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Brian McClure
To the Jews, I became a Jew
I recently went on a mission trip to Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa
to visit Drs. Rick and Anita Gutierrez, missionaries with International
Ministries. There they have partnered with a non-profit ministry called
iZulu Orphan Project. Together they are reaching out and ministering to
the needs of the Zulu people just outside of Empangeni in what is referred to
as Zululand. Seeing how they do ministry has opened my eyes to ways we
could better serve our communities.
It would be really easy for “the white man” to come into that
area and instruct them on how to live like us. Rather they have invested
into the community and learned the way they live and are resourcing them to
live healthier lives. Rick and Anita work with local women of the
villages teaching them to be “Health Builders.” They have trained them to
perform screenings for tuberculosis, diabetes, and HIV. They are equipped
to perform body mass tests. And more recently looking at diet and ways to
better inform the Zulu people how to eat healthy to live longer, fuller
lives. IOP (iZulu Orphan Project) has Shelly Bain who goes into the
villages and works with local school teachers, training them on curriculum and
resourcing them with materials to teach. Kate Bain, the head of IOP is in
the process of building a new support center in one of the villages to actually
move to the people, rather than the people walking a couple miles to come to
them for food, clothing, and other personal needs.
Having grown up in the home of a Pastor and serving
professionally on staff in two churches myself, I’ve seen how churches are
guilty of always building bigger programs and striving to keep up with the
latest technology so that the people will come to us. Looking at the way
Jesus lead his life though, he was always on the go, meeting people where they
were, eating in their homes, going to their towns. Getting involved in
the community is important to ministry, rather than expecting the people to
come to us. The church building is a place of worship and a place to
resource and disciple those walking in a relationship with Christ. But in
every other context, the training center is not the place where the work is
done. So here are my questions:
- How can the
church better be involved in the community?
- Is it better
to use our finances on developing the training center or using them to meet the
needs of the people we are trying to reach?
- Can we train
our churches to leave behind the mindset of advancing the building and turn the
focus on advancing His kingdom?
- What are the
interests and passions of your community? How can you join in God’s work
investing in and nurturing those gifts?
If you are working to disciple within the community, then the
community will better reach and serve their own. People trust those they
have relationships with. Your ministry field is not the Senior Adult
program at your church, the choir, or the board of deacons. Your ministry
field is the neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, and surrounding community in
which God has placed you. Find the needs of your community and plug in.
“You will receive the power
when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
“Though I am free and belong to
no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a
Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law
(though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I
became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am
under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to
win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible
means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of
the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”