generosity

Empathy, Generosity and Exploitation in America

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Who would have thought that the idea of empathy could become a polarizing topic in our political climate? That’s what a recent poll by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found.  Regretfully, it was presented in an anti-Trump context, but the statistics are still disturbing:

Democrats (84%) and Independents (70%) are more likely than Republicans (53%) to see empathy as a net positive to society. White evangelicals were the least likely to name empathy as a foundational social value (42%), and more than half of white evangelicals (54%) said, “empathy can become dangerous when it leads people away from building a society guided by God’s truth.”

This has been gelling among the conservative crowd for a while. “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy,” Elon Musk said on The Joe Rogan Experience last year, comparing it to a bug in Western civilization. And in 2019, conservative theologian Joe Rigney wrote a blog post about the “enticing sin of empathy,” arguing that “Satan corrupts through compassion.”

I was horrified. Empathy is not a bug in the Creation; it is the foundation of the New Covenant. The New Command Jesus’s kingdom is “to love one another as I have loved you.” He told us that this love extends not just to people in the household of faith, but to orphans, widows, the needy, and even to our enemies. Empathy cannot be construed as a political weapon, not for the faithful.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is the foundation of how Jesus invited us into his kingdom and to fulfill his desires. Empathy is not a bug; it is the love Jesus designed to build his society on God’s truth. Honestly, this is why the content of  Just Love is so important for today. Many Christians have lost hope that the power of love is the way God brings his kingdom and his justice into the world.

With this noted lack of empathy among evangelicals, it is perhaps no surprise that the financial excesses and abuses that many Christian organizations perpetuate under the nonprofit laws in the United States. On Friday’s podcast, Kyle and I talk about a new documentary called The Religion Business, which starkly demonstrates the problem. I’ll warn you, it’s painful to watch if you have any kind of conscience.

It exposes how billions of dollars are collected every year under the banner of Christianity, which is mostly spent for the personal enrichment of ministry leaders or institutions instead of going to ministry programs to help people spiritually or to help people in need. And even those who collect for needy people keep most of the money for “administrative” costs that are much higher than needed.

If they had even a modicum of empathy for the people who give them money, the people they claim to help with it, or those they supposedly “minister to,” none of this would happen. Could it be that their lack of empathy is a contagion all across the religious landscape?

Before his death, disgraced ministry leader Ravi Zacharias said, “When you get to the top in my profession, you have already proved that you have compromised your convictions several times along the way.” After his death, it came to light that he had sexually harassed numerous women on his staff.

Reread his statement. It applies to the leaders of most national ministries that I know personally.  It is not only a sad indictment of those leaders, but it is also a testament to the lack of discernment on the part of those who continue to send them money, thinking they are part of Christ and his kingdom.

It was especially hard to watch all of that while I gaze upon requests for help in Kenya. A few months ago, we were asked to help drill a well in East Pokot and provide immediate relief for those starving there. Many of you remember our multi-year involvement in West Pokot to rescue five tribes, well over 150,000 people who had no water or anything to eat.

While I was praying about whether or not to get involved in yet another project at this season of life, a man contacted me who wanted to give $50,000 to help in Kenya. Because of his gift, we were able to drill a well in East Pokot (see photo above) and provide some immediate food assistance. They still need an additional $6,000 to help feed them before they can plant and harvest their crops.

In addition, I got a request last week from one of the orphanages we have assisted in Kenya. Sara and I bought them a tractor a few months ago to help them feed 400 orphans who live and go to school there. Kenya requires orphanages to have a minimum of three acres to ensure the kids have enough space. To meet that requirement, they have leased an acre from a family next door. But that family has to sell their land because they are moving across the country.  

That one acre cost $30,000. If the orphanage can’t buy it, the family will sell it, and 400 kids will be turned out on the street. I don’t know about you, but that directly hits my heart. These kids have already been rescued, are currently being educated, and they will soon have the resources to provide their own food supply.

So, I’m coming back to the amazing audience yet again, to see if you can help me raise $36,000 for these two needs in Kenya. If this touches your heart, would you consider helping us raise this money?  To do so, you can visit our Donation Page at Lifestream. Check the box for “Kenya Relief”. You can also Venmo contributions to “@LifestreamMinistries” or mail a check to Lifestream Ministries  • 107 N. Reino Rd, PMB# 411 • Newbury Park, CA 91320-3710. Or, if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 990-8780.

As always, every dime you send will end up in Kenya, and no gift is too small. We will not take out any money for our own administrative costs. And whether or not you can help us here at this time, please lean into the power of empathy for people around you. Seeing life through their eyes is not a bug in the human experience; it is the best way to spread God’s light in the world.

 

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A Late Update on Kenya

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I owe you all a heartfelt apology.

I’ve had a number of you write to me about the last appeal we made for an unexpected need in Kenya. The land they used to house and educate abandoned children was being unjustly stolen from them by the family who sold it in the first place, and a hospital that was going to auction it out from under them to satisfy an unpaid bill.

I was so preoccupied with the release of Just Love that I neglected to circle back and report on what happened in our last appeal. That’s my bad, and I’m sorry.  As always, your response was so generous, and you deserved a more timely update and acknowledgment for the fruit of your generosity. So, belatedly, and apologetically, here it is:

Again, we were blown away by the generosity you extended toward the people of Kenya. What began for us in Kenya almost twenty years ago was never a program I dreamed up or a mission strategy I wanted to manage. It began the way so many of Father’s invitations do—with relationship, with a few hearts stirred by the message of living loved, and with needs too desperate to ignore once they came into view. In this last instance, you gave enough that we were able to rescue the Forkland Care Centre and restore it to its rightful owners. In early March, they received a clear title to the Forkland Centre and will not have this trouble again. They were relieved and grateful to the “Lifestream Team,” as they call it, even though I tell them it is just brothers and sisters responding in love to their needs.

Surprisingly, you gave more than the amount they needed, so we had extra to help them print copies of He Loves Me and Just Love to share throughout the country. We also held some in their account here for future needs. A few weeks ago, we released more of those funds because the brothers there were being invited all over Africa, including Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and the Congo. I have also been spending time in Zoom conversations to help train them to share this message of love and how to equip people to experience this love firsthand.

So, we sent extra money, and this is their response:

Thank you so much once again for your great support. We would like to share some updates on how the support has been used. Your support became an answer to the prayers of several widows who were really struggling and, in some cases, almost sleeping outside. By the grace of God, we managed to build semi-permanent houses for them. (The partial construction is pictured above.) One house with three rooms, which accommodates three widows, and another four-roomed house accommodates five widows.

After the heavy floods of 2025, we also tried to help them settle again. In addition, we bought food for them, and they are very happy and continually thanking God for answering their prayers.

Another prayer that has been answered concerns those who are spiritually hungry and seeking the truth of God. So far, we have managed to reach over 130 groups in different regions across Rift Valley and Western Kenya. Each group has around 25–30 people, and we further divide them into smaller groups for prayer, sharing the message, and discussions.

What we have discovered is that people are very happy when they are given time to interact, ask questions, and share together. There are still many regions inviting us, including Mt. Elgon, where many people are still suffering from trauma, and also Pokot, where they have called us to share the same message.

We have also printed a few copies of the book Just Love, and soon we are planning to schedule a Zoom meeting with you to discuss further how we have understood and used the teachings. Thank you so much for equipping and supporting us in spreading the message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Thank you also for allowing your book to be printed and used by us as we move from village to village and region to region, sharing the life of God. There is a great hunger and thirst for God here in Kenya and across East Africa. We truly thank God for the provision and the privilege He has given us to be used as tools to spread the message of His love.

The Bible tells us in John 3:16 that God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son. Through Jesus Christ, God showed His love openly to the whole world  by saving, healing, forgiving, and restoring humanity. As believers, we are also called to demonstrate that same love to others through compassion, generosity, prayer, encouragement, and sharing the Gospel. When we serve the needy, stand with the brokenhearted, and preach Christ, the world can see the love of God through us.

Please continue praying for us, that we may train and coach small groups of about 20 people who can help us continue this work effectively.

We will keep this fund active, if any of you want to continue to give either for immediate needs or to help them respond to the invitations to share God’s love throughout East Africa. If you have anything to help us here, please visit our Donation Page at Lifestream. Check the box for “Kenya Relief”. You can also Venmo contributions to “@LifestreamMinistries” or mail a check to Lifestream Ministries  • 107 N. Reino Rd, PMB# 411 • Newbury Park, CA 91320-3710. Or, if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 990-8780.

As always, every dime you send will end up in Kenya. We do not take out any money for our administrative costs.

For those who want a summary of our work there, I asked ChatGPT to cull through my past Kenya blogs and write a summary of what your generosity has accomplished there. (No, I didn’t have time to do this on my own, but it’s a really good summary.)

In the aftermath of Kenya’s post-election violence in 2008, we were drawn into the lives of children and widows who had lost almost everything. What started as emergency help became the Living Loved Care Centre, a place where orphaned children could be fed, sheltered, educated, and surrounded by people who would show them they were not forgotten. Many of those children have since grown up, completed school, gone on to college or university, found work, and begun to stand on their own. That has always been the hope—not to create dependency, but to help love open a door where there had only been loss.

As the years unfolded, the needs broadened. We helped provide food, clothing, bedding, school fees, medical care, and staff support. We also helped launch projects that could sustain the work from within Kenya itself—a petrol station, a grain enterprise, truck transportation, and other income-producing efforts to help feed children, pay staff, maintain the centre, and educate those who had no other way forward.

Then came North Pokot. A drought had devastated a nomadic people, leaving families without food, clean water, or a viable future. Through the generosity of so many of you, relief was sent, wells were dug, irrigation began, and agricultural projects were started so communities could feed themselves again. It was not merely about keeping people alive for another week, but helping them discover a way forward. In that process, many also encountered the Gospel of God’s love, not as a sermon first, but as water in the desert and food for their children.

Later, our hearts were drawn to Forkland School, where contaminated water threatened the children and the surrounding community. We helped drill a well that not only provided clean water but eventually became the foundation for Springs Garden Mineral Water, a bottled-water enterprise intended to sustain the school, bless the surrounding community, and create overflow for others in need. When government requirements later forced the school to expand its land, we were able to help with that as well.

Through the years, there have also been repairs, rescues, and setbacks—flood damage at the orphanage, repairs to the Living Loved Centre, restoration of the water bottling equipment, support for the grain enterprise and petrol station, and emergency food during drought. Even recently, our friends in Kenya wrote with gratitude for help in North Pokot, the rehabilitation centre, the water company, the grain enterprise, the petrol station, and repairs to the centre.

Looking back, I am still amazed that a small audience like ours could be part of so much. Millions of dollars have flowed through Lifestream, and every dollar designated for Kenya has gone there without administrative fees. But the deeper story is not money. It is love taking shape in wells, classrooms, meals, medicine, businesses, farms, and hope—so people who once wondered if God even saw them could taste, in tangible ways, that they are deeply loved.

Thank you to everyone who has given to these dear brothers and sisters and those who have held them before God in prayer. They are immensely grateful, and so are Sara and I.

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Overflowing with Thanksgiving

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I got this the other day from our friends in Kenya, and they wanted me to pass it on to you:

On behalf of International Gospel Equipping Ministries (IGEM), we would like to express our deepest gratitude and heartfelt appreciation for your unwavering partnership and support, which has spanned over fifteen years. Your love, sacrifices, and faithfulness in the mission of Christ have brought transformation to countless lives and communities across Kenya and East Africa.
Through your generous support, we have witnessed God’s hand move powerfully through numerous projects and outreaches, including:
  • Installation of irrigation systems in Pokot, ensuring food security and sustainable agriculture, through planting of maize, cassava, and arrow roots.
  • Medical dispensary in Pokot, offering access to essential healthcare.
  • School in Pokot, bringing education to children in remote areas. Now many children are in school and they help their parents to know how to read the Bible, which is a significant transformation.
  • Grain Enterprise has helped support the school feeding program in North Pokot and continues to bless the community. Likewise, the bottled water company continues to benefit the Forkland community and school in numerous ways.
  • Petrol station in Bungoma to generate income that sustains Living Loved Children Care center and the needy families in Mount Elgon.
  • The Forkland Community water project, giving hundreds access to clean and safe water.
  • Installation of a solar system to boost the water project’s efficiency and sustainability, resulting in electricity savings. 
In addition, we are especially grateful for your continued support of children pursuing higher education at the university and college level. Many, such as Nelly, Faith, Ochieng, Brian, and Edu, have graduated and are now working, with some already supporting others in their home villages. This ripple effect of kindness and opportunity is a testimony of God’s grace working through you.
May the Lord bless all brothers and sisters who have sacrificially stood with Kenyan families, even while facing needs of your own. Your example of love is inspiring. We thank God for using you to stand with communities here, and we are humbled by your quick responses and spiritual encouragement.
“God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.” Hebrews 6:10
Brother Wayne, we are grateful for your inspiring books—“So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore”, “He Loves Me”, “Authentic Relationships”, and many others. These writings have touched lives and transformed hearts across the African continent.
With love and sincere appreciation,
Brother Michael and Thomas
I am also grateful to all who responded so quickly. We had the money they needed within a week, and they were able to get the new equipment installed and operational again.  There was a problem with the electricity, requiring an additional $2500.00, but some late donations were able to cover that as well. Please note that all donations sent to us for Kenya are delivered to Kenya. When extra comes in, we include that in our gifts to them. There is no end to the needs in this part of the world.
Over the last 17 years, the people who frequent this blog and listen to The God Journey have donated over $3.5 million to support these projects. That number astounds me, since we’ve only made the needs known, and you have responded. Your generosity reminds me of Paul’s words to the Corinthians:

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

As it is written:

              “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
                          their righteousness endures forever.”

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

I know those verses are often used to cajole people into making donations, but how much better to celebrate with them the generosity you’ve already shared?

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We Are About Half Way There

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Last week, I asked if you could help my friends in Kenya once again. They are about to lose the petrol station we built for them at a government auction due to nonpayment of fees they were unaware they owed. The profits from this station support an orphanage and education center, as well as help their graduating students find their way in life. It has been in operation for over fifteen years.

Thanks to your generosity, we’ve received almost $9900.00 of the $22,328 in a few days. I’m so grateful to those of you who felt inspired to help us here. We have to send the money at the end of this week to prevent the auction and restore the petrol station to our brothers and sisters in Kenya.

So, in case there are others still considering this, I thought I’d ask one last time. If you can help us raise the remaining funds, please visit our Donation Page at Lifestream. Please designate “Kenya” in the Note section of your donation, or email us to let us know that your gift is intended for Kenya. You can also Venmo contributions to “@LifestreamMinistries” or mail a check to Lifestream Ministries  •  1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or, if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

As always, every dime you send will end up in Kenya. We do not take out any money for administrative overhead.

Thank you for your concern and prayers for these people in Kenya.

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Completing the Work God Gave Us

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Fifteen years ago, God linked our hearts with a group of believers in Kenya who had been captured by the message of He Loves Me, even as they were caught in the tribal post-election violence that ravaged Kenya in 2008. When I met Michael, he had already taken a dozen parentless children into his home to raise among his family. We helped them care for the widows and orphans who had been displaced and even did small business loans to help them start income-generating activities. We also built a petrol station, so the profits could continue to meet these ongoing needs. Today, only six children remain in that Living Loved Center, and the facility will soon be repurposed for other needs.

Over the next decade, our involvement escalated there as they discovered more than a hundred thousand people in West Pokot, dying of hunger in a drought that had destroyed their nomadic way of life. We sent relief and medicine immediately and eventually drilled wells and started irrigation projects to feed them in an ongoing way. We also helped them start schools to teach their children, and coaches taught them all about hygiene because the lack of it was causing ninety percent of their diseases. The Gospel also took root among these people who had worshipped their ancestors for previous centuries.

We also began an enterprise to buy and store grain at harvest time and re-sell it later to generate income for ongoing relief work. We also helped a new school Michael’s wife had started in a forgotten community to educate children who were not in school. Later, a flood destroyed the school’s water supply. We helped drill a well so vast and pure they could also give free water to the entire community and bottle it to sell to generate money for the school. Then, one year ago, over 300 children were abandoned on the steps of the school by alcoholic and desperate parents who could no longer care for them. We spent over $400,000 in 2022 to buy land and build a rehabilitation center for their care. We added more to the grain enterprise to pay for their food and education, and have now posted a bond to ensure their health and higher education.

For the past five years, we have felt the season was coming to an end where we could help them with these large projects. We did not want them to become dependent on Lifestream but learn to trust God as their provider. We have left them three income-generating enterprises as tools for God’s provision. Over the last fifteen years, more than three million dollars have flowed from the Lifestream and The God Journey audiences to these needs. Not only had we never envisioned that this would be part of our mission in the world, but we were also continually shocked at how generous you were with their needs. Every dime you gave ended up in Kenyan hands. We took nothing out here for administration, or financial and conversion fees.

Incredibly, this also coincided with Jesus inviting Sara and me into a new season personally to live more simply and more focused on the journey God has for us. While we will stay in touch with our friends in Kenya, we are grateful to lay down this mantle of helping them find the resources they need for their work. The needs are still great there, but we trust that Father will have other ways to care for them. (If any of you reading this feel a nudge in your heart to pick up that mantle, please get in touch with us, and we will link you.)

Even more remarkably, this season-ending came from their hearts as well. Earlier this week, we received the following correspondence from those who have been our partners in Kenya:

On behalf of the Kenyan family, we wish to thank you for the great support of pouring your love, prayers, and resources into every area of our lives for over 15 yrs. We send our sincere gratitude to every individual, couple, and family for their sacrifices that have touched so many lives.

Your help rescued many dying families in Northern parts of Kenya and Turkana , through humanitarian aid, health, relief, and long-term solution – through irrigation and soft loans. Also, you helped orphans starting from Living Loved Orphanage, Forkland school, and now Rehabilitation Centre for expansion of the land, buildings, food, and bedding.

You brought hope to the hopeless and rescued the destitute with tender-loving hearts, and you helped us with long-term solutions – a water bottle company, grain enterprise, and petrol station. You have helped us reach the place where we can now stand on our own and use the resources you provided to continue moving forward. Only one thing we may need from you is prayers for wisdom and understanding that we may continue encouraging others with the same love you have taught us.

God connected us when we could not know how to move in the midst of an institution that was focused on buildings and organization. Your books and materials really changed our lives and the love of many, and we now understand intimacy with God and the Father’s affection for us. We shall be downloading more materials from the Lifestream website. May the Lord bless you so much for guiding, correcting, and pouring your love toward us.

We have now winded the projects in Kenya with great love and joy. All your deeds will remain in the book of remembrance with all of us here forever. As we end today, your support for our projects over here, we continue to love you, pray for you, and continue communicating with you in spiritual matters.

We will not return to ask for funds for any projects; now we are able to stand for ourselves. Thank you for your great support and sacrifice.

Michael and Thomas

We have many mixed emotions about this shift of season, but the pathway seems clear to us. We were part of an amazing miracle of God’s provision and their generosity to bless others in their country in more need than them. Your generosity has changed the lives of many people, and we have been honored that God would ask us to be part of something so extraordinary.

We still have a few thousand dollars left over in our Kenyan Fund and we will be sending that for whatever future needs they might have. If you would like to add any money to that as a parting gift and added resource as they make this transition, please let us know in the next few days so that we can send it all together. Beyond that, we will keep the fund open should people have it in their hearts to share in the ongoing needs there, but Lord willing, we do not plan on raising funds for any large-scale future projects there.

If you want to join us in this donation, please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. You can also Venmo contributions to “@LifestreamMinistries” or mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or, if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

What can I write to end this posting? I know their hearts have been touched by your generosity; I want you to know how much Sara and I have been touched as well. To watch vast sums of money go through Lifestream to meet these needs in Kenya has blessed us beyond words. He did so much more beyond anything we could have asked or even imagined. It has saved so many people and offers Kenya a wealth of young men and women grounded in Father’s love to be his witness in that corner of the world.

When Paul and Barnabas returned from their first missionary journey, they reported to the church at Antioch that they “had completed the work God gave them to do.” We celebrate that now with you and our Kenyan brothers and sisters. We have completed the amazing task he gave us through his incredible mercy and strength. Generosity upon generosity is a great gift to put into the world. Thank you for being part of it with us.

Now, we commend them to the Father’s mercy for whatever purpose he has ahead for them. We pray he will guide them with his love, hold them in his grace, and make a way for his kingdom to be revealed through them. We are grateful to have been part of it and to have left nothing of Lifestream in Kenya except the fingerprints of Father’s love.

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