He's the Third Man

We use the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 to teach about the third way theory that we use to show that there are 3 types of people in the world. In the parable, the robbers demonstrate the first man philosophy that is, “what is yours is mine if I can take it”. The two religious leaders that just walked by and showed indifference shows the second man philosophy and that is,” what is mine is mine if I can maintain it.” And the Samaritan that helped a stranger shows the third man philosophy, which is, “what is mine is yours and if you need more I will try and help.” People are really intrigued when we share the third way with them. I want to tell you about a police commissioner that we met when Mack Jennings was here visiting us in Trujillo. We went there to talk about the Women’s Village and how we can work together. The police commissioner named Edwin shared with us some interesting facts. There are 56 barrios in the city of Trujillo; this doesn’t include the barrios surrounding Trujillo. Commissioner Edwin is in charge of 27 of these barrios. The national level there is supposed to be about 3,000 citizens to one police officer. Well, in this district there are about 50,000 citizens per one police officer. So obviously they are a little short of staff. Edwin proceeded to tell us about the changes that he is putting in place and how he treats his employees. For example, since he’s been working with the Women’s Village and learning about how to handle women that are victims of domestic violence, he has hired 2 women police officers. These officers are in charge of working with women that have been abused and helping them to feel more safe and comfortable. Also, he wants his staff to feel respected and to work with dignity to build their self-esteem. Commissioner Edwin tries to get donations from others in the community and also teaches his staff to do the same. They’re working as a team and not waiting for handouts. We feel that Edwin really has compassion and wants to make a difference. He’s the Third Man.