Always the Giver
'To live is to give'
Financial Policies
While David tried to remain uninvolved in the details of the administration of the movement, he made sure that Family supervisors adhered to certain principles. He knew from experience that much of the revenue raised by churches was spent on administrative expenses and building maintenance, rather than on actual service. He was determined that The Family would be different.
From the beginning, he instilled in his followers a love of frugality and austerity, and a determination to see that as much money as possible was spent on actually helping others. He wrote:
I don't care if I ever see money as long as I've got a place to lay my head and something to eat. I don't think you know anybody that cares less for money than I do, really, except that I'm a pinch-penny and I hate to see it wasted.
We don't live high on the hog. We don't waste money, we literally give it all away, everything that comes in! You know I don't live any better than you do; in fact, we live in the smallest quarters here! It's almost like living in a trailer, the bedrooms are so small!
I don't know of any other group that is operating as economically as we do. I don't know of any other group, no matter how small the denomination, that doesn't have churches, buildings, headquarters, offices, and a lot of excess administrative personnel.
"Blessed Is He That Considers the Poor" (Psalm 41:1)
David believed that those who love Jesus have a fundamental duty to materially help the disadvantaged and downtrodden whenever possible.
We are determined that the poor of the world shall be fed, clothed, housed and be enabled to labor in freedom, peace, health and happiness together to obtain their needs. ... Freedom from want, freedom from bondage, freedom from pain, freedom from evil and freedom from fear -- these are our united goals! Mankind cannot be happy when hungry much of the time, enslaved by oppression, tyranny and exploitation, robbed by the rich, suffering the pains and pangs of hunger, malnutrition, disease, ill health, overwork, evil abuse, the tortures of war and constant conflict, and nightmares of perpetual fearful insecurity.
In late 1991, David wrote a letter entitled "Consider the Poor" in which he re-emphasized The Family's obligation to minister to the needy:
Our Family needs to start looking around to see who is the worst off, who needs help the most, who is the most desperate for answers -- like Jesus did -- and minister to the sort of people that nobody else cares to minister to, or at least not many.
The Lord is saying, "Search out the needy, the lonely, the lost and the helpless and the homeless, the lowest of the low and those that nobody else wants -- and give them Jesus -- just like you did when you first started!"
This would also include ministering to such people as ... neglected youth, drug addicts, the physically handicapped, and those in correctional institutions, prisons, orphanages and old folks' homes!
This blossomed into what The Family refers to as their "Consider the Poor" work. Nearly every Family community is involved in some sort of regular outreach to those in need, as well as assisting in disaster relief projects around the world
