Priorities

Doug Nichols Doug Nichols and his wife Margaret have served in missions for nearly 47 years of which 20 years were in the Philippines. They presently reside in Issaquah, Washington, where Doug serves as Global M
01 February, 2006 2 min read

How people view their spending is all relative to what money they have. This morning, I brewed a cup of Ethiopian Harrar coffee. It is one of the most sought-after coffees in the world and is considered very expensive to purchase by the pound. But if you brew it at home it only costs about 5¢ per cup. Cheap, you say. Yes, but 5¢ will provide a whole meal for one hungry child in Uganda, Zambia or Malawi.

Recently, at London airport on the way to Uganda, I noticed a small container (200 grams) of Beluga Caviar in a shop window for the astounding price of nearly $1000! Yes, $1000 for 30 servings of fish eggs on a cracker!

In a magazine I noticed the prices of some suites available in famous hotels in San Francisco. The nightly rate is $3000 at the Mandarin Oriental, $4250 at the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel and $5700 at the Four Seasons Hotel.

What really amazed me, though, was the cost of $10,000 per night for the Penthouse Suite at the Fairmont San Francisco. Seven nights for $70,000! This amount would provide compassionate care to over 25,000 people in some parts of the world.

We can criticise the way others spend their money, but I need to ask myself, ‘How do I use the funds that God has given me? Do I use them for his glory?’ Earlier, I mentioned my cup of coffee for 5¢. I could feed a child in a refugee camp, or in a church-based community school, or an orphanage, one meal every day for one month for only $1.50! A naked child can be clothed for only $1.

Last Christmas in Uganda we sought to reach nearly 30,000 people with the gospel and compassionate care in special evangelistic outreaches to the extremely poor. We provided a gift, a nice meal, and presented the gospel of Jesus Christ. The average cost per person was only $2.50. For the same amount you can clothe and feed a child in Africa for a whole month.

So, we can criticise the ‘yuppies’ and the ‘rich’ – not to mention the ‘celebrities’ prepared to pay up to $10,000 per night for a hotel suite. But, as Christians, what are we doing with our $2.50?

Yes, we can buy a cup of coffee or Mocha, but let’s not neglect the needy of the world. ‘Pure and lasting religion in the sight of our God and Father is this – to visit [care for] orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world’ (James 1:27).

Doug Nichols and his wife Margaret have served in missions for nearly 47 years of which 20 years were in the Philippines. They presently reside in Issaquah, Washington, where Doug serves as Global M
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