]I've experienced ocassions where I've helped someone and they ABSOUTELY insisted on [providing] some form of renumeration.[

I read once that there's an old Chinese saying that a debt to a stranger cannot be repaid to a friend - only to another stranger.

(This idea was also the basis for the movie "Pay It Forward".) I've always liked the idea, myself. If possible, tell them that your religion doesn't permit you to accept remuneration - sometimes, telling them this and asking them to donate any remuneration to charity, or to promise to help another stranger in need, will allow them to "save face".

A friend of my brother was an engineer who worked for one of the Canadian companies that fell afoul of the Helms-Burton law for doing business in Cuba. He was flown down to Cuba to help set something up and was there for several weeks. When it was time for him to return to Canada, the workers - as was their custom - insisted on throwing a huge, lavish party in his honour; despite the fact that they were desperately poor and he was a highly paid Canadian engineer, they refused to let him pay for any of the meal. He insisted that his religion demanded he pay for part of the celebration, and finally convinced them to let him pay for the roast pig - which he knew was the single most expensive item. This way, he didn't leave feeling like he'd ripped off a bunch of poor people, they didn't feel like they'd offended their guest, and everybody enjoyed the celebration.

(Hoping this doesn't start a political flame war about the rights and wrongs of Canada doing business with Cuba. <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> )