|PIC1|Watching the news recently, my attention was caught by two particular headline stories.

Firstly, there was the resignation of Peter Hain, the Work and Pensions Secretary. After weeks of much speculation, he had finally resigned because of the non-declaration of donations. Perhaps this was not really a surprise in itself, but considering the attempt by him and others to minimise the issue over the past few weeks, the story still made the main news headline.

The next report I watched was from Kenya, where a series of meetings had taken place between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, brokered by former UN head Kofi Annan. Even today the BBC headlines tell of more violence, death and destruction in the beautiful Rift Valley, an area where I have visited WER projects regularly over the past few years.

Later in the evening I was reading from my Bible the verse which says '...and the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men....' (2 Timothy 2:1-2)

Since then this word 'entrust' has stuck in my mind. It is not one that is commonly used today and I wondered why. Is it because it carries with it a significant responsibility and accountability, so that we shy away from using the word?

The UK politics of party donations, cash for honours and campaign funds perhaps is indicative that politicians fail to realise (or even choose to ignore) that they have been entrusted with something special on behalf of the UK public. Our democracy and the good of the nation has been given 'in trust' to them, so why do they complain so often when we ask them to account for it?

The situation in Kenya is such a tragedy. It was clear even before the recent elections vote rigging was likely and it has been tragic to see the subsequent death and destruction over the past few weeks.

The news report I watched seemed to indicate progress but within minutes there were more accusations and today more deaths. Those who are now suffering are in fact the Kenyan people who entrusted to their political figures the country of Kenya and its future. I suspect that not many Kenyans now feel that their trust has been respected.

After watching the news, my thoughts immediately turned to Lucy Gacheru at the Hope Community Centre, near the town of Naivasha where recent killing and destruction has taken place. This past week Lucy and her team have taken 40 new orphans into their care. Lucy was approached by local officials because they knew that they could entrust her with these needy children. Following a report from Lucy, WER immediately released extra funds to the Hope Community Centre because we knew that they could be entrusted to bring benefit to those in need with the money we were sending.

The fact is that every one of our supporters is entrusting their money to WER in order that we handle their donations properly, be it £5 or £50,000. This is something that we need to remember at all times. And when we release money or goods to our partners overseas we are entrusting them to handle these donations responsibly.

So as I look at national and international leaders and question their behaviour and even their life principles, I find myself looking in a spiritual and personal mirror and the question comes to me from the verses Paul wrote to Timothy.

How am I handling the special gifts which God and others have entrusted to me?

To entrust: 'to commit in trust something of value to care for and use reliably.'

Perhaps we all need to re-learn this slightly old fashioned word and principle.



About Alex Haxton:

Alex has been Director of Operations at Christian humanitarian agency World Emergency Relief (WER) for the past seven years and before that worked as a consultant to the charity.

His business career was spent in the catering equipment industry for over 20 years before he moved on to Christian ministry which is how he first came to go to Africa.

A few months spent at Roffey Place Christian Centre brought a more radical change than anticipated, and it was there that Alex met a Pastor from Burundi who became a central influence on his life, even to this day.

He has since worked in Christian ministry, which he describes as "a call of God we must not ignore".

It was the work in Burundi and Rwanda, post genocide, which eventually brought Alex into contact with WER as he sought funding for relief and medical work in those countries. He remains heavily involved with humanitarian and development work worldwide through WER.

About World Emergency Relief:

World Emergency Relief is a non-denominational, global fellowship of Christians, working together, and with others, to help people in need. Underlying World Emergency Relief's efforts are God's love for this WORLD He created, the physical, emotional, spiritual, social and economic EMERGENCIES afflicting millions, and the RELIEF we can bring to hurting people, especially children, thanks to God's unending mercy coupled with the generosity of our donors.