God's really been stirring my spirit recently about the place Promise Church can play in Jackson ministering to children and youth. When you consider the people that have been gathered into our community and how many teachers and educators and people with "nurturing" high on their spiritual gift it would seem to be almost a no-brainer!
The question, really, is how.
Of the "mission-ministries" I've visited in other countries - Hopegivers in India, and Have of Hope (actually Templo Christiano is the name of the church!) in Mexico - the focus has always been on children. I saw this in Mexico the very first day I was there. The Sunday morning service wasn't an adult service at all. It was designed especially to attract and disciple children and youth. The songs were songs children would want to sing. The praise team consisted of high schoolers and young adults. They had a dedicated team of adult volunteers who viewed it as their MISSION to make disciples of children and youth!
In India, M.A. Thomas sends his recent Bible school graduates out with a Bible and a Bicycle and they go to a village and what's the first thing they do? It often isn't setting up a Bible Study, or creating a church. They will begin gathering orphan children into their families and caring for them. Dr. Thomas's dream was to raise 1 million orphans in India each filled with a passion for serving Jesus Christ. He possessed a vision of what 1 million Christ-filled orphans might do in that predominately Hindu country.
Closer to home, we see the effects of "spiritual orphans" daily. School dropout. Crime. Drug abuse. Broken homes. Divorce. General hopelessness and lack of vision. Is there anything we can do?
That's the question I've been taking to God recently. When we first started Promise Church, I believed our mission would be to reach people who had little or no experience with church. And we have certainly seen some of those folks come and be blessed. But what if our mission really is to and for those who have no one speaking life into their lives right now? Those, who come home from school to an empty house. Those whose parent or parents can't spend time with them because they're working multiple jobs? Is there any way we can help strengthen the family by providing a safe, nurturing, and life-giving environment in which children can be taught to thrive? I believe we can.
I would like to see a shift take place in the way we do ministry at Promise Church. We've been really good about providing small groups and places of nurture for adults who want to experience healing in their lives. This is important ministry. The shift, however, that I would like to see is for these adults who are receiving life begin pouring life into the lives of others. How many of us know that a body of water that just has water coming in but never flows through becomes stagnant over time?
Would a shift take place in the predominantly secular culture of the United States if there were a movement to educate and nurture 1 million children with the good news of Jesus Christ who have been left spiritually orphaned?
Find a moment today to read James 1:27 and then pray this prayer, if you would.
Lord, how can I be a life bringer to a spiritually orphaned child in my city?
And see what the Lord reveals to you. I'm praying this prayer as well and will be working with the Vision Team to design a way we can do ministry and worship that reaches the "orphans" of Jackson.
2 comments:
Jay-
I find it very interesting about the vision in India to reach the children first. The visionary, I agree, sees the potential fruit of imprinting Christ early. Orphans in those nations, from what I read, are considered dogs. There's still a karma mentality that they are orphaned due to "sin" from their previous lives.
In our culture, there has been, in my opinion, the same idea to reach the young through education. Our culture championed education so much that its continually on political and personal agendas. What I find interesting is that so many atheistic people quickly realized that if education is key then the way to change the nation is to become the educator. If the product is so valuable (a degree), then be the shaper of the product, a professor or teacher. Now, we look at lots (not all) of public education and higher education and see anti-Christian rhetoric running rampant. I am not saying there shouldn't be separation of church/state, I'm just saying there's plenty of evidence to attempt to eradicate The Message. We, as a nation, have bought into education so greatly that we overlooked those who giving us the contents of that education have ulterior motives.
A bit of a tangent, yes. But, if its working here in the U.S. to deter Christ through education, perhaps the vision in India WILL work by manifesting the tangible message of Christ's love. Thanks for the blog! You're right. I agree it is about living the Gospel to youth as a prime commencer.
Hey you're right about how orphans are viewed in places like India. Especially the girls who become "dowry" burdens later in life. Dr. Thomas doesn't just teach (cognitively) the truth about Jesus, but that love is demonstrated by taking the kids in when they were left essentially to die.
I'm curious what the equivalent today of the "orphanage" would be in the U.S.? We have children who still live with their biological parent(s) who have essentially no care or nurture. And so they're left to themselves to figure out values and discipline and purpose.
You're absolutely right about secular education. I can't imagine my child spending eight hours a day, five days a week in an environment where they are expressly discouraged to talk about Jesus. In cities like Jackson, you've seen the effect of that decision. Christians who can afford it choose private schools. Sadly that takes them out of an environment where they rub shoulders with those who are less priveleged.
Some form of voucher system seems to me to be the best way to re-integrate. But along with that would be churches stepping up and providing affordable and quality education for everyone. On the "revival frontier" this seemed to be commonplace.
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