by cyberpope
12. January 2010 00:52
I plan to start creating a series of posts geared to help churches service their members and their communities. Over my years in ministry I have helped numerous churches set up pantries and different reach out programs. Hopefully if your family or church has wanted to help those really struggling now, these posts will be of value.
Anyone can do it. You do not have to be a 1,000 plus congregation to make a difference. You do not even have to be a church at all. You do not need to have much money or even money at all. I was the youth pastor many years ago of a small home fellowship. We had around 50 members. There was a large 900 member church not too far from us. We had a good relationship with that churches youth group, since ours was so small. The youth group had started a small pantry, and we decided to focus on helping out people in our area who had need. That year through prayer and people really getting excited about the program, we created over 14 food baskets. The large church created 4 baskets. So size does not matter, faithfulness and providence do
One of the adult members had decided to give the turkey his company gave out to the employees during the holiday. When he mentioned it to another co-worker, that co-worker told him to donate his turkey also; shortly nearly everyone at that company donated their turkeys also. We ended up having double the turkeys than we had baskets, so we were able to also donate turkeys to some homeless missions in the area.
If you make the service of those in need a part of your church’s worship life, they can be very successful. It is more than just reaching out though; it can really infuse your church/family’s life.
Let’s now talk about practical application now. In my opinion the first step is spend one week, praying about this new ministry opportunity. If you are part of a church wanting to do this ministry, you have to be on solid footing. Once the word gets out, people will depend on it. So you cannot just jump in. I believe the most successful ones are well prayed out during the initiation phase. If you are a family wanting to do something, the same goes for you.
This week you will be praying for a couple of things.
- Should you start your own or join someone else’s ministry of helps
- God’s providence
- Dedicating space to the ministry
- That it will be fruitful in promoting the Good News
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