If someone has no family and wants to make a will leaving his estate for benevolent work (helping the very poor, but also spreading the Gospel), how can this be accomplished? I know how to retain a lawyer and get the legalities performed, but who, in the churches of Christ, does the good works and preaches the gospel to the lost, so that nothing of the estate is siphoned off or wasted? What, where, or who in the brotherhood can I contact so that my life’s work will be used for feeding the poor and saving the lost and not for building buildings or sending a few to school, etc. Please let me hear your comments (favorable or unfavorable).<\/p>\n\t
In the United States, you would have to either give your money to an individual with instructions on how you want the funds spent, or you have to establish a trust fund where the person or persons managing the fund is directed how you want the funds spent on your behalf. Having one person charged with the handling of the funds in either situation means you have to trust that person to carry out your wishes. Typically there are some safeguards in a trust fund, but they are not perfect. Usually, mismanagement is not discovered until after the fact. Having the trust fund managed by a set of people tends to be better operated since the people act as a check on each other. This is one reason Paul had the churches send their funds to Judea with someone they trusted instead of handling the money himself, even though Paul was perfectly trustworthy. “And we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches, and not only that, but who was also chosen by the churches to travel with us with this gift, which is administered by us to the glory of the Lord Himself and to show your ready mind, avoiding this: that anyone should blame us in this lavish gift which is administered by us — providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men<\/em>” (II Corinthians 8:18-21).<\/p>\n If the fund is likely to last beyond the lifetime of those administering it, you need to allow those currently administering the fund to select their successors.<\/p>\n Giving the funds directly to those you want to receive it gives you better control at the time you give the funds, but you lose control of how the individuals or charities choose to spend the money once given.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: If someone has no family and wants to make a will leaving his estate for benevolent work (helping the very poor, but also spreading the Gospel), how can this be accomplished? I know how to retain a lawyer and get the legalities performed, but who, in the churches of Christ, does the good works…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[194],"class_list":["post-39988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-benevolence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41435,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-poor-have-the-gospel-preached-to-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":39988,"position":0},"title":"The Poor Have the Gospel Preached to Them","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor The common perception by people - both within and outside of the religious world - is that churches are charitable organizations designed to help the poor. Denominational churches spend much time, energy, and money helping the poor. Those who are in need (or claim to be in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55902,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-i-corinthians-161-2-apply-to-us-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":39988,"position":1},"title":"Does I Corinthians 16:1-2 Apply to Us Today?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 25, June 20, 2008. Let us first note what the passage says: \"Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I gave order to the churches of Galatia, so also do ye. 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If it was the church giving, were they giving to non-Christians or Christians only? I've heard this scripture used\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68079,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-talking-to-people-about-the-gospel-once-a-week-enough\/","url_meta":{"origin":39988,"position":3},"title":"Is talking to people about the gospel once a week enough?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about sharing the Gospel Truth. Is it okay to make attempts to share the Gospel every Saturday, or am I to make attempts to share the Gospel daily? I did try to share the Gospel daily with strangers, but then I felt as though I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20842,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/questions-about-the-use-of-funds-given-to-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":39988,"position":4},"title":"Questions about the use of funds given to the church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Having read your articles and also\u00a0was a member of the conservative church for 24 years I have some questions. The conservatives say it is ok to use the Lord's money for a $20,000 yard but wrong to give a sinner some food from the treasury. Really? It is ok\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54626,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-appoints-men-to-be-preachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":39988,"position":5},"title":"Who appoints men to be preachers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you very much for helping not just me but also the churches where there is a slight misunderstanding on this Evangelist subject. Please bear with me in coming to you again, for I want to understand clearly. 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