Michelle English

First Things Foundation

First Things Foundation was conceived as a way to remind wealthy westerners of what gives meaning to life and as a mechanism for serving the poorest among us. As a couple of men working in the aid field, we saw how do-gooders sometimes did profound damage to struggling communities. That damage wasn't always physical; things get built when the cash shows up. The damage was spiritual, resulting in local people and local economies becoming dependent on outsiders. But the existing aid paradigm also revealed a missed opportunity. The do-gooders with means, individuals and large non-profits, sometimes overlooked local culture and local ideas. This failure wasn't about being greedy or arrogant (though we saw it could be), it was usually about a failure to truly immerse where people hurt the most. True cultural awareness wasn't often the goal. Sharing in the suffering wasn't exactly the point. After all, that's a hard thing. It could mean getting sick. Or lonely. But here's the rub. When we sacrifice our comforts, our way of speaking, our way of thinking, and immerse ourselves into local communities, something really cool happens. We discover wisdom in the Old World way of living and interacting. We begin to see clearly. And one of the things we see is that local people usually know how to fix local problems. Having immersed into a new way of thinking, we are in a unique position to offer these people direction, hope, someone to bounce ideas off of, and resources that they don't have access to. Stripped down and embedded into the local culture, the Field Director becomes something like a bridge, with a foot in two worlds. We give momentum to local ideas by offering these people a chance to share a virtual table with creative and generous souls around the world. This, much like a heavy-laden feasting table, brings people together for the good.