month. we will give them monthly cash aid or ration or both. other help now and then will be extended as and when needed, e.g. end of year, we give the children educational aid.

why am i telling this? well, in the light of the hoo-haa regarding the JAIS raid on DUMC, much had been said about christian churches or groups extending help to non christians, especially muslim.  SSVP do help muslim but it is a very very tiny percentage… since… you know lah… BUT whoever we help, muslim, buddhists, hindu, we never ever evangelise to them. many non christians families we had been helping for years, and they still remain non christians!

the two points i'm trying to bring up are:

i)  as what was in the malaysian insider 'religious leaders say nothing wrong with muslim receiving christian aid' (read below CnP in full)

yes, there's nothing wrong at all… so why the fear? why the hoo-haa from JAIS and extremists like ibrahim ali and his perkasa gang? yes they fear that muslim who receive aid from christians, weill be converted by the christians. tsk tsk, if the person's faih is very strong, why the fear? so in a way, when they made so much noises on muslim will get converted when receiving aid from christians, they are in a way telling us they don't trust their fellow muslim, that they know the faith of their fellow muslim is not strong at all. nice move!

ii)  as what was in the malaysia chronice 'the destitute flock to the church not to be converted' (read below CnP in full)

excerpt from the article:

One noble principle of Christianity is that they are charity oriented. Anecdotal evidence and social research have revealed that most enlightened Christians of today are not the judgemental or prejudicial type when it comes to people of other faiths.

yes, so true. you know, to us, at least speaking from the catholic viewpoint, another word for 'charity' is 'love'. charity is love, love is charity. when there is charity, there is love. when there is love, there is charity. 

It’s a discernible fact that every good and able Christian would contribute at least 10 percent of his or her income to church organisations. They have faith in the spiritual pillar or “karma” that one good turn deserves another. Apparently, with so much financial wherewithal in hand Christian organisations throughout the world are able to run homes for the old and orphans, build hospitals, schools and universities, provide free education, shelters and feed the poor without direct help from the government. It is with their own sweat and initiative that they accomplish all this in the name of faith.

'without direct help from the government'. yep. just like, in building of churches, it was all through their own effort, no help from the government at all, unlike mosques or surau being wholly or party funded by the government. 

Let’s not be too quick to despise the Christians when they are there to help these people. Not many people would want to sacrifice their comfort and money to help the poor. Today, there are many armchair religious figures earning fat salaries through the taxpayers sitting in air-conditioned offices and are more interested in finding faults in others but fail to find the root causes as to why the poor are seeking help from those who are willing to help them. They must realise that not many religious rhetoricians would want to soil their hands by going to the ground to help the needy.

yes, as SSVP member, we take the effort to visit our adoptees house every month, to give them the cash aid or ratio i.e.. we  do go to the ground (or in our malaysian context 'turun padang'). two weeks ago, we just visited 2 families, bringing with us, one hand, a bag of rice and another hand, a tin of biscuit, and another member was ready with the monthly cash aid to give direct to them in their homes. apart from their material needs, we also see to their well-being, like encouraging the child to study hard, providing tuition if necessary,  applying scholarship, applying low-cost homes for families, helping them to get a job and so on…. and we do all these without so much as to tell them about jesus christ. we don't have to…. to us, they are 'jesus christ'  ("whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" – matthew 25:40).

yes, we got to thank the poor for giving us the opportunity  to 'put our faith into action' – (the challenge from our founder, blessed frederic ozanam, whereupon how he started the society. (btw, the logo words 'serviens in spe' means 'servants of the poor').  all we want is to extend out love (charity) to the poor, regardless of race/religion; and if that is all we want, surely we don't have the time to go and tell them about our religion!!

so you see, we never ever have to proselytise to the muslim. whatever we do, our actions in helping them is enough to tell them about our religion… and if they feel compel to join us, what can i say…..?? 

 

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Malaysian Insider

Religious leaders say nothing wrong with Muslims receiving Christian aid
By Clara Chooi August 21, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 — Muslim and Christian leaders agreed today that all religious institutions should help the needy regardless of their religious beliefs, said exploitation of their desperation for aid to proselytise should be rejected.

The stance was established this evening when the leaders, including Perlis Mufti Dr Juanda Jaya and Council of Churches Malaysia general secretary Reverend Dr Hermen Shastri, huddled together at a closed-door function here in a forum to discuss the role of religious institutions in disbursing help to the needy.

The touchy subject of impoverished Muslims turning to Christians for help has been raging on for weeks, possibly adding strain to inter-religious ties in Malaysia although the country recently established diplomatic relations with the Roman Catholic church.

The row first exploded when the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) in Petaling Jaya was raided by religious authorities investigation a proselytisation complaint. It later exacerbated when allegations surfaced that Christian organisations have been attempting to lure impoverished Muslims into the religion by offering them aid.

Pro-Umno newspapers have been highlighting the issue of late, beginning with Utusan Malaysia’s report on a Christian conspiracy to usurp Islam. In the latest twist to the saga, a tuition centre accused of trying to convert Muslim schoolchildren to Christianity was ordered shut after the Malay daily highlighted the allegations last week.

But today’s forum participants disagreed that religion should stand in the way of an individual’s need for welfare, noting that all faiths preach extending assistance to the less fortunate. Such assistance from religious bodies, they said, should not be politicised but should instead be promoted extensively to inform the needy that such help is available.

The leaders however sighed over the lack of communication between the country’s different religious communities, repeatedly pointing out that such inter-religious matters should not have to be discussed in such a clandestine manner. The forum, organised by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas), was held in a small function room at Hotel Midah here and saw the participation of a group of religious leaders, civil society representatives and handpicked media organisations.

“We are of the same opinion that the issue of poverty should be tackled by all, especially the religious institutions. But programmes to help the poor should be better organised. More importantly, whatever activity that involves the congregation of different religious communities should be done in a more open and transparent manner, in a manner that shows respect for one another,” Dr Juanda (picture) said.

He noted that the disbursement of zakat funds reach even the non-Muslims, adding that a recipient does not need to embrace Islam to receive aid.

“It is given in order to reduce hostilities between religions. If a non-Muslim needs help, it is right to give them help. And I believe that when a person needs help, when they are in desperate conditions, they will accept it from anyone,” he told the forum.

Dr Juanda added that on the ground, relationships between the different religious communities have always been cordial and harmonious but lamented that unfounded fears that the issue could heighten religious tension have quelled open discourse.

“These issues can be resolved quickly and should be so that all misconceptions can be cleared immediately. Programmes like this forum should be held often so that no matter what happens, we can always contact one another directly to get information,” he said.

When the topic of proselytisation was raised, Hermen said that should such activities occur, there are appropriate laws that can be used but stressed that the acts of “one or two persons” should not be used to demonise the entire religion.

He agreed that certain sects may choose to proselytise the needy by offering assistance in return but said this was not done after consultation with the church.

“If someone says — if you want charity, you must convert — we do not condone it. So if that happens, then those persons must face the consequences. But we cannot characterise the whole religion just because one or two persons do it,” he said.

Hermen said response to help offered by the church varies between different individuals, with some feeling “drawn” to the religion after receiving the assistance.

“But, we do not make it a condition that a person must be Christian first before receiving charity. Never a condition that they should become a member of our faith,” he stressed.

Dr Maszlee Malik of Universiti Islam Antarabangsa said better networking and cooperation among the religious communities is needed to tackle such sensitive matters, adding that certain incidents are better kept out of the media.

“It helps that there is substantial communication between one another and I think alot of issues, like what we have now, could be solved behind the media or even, without going to the core or diving into legal issues,” he said.

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Malaysia Chronicle

The destitute flock to the Church not to be converted
Written by Moaz Nair, Malaysia Chronicle

Among those non-Christians who visit the church throughout the world are the impoverished women and children. Many of them are so desperate that they would approach any organisation in sight that could help them. One noble principle of Christianity is that they are charity oriented. Anecdotal evidence and social research have revealed that most enlightened Christians of today are not the judgemental or prejudicial type when it comes to people of other faiths. A priest’s flock, in the main, will not despise or belittle other faiths and neither would they coerce others to convert to Christianity. To all appearances, they help others with a pleasant disposition and would just leave the rest for the people to decide what is apposite for them when it comes to matters of faith.

It’s a discernible fact that every good and able Christian would contribute at least 10 percent of his or her income to church organisations. They have faith in the spiritual pillar or “karma” that one good turn deserves another. Apparently, with so much financial wherewithal in hand Christian organisations throughout the world are able to run homes for the old and orphans, build hospitals, schools and universities, provide free education, shelters and feed the poor without direct help from the government. It is with their own sweat and initiative that they accomplish all this in the name of faith.

There are many hospitals run by Christian organisations in the US and Europe. There are Christian hospitals in these countries where the underprivileged among all races, creed and religion are treated free if patients do not have the means to pay. At times of catastrophe such as floods, tsunami, earthquake or famine, Christian organisations would be the foremost to offer their help to the victims. We have seen Christian doctors and social workers who altruistically help the poor in Africa and victims in many impecunious and war torn countries – including Muslim countries. Many are attached to the United Nations serving far-flung and discomposed regions in the absence of home comfort.

Some revealing test cases

In Malaysia – just like in many other countries – there are many poor Malays, Indians and Chinese. Social problems in the country have affected almost all the ethnic groups. Besides poverty, divorce has become an epidemic in both Muslim and non-Muslim communities. The sanctity of marriage is no longer intact the way it used to be. In the last 10 years, 180,172 divorce cases have been reported in the country among the Muslims alone. The divorce rate among non-Muslims increased from 2 percent to 8 percent in the past 10 years since 2000 and is expected to reach a total of no less than 7,000 recorded cases.

In one social research it showed that in Malaysia, mothers become single mostly due to their husband’s death, desertion or divorce. In rural areas they often have five or more children. Trying to make ends meet, some mothers are even lured into the sex trade. In other cases, unable to afford childcare and often weighed down with an additional yoke of caring for extended family members, an increasing number of single mothers are housebound and forced to rely on trifling assistance from the government to put food on their tables.

Financial independence is what single mothers are struggling to achieve. These women have nigh on no savings. Being less educated, they marry at a very young age and are always fully dependent on their husbands for finances. Once they become single mothers, a heavy burden is placed on their shoulders. Many divorced husbands do not pay for the children support. Turning to welfare organisations or other aid agencies in the country is a tedious process because of all the red tapes and bureaucracy involved.

When they fail to get help from people of their own race, religion or close relatives they approach those who can help them irrespective of who they are as long as they are able to put food on the tables for their children. Social studies on deserted women have shown distressed mothers facing cheerless challenges in life to make sure that their children do not go hungry.

S. Mariamah who lives in Mantin estate in Negeri Sembilan lost her husband in an accident. Mariamah was left with 5 young children to feed. Her parents died when she was 21 years old, one year after her marriage. She had no savings whatsoever. All the children were still attending school then and she had this ambition to see all her children be given the best education. Having nobody to turn to she approached a church in town about 50 kms from her estate. The church’s flock gave her all the support. Mariamah was given financial help to feed the children and they also made sure that her children’s education was taken care of. Today all her children are grown up and doing fine in life. Mariamah made sure that all her children keep on donating to the church to help the unfortunate. None of Mariamah’ children converted to Christianity. Neither did Mariamah. The church did not oblige them to do so. But Mariamah and her children have changed a lot in life due to this touch of humanity by the church.

Abandoned but still kept the faith

In Port Dickson lived one Soon Kiat in a squatter area just nearby the old TNB power station. The husband abandoned her after 15 years living together. It was love marriage that did not end well. She was left with 6 children, with neither shelter nor savings. Soon had to do odd jobs to bring up the children, pay the room rent and utilities and also educate the children. She was earning about RM200 a month doing odd jobs and at the same time had to take care of her 6 children. The whole family of 7 lived in a small single room rented out to them by a kind but poor Chinese lady. When she was later diagnosed of having breast cancer she lost all hopes in life. The Chinese landlord stopped collecting rent from her and offered to help her children. It was one good Christian Samaritan who actually helped the impoverished family out. Soon Kiat started visiting a church nearby with the hope that her children would be taken care of by the church when she is gone. With good grace she managed to get help from the church’s flock. All six children even managed to continue their studies. The children are all in business today and doing well but they have not forgotten the church that helped them in times of difficulty. The children often donate to the church to ensure that others who are ill-fated would be able to lead a good life. Soon Kiat died in 1999 as a Buddhist. Those who attended her funeral were mostly Christians.

There is another heart-rending story about a Chinese convert in an east coast state. Out of love she went against her parents to become a Muslim to marry a Muslim man. After giving birth to three children the husband dumped her. She bore him 3 children – one boy and two girls. The husband did not appear in their life after the divorce. The children were still young then. She could not go back to her parents and feeling shattered and being uneducated she had to do odd jobs. The boy who was in primary school then had to sell fish at a local evening market to help put food on the table for the family. The children fortunately were born intelligent. When she had financial difficulties to make ends meet and educate her three children she was helped by some kind teachers who sought financial support from the local church to make sure that the children’s education was not interrupted and food was on the table for them. Being Muslim it was too sensitive to bring them to the church but help was channelled to the family through the teachers. The boy grew up to be a professor in one of the local universities. The two other girls have become teachers. None of them adopted Christianity as their religion. They are until today devout Muslims.

Religion comes from the heart

Unfortunately, most impoverished people in poor and developing countries are women and children. Many of them, out of no choice, go to the church to seek help. It is not that they are being lured into the church and subsequently coerced to accept a new faith in life. In Egypt, for instance there are no less than 200,000 destitute and single mothers. They drag along their children with them and many can be conspicuously seen roaming the streets. We see the same phenomenon in almost all poor countries – Muslim and non-Muslim.

Let’s not be too quick to despise the Christians when they are there to help these people. Not many people would want to sacrifice their comfort and money to help the poor. Today, there are many armchair religious figures earning fat salaries through the taxpayers sitting in air-conditioned offices and are more interested in finding faults in others but fail to find the root causes as to why the poor are seeking help from those who are willing to help them. They must realise that not many religious rhetoricians would want to soil their hands by going to the ground to help the needy.

Common sense should prevail and we should respect those who are willing to render their hearts to make the poor happy. As they say, religion comes from the heart and not through just rhetoric or speechifying on the so many poignant and distressing social issues facing the poor that the blinkered themselves refuse to unravel.

– Malaysia Chronicle