Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Has it really been a week...?

I'm going to go on a rant, so please bear with me. I was told today that someone didn't want to support "my ministry" (referring to Tumaini with the orphan support) because they didn't "just want to feed and take care of children." Two things before I continue, first, I don't care if someone wants to support "my ministry" or not, and this is not the point I am trying to make. Second, I believe, I "pisteuo" believe (beyond a doubt) that in ministry, the overlying purpose is always to bring the person you are ministering to faith in Christ or a deeper walk with Him. Having said that, I am very taken back by this comment. The underlying thought seems to be that "just feeding and taking care of children" is not ministry and is second to, for example, a Gospel for Asia missionary who is out planting churches and leading evangelistic crusades. The problem with this, however, is that the GFA missionary is also feeding children, supporting orphans, helping the invalids, and so on. The two, service and evangelism, are bound together in a knot, and rarely does one happen without the other. As is the case with "my ministry," the children are fed, clothed, educated, and given a chance in life as well as having the Gospel shared and followed up with three times a year in a large setting and weekly on a smaller scale. Service and evangelism are not two separate entities in "my ministry" nor are they in the Gospel. We all know the Scriptures, "Whatever you do to the least of my people you do unto me." "Let the little children come to me." "Go and do likewise." "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” To be honest, and I don't mean to get arrogant here but I seek to make a point, "my ministry" seems more in line with the message of Christ than the one this person was going to support, but that is neither here nor there. The point, again, is that service and evangelism need to work together to achieve the outcome we desire.

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