Spare me Tim;given the self evident lack of understanding of the causes of poverty whatever you earn is too much.
What do you think is causing poverty in Zimbabwe,lack of rain or a mad dictator?
What do you think is causing poverty in Brazil and India,lack of resources or inadequate distribution of wealth fostered by poor social infrastructure,underpinned and bolstered by corruption?What is causing poverty in West Papua,the terrain or the TNI?
What is causing the growth in poverty in Australia?
By all means engage in emergency assistance,for that is what you do, but why don't you also seek to bring pressure on the causes of poverty and engage in the process of seeking long term solutions.
That of course might make you unpopular with the big emergency relief donors and the government but that is the price you might need to pay for genuinely fighting for people.I would like to think you had the guts but to date I have seen little evidence.
Bruce Haigh.

Thanx PAIF.. yes, not a bad one. Bruce, true also mate.

The simple fact is:

1/ Without changing the unjust political structures which drive the poverty, it will not be fixed.
2/ Seeking to change the unjust political structures will bring the do-gooder in DIRECT CONFLICT with the armies of those countries.

CONCLUSION. Waxing eloquent about 'Ending poverty is within our grasp' can ONLY be interpreted as good PR and fund-raising spin!

3/ On 200k per year, it is beyond hypocritical to even MENTION poverty to the rest of us. (I've been living with a disfunctional fridge for the past few years, swapping 2 litre containers of ice from the freezer section to the main section to keep stuff cold) I'm not jealous of Tims Salary, and I don't want sympathy for my own situation (I've known the 'abundance' of the palace and the lack of the desert...its all good) I'm simply making a point.

When I served with a major evangelical mission organization for 10 yrs, we had a more biblical approach.

WORLD VISION 400 employees. MISSION X 950 "Employees"

WORLD VISION CEO SALARY $200K Per year.
NORMAL EMPLOYEE SALARY $30K (or in that region)

MISSION X "CEO" (we call him General Director) salary $30,000/yr (or there abouts) access to a car, NO retirement or super whatsoever.
MISSION X "Employee" salary $30,000/yr

In reality, our 'salary' was basic rent/food and a small amount called 'personal' which amounted to about $10/week. The GD did not receive any more than us, yet he is responsible for over DOUBLE the "Employees" of WV.
Because our allowance was dependant on the free will gifts of supporters, and sometimes support did not come, our personal allowance went down to pretty close to zero. If we were blessed with extra giving in the next quarter, they tried to top up the previous lack.

Tim might have 'prayed about' joining world vision, but I think he turned a deaf ear to "But you should do something about that exhorbitant salary" whcn he heard the 'Go my son, and do that which seems good to you"

David.
Its PALE- [not palif]. Thats just a women who keeps mucking around because she doesnt have anything better to do.
PALE Stands For People Against Live Exports.
Finally we understand you in this thread. You not another Religious nutter you simply beleive in God.
Likewise. You have given something of yourself that you have held back before in you threads.
Great Stuff. Pardon but Tim Costello? Related? or not?

Hi PALE.. no, no relation to Tim. I can be pretty "nutty" also at times :) Just ask Keith, CJ Morgan and Pericles.

My nuttiness is in my faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul said "22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles" (1Cor1:22)

Thats the problem, Salvation in Christ is not seen as something 'sain' by some, but I am like Paul, I cannot deny the events of the Cross, nor their impact on myself and others.
I suppose Paul may have wished at times that he did not receive a visitation from the Lord on the road to Damascus, specially when the rocks were being hurled at him at Lystra and he was left for dead. But so goes the course of living for Christ at times.

This call to end poverty is foolishness to me. Not because it is ignoble in intent, but misguided in its platform. I know the pressure of 'big' organizations to shift from purely faith based support raising to "faith PLUS". But once that line is crossed, its hard to turn back.

I recall how some elements of the Indonesian Church used to publish exactly how much support was given by specific individuals by name. This immediately pandered to the human pride and 'good works' idea, and was exactly what Jesus preached against "Do not let your left hand know what your right is doing" (in connection with giving) "Don't be like the hypocrites who love the praises of men" etc..

The answer to poverty is not in raking in huge donations to NGO organizations with high flying highly paid CEO's, but it the restructuring of our whole community along lines demonstrated by and outlined by Jesus, but not in a legalistic way.

Hi David Boaz,

I'm also a Christian, and yet accept the separation of the church and state. Did you make it to the CASE Lectures at NSW "New College" last year? (Or was that 2005? How the time flies.)

Basically John Anderson, Kevin Rudd and theologian Andrew Cameron of Moore College spoke on the biblical imperatives for the separation of church and state. Initially it is a Christian idea, and comes back to the Apostle's focus on gospel work while they set up "deacons" to deal with practical matters, and then more importantly also stems from the fact that the whole basis of Christianity — salvation by faith not works — shows that we rebel against "the law". (As in God's law). No amount of blurring of the separation of church and state and trying to impose a "Christian society" is going to deal with the fact that human hearts can only be changed by God. It's the human heart that is the main problem.

If society were more "Christian" it would still need to prioritize goods and services somehow, and would still have economic and taxation questions to sort out... indeed, it would still need to make certain questions that are either "left" or "right" wing. So, we would still come back to a question of economic priorities in an election year.

And all of this STILL ignores the very practical realities that nothing we do can reduce poverty in other nations unless the ENTIRE western world comes up for a plan for dealing with our own imminent bankruptcy, so will you please watch SBS tomorrow night 8:30? I'm not spamming, I'm sincerely asking for your feedback on "Crude Impact" showing tomorrow night.

It is time I offered an apology to Tim Costello.

It was not my intention to let loose the dogs of evangelical Christianity so that they could indulge in a frenzy of personal criticism of your motivation or your commitment to your religion.

I simply wanted to point out that charity should not be institutionalized, specifically to avoid being pilloried in this fashion.

I am very aware of the arguments. Some very close friends of mine are highly active in various charitable enterprises, and - probably not by coincidence - they are all serious Christians. They tell me that some form of formal organization is essential in order to "maximize" the inbound funds and to "optimize" the efficiency of the distribution channel.

No doubt.

However, one of them has devoted the next two years of his life to the distribution side of the equation. He has shifted his entire family (three kids under ten) to Asia, having volunteered to apply his skills to the challenge of redistributing "tangibles", that is, non-monetary contributions ranging from building materials to computers.

He will not be paid for his efforts, but he will be housed and fed, and his kids will get to a local school. He describes it as a "once in a lifetime opportunity", where most of us would see nothing but the discomfort of disruption, and the entire absence of luxury.

The entire organization exists in this way. There are no Chief Executives. No marketing teams. No salaried staff at all, in fact.

That's charity.

Another belongs to a (Christian) group that provides micro-credits to poor villages, building a local micro-economy in order eventually to become part of the larger economy. None of the organizers is paid. They have made enough in their conventional work to take time off to do what it takes, head off to a remote African village to build a dam, set up a loom or whatever, or just work in the back office.

So, sorry Tim, it wasn't meant to be a swipe at you personally.

But your organization is a business, not a charity.