I live in Bolivia as a Missionary kid, and every day I see beggars on the street and it breaks my heart. Little kids who aren’t old enough to work, or young enough to be cart kids. People who are injured so they can’t work, or old men or women who have to care for their grandchildren with no way to provide. It’s horrible. But sharing God is more important than sharing food.

My sister once gave a sandwich to a beggar who stopped by our house. The beggar returned, and she gave him another sandwich. He told other beggars and homeless people who hung out near our block about us, and soon, we got two, three, and sometimes five beggars a day asking for food. Eventually, my sister stopped giving them food, and started witnessing. Some of them grew violent, but they never came back. Personally, I think that while the physical needs are important, the spiritual needs are even more so.

What I’m saying isn’t very clear, I apologize. I’m not saying that volunteering at orphanages or soup kitchens, being kind, giving to the poor, or just being a human and doing good things aren’t important. Because they are. What I AM saying, however, is that you can’t be a real Christian if their souls don’t come first. You’re not helping anyone if you fill their bellies and not their hearts. That’s why I’d rather witness to people than feed them. If I could do both, I would, but witnessing has to be the most important thing.