The Surplus & the Saints with Roger Wheeler | Created In The Image of God 228

When the apostle Paul gathered collections for the poor saints in Jerusalem, he described it as a matter of “fairness”—those with plenty supplying the needs of those in want. Roger Wheeler has taken that vision to heart in a very specific way. A real estate agent and missionary, he founded Shoulder 2 Shoulder to help address food insecurity in Zambia, a nation of roughly 20 million people where an estimated five million live with some level of starvation or malnutrition. For Roger, Zambia is not just another project field; it is a Christian nation where believers are caught in a deficit that the Western church, living in surplus, is called to help meet.In this episode, Roger explains how Shoulder 2 Shoulder works entirely through a network of about 135 Zambian churches—their pastors and deacons forming the distribution system for relief (food), development (water), and sustainable farming. There is no government involvement and no American overhead; funds raised here flow directly to needs there. Alongside the logistics, he talks about two kinds of poverty he sees: the obvious physical hunger of those in Zambia, and the less visible spiritual poverty of Christians in wealthy contexts who struggle to recognize their responsibility—or to trust that their giving will reach the right people.The conversation is practical and searching. It invites listeners to rethink wealth, generosity, and what it means to belong to a global body of Christ where “their” need and “our” surplus are part of the same story. For anyone wrestling with how to respond to global injustice without naivety or cynicism, Roger’s work offers a concrete, church‑based model and a gentle but firm reminder: trust is a currency, and it is meant to be invested in the service of the poor and the saints across the ocean. Get full access to SOOPMedia on Substack at soopllc.substack.com/subscribe Get full access to Created in the Image of God at wadefransson.substack.com/subscribe