with Peter Banzon
Question: When I see street children begging for money, I feel so sorry for them that I want to give, but I know there’s a law against it. What should I do?
Answer: Your dilemma is understandable. How can you refuse a poor child begging for a few centavos that you have in abundance? However, the law prohibits you from doing so because it has the best interest of the child at heart. When you give alms to the children begging in the streets, you are encouraging them to stay on the streets. There, they can be exposed to constant danger from accidents, crime, sexual exploitation and many other evils. If you really want to help them, look at the bigger picture. The Bible says love always protects (1 Cor. 13:7). We think that by meeting their immediate need, we are helping them. But what we are actually doing is creating a generation who lives off the streets, learn all the wrong values and develop a distorted work ethic. So redirect your help by giving to Institutions, church groups or NGO’s that keep children off the streets. Serve as a volunteer so you can work directly with these children as they develop better choices for the future.
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