Give three ways you can commit (promise) to do in order to participate in building (Christian communities for the improvement of human life in the society/country especially in eliminating or lessening poverty that makes the poor and the powerless in difficulty and suffer.
Add an Answer
More Questions From This User See All
Answers & Comments
Answer:
Churches and pastors are often eager to respond to the problems of global poverty and injustice. Yet before they take steps to address these problems, pastors — like anyone else — want to know how they can make a difference. Because there are so many hurting people whose communities face complex obstacles, I’m frequently asked what one person or one church can do.
If you’re a fellow church or ministry leader, you know God doesn’t promise that the odds will always be in our favor when accomplishing the work he has set before us.
When church leaders look today at the scale of global poverty, it’s easy to feel like the numbers are stacked against them.
1 billion people suffer from a lack of adequate nutrition.
Half of the children in developing countries are born into poverty.
1.4 billion people live on less than $1.25 per day.
Compared to those staggering figures, the size of the average church in America is only 186 regular attenders. Sounds a bit like Gideon facing thousands of Midianites, “thick as locusts,” with 300 men.
What can a typical church in Michigan or Oklahoma do when poverty and justice issues are so big, global, and daunting? When pastors ask me what their church can do to help meet the needs of hurting people around the world, I give them four ideas.
Any church — no matter the size — can:
1. PRAY
Gideon’s army didn’t prevail because of strength or strategy, but because God was in their camp. We must never cease to pray as we consider the size of the challenge and the ruthlessness of the enemy we face. Prayer enlists a God who is bigger than any problem, and God has promised to be at our side as we engage the world Jesus sent us into. In Matthew 28:20 (NIV), he says, “Surely, I am with you always. …”
2. ACT
While we depend on prayer, there is much that we can do with our hands as well. For a local church, the most obvious place to act is locally. Children need tutors, shut-ins need visitors, and hurting people need shoulders to lean on.
Many churches also want to act overseas. Partnering with an organization like World Vision can allow a small church to take smart action in response to needs around the world. We have deep roots in the communities in which we work, and we are eager to partner with churches to share our knowledge and offer our help.
3. GIVE
Even the smallest churches can make a difference. It may not be practical for your church to tackle the famine in the Horn of Africa, start a microfinance bank, or begin drilling clean water boreholes, but any church has access to the financial resources desperately needed to help accomplish these things and more. We live in the wealthiest nation of Christians in the history of Christianity. At the same time, $50 can help buy clean water for one person for a lifetime. No matter the size of the church, a modest financial gift can be life-saving for someone in need.