Not many people discover their latent compassion towards the poor, and even fewer feel strongly enough to act on that compassion. I am one such individual. I discovered that I had a HUGE heart for the poor when I was in high school. I don't know how I discovered it... I just did. I guess I just got curious one day about how the world works. When I learned more, my heart broke. I thank God everyday for the gift of compassion and understanding He gave me. I only wish to share it with others.
I started thinking about how I could help all the people I needed to throughout the world, and it seemed like there was just no way to reach such a lofty goal. Then I realized... bringing them food, water, clothes, shelter, and friendship is not nearly as important as bringing them Christ. Furthermore, I can do BOTH! I figured out the dynamic of doing mission work: you establish trust, which breeds curiosity, and then you answer questions in regard to Christ! It's amazing!
Please notice, however, that throughout this site I have been very deliberate in my choice of words. I do not say "help the needy." If I helped the needy I would run out of resources before I even got started. The needy are everywhere. The people we need to help are the poor. "What's the difference, Chris?" The difference is a choice. Somewhere along the line an able-bodied, able-minded "poor" person discovered programs like food stamps and welfare, and said "Hey, I can live off of these, and not have to work hard at all!" This mindset separates the needy from the truly poor.
The truly poor consist of those individuals who are not ABLE to sustain a minimal standard of living for themselves. This group might include the physically disabled, mentally disabled, or someone in a genuinely "impossible" situation. These are the people who need our help. Not the freeloaders.
"But wait, Christ loved everybody... how can you say what you're saying?!?" Christ did not live in our culture today. Christians today need to adapt our policies to fit the culture. We can no longer afford the luxury of interpreting the scripture literally. Such interpretation generally turns people off, and often times is utterly incorrect.
Several times throughout the Bible (especially in some of His miracle accounts) Christ told people to simply "get up and walk." That's what we need to do to people today. Motivate them. I don't think we should support people who are already able to support themselves. They just need to suck it up and work hard. We need to support the people who can't support themselves.