In the Gospel, Matthew admonishes Christians to do charitable works. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, and so on. Christian churches are told to follow these instructions in their daily lives. As this video shows, one congregation from the Jesus Christ Church of Latter-Day Saints takes this instruction very seriously. They have a group that uses their construction skills to repair the roofs of congregants who need them. The video shows the story of Peter, a member of the church whose roof had been leaking for years. He knew it needed repairs, but couldn’t afford to pay the cost and couldn’t find someone to do it cheaply. He refused to ask for charity, but his church’s bishop knew he needed help. So the bishop sent over a group of church members, who repaired Peter’s roof for free. As the members said, they are required to care for each other. They believe that helping others brings blessings to their own families and so they do charitable deeds out of love for each other and for Jesus. As the video came to a close, Peter was interviewed again. He declared the repairs and the people involved “a miracle.” The video then revealed that this same group has repaired eleven roofs for church members in need.
Roof repair is expensive. As Peter learned while doing his research, there are few contractors roofing for cheap costs. This is understandable, as the job requires skill, training, and materials. But it is a cost that is often undoable. And without repairs, simple problems can turn into a crisis that might end with the roof collapsing. In some situations, this crisis ends up happening, leaving its victim in an even worse situation than where they started. But in cases like Peter’s, a charity organization is able to step in and alleviate the problem. Charitable organizations exist all over the world and focus on many causes. At best, they fill in the gaps where a healthy government is temporarily not able to fulfill all of its citizen’s needs. At worst, charities are used in place of government intervention. This might be able to help certain individuals, but eventually, the charity will not be able to keep up with demand. So while charity is, as Peter says, a miracle, the miracle needs to be supplemented by an institutional change in order to continue to serve those in need.