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Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,
we've got just a couple of Frequently Asked Questions left to answer in this blog series, so if you've got a question we haven't answered yet, shoot us an email and let give us a chance to address it. We always appreciate your feedback.
So, Why are we doing benevolence ministry and what does it look like? [Benevolence means "desire to do good to others, goodwill, an act of kindness, charitableness.] Like so many other questions, the answer to the "why" is multifaceted.
First, we're Christians. To be a "Christ"-ian, a person must follow the example and the teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus spent his earthly ministry meeting not just the spiritual needs of people, but their physical needs as well. Very often, Jesus met someone's physical needs as a bridge to meeting their spiritual needs. At Mountain Vision, we strive to do the same thing. We try to show people the love of Christ in a tangible way by helping meet some of their physical needs, while praying the Lord gives us an opportunity to explain how He can meet their spiritual needs forever.
Second, despite the fact this are is very poor, only a few churches here work to meet people's physical needs. There's a poverty culture that exists here, and that's part of the problem. People abuse the system, and they take advantage of those who try to help them. As a result, most churches have simply stopped helping people because they're tired of getting burned by the fakers. However, the presence of lazy people who abuse those who try to help them doesn't nullify the command and example of Jesus to help people. In fact, the lazy liars are some of those who need to hear the gospel message the most. So part of our mission is to equip churches and church leaders in this community to meet people's physical needs as a bridge to the gospel message. We're not replacing the church, we're mobilizing it.
Third, providing a resource local churches is helping us develop relationships with churches and their pastors, with the hope that in time we'll be able to train and invest in their church leaders. This is the next phase of our ministry that we're working and praying hard to launch in the near future.
What's your benevolence ministry look like?
On the surface, it looks very simple. Underneath, it's a complex operation with a lot of moving pieces. On the surface, we collect items and give them away to families in need. Underneath, there are layers of relationships that we maintain with churches, businesses, volunteers, and supporters who provide the funding, the donations, the manpower to process them, and the referrals who come to us as clients.
Over the years, we've developed relationships with a number of local churches. These churches collect or pass through donations of all types of usable items, which we then distribute to needy families. We provide a mechanism for like-minded churches to share physical resources, like clothes and furniture. Let me share a typical example. One day last winter, a young lady called me asking if we had a heater. At the time, it was still in the 20's at night. She had walked into one of our partner churches looking for a heater, which they of course didn't have. However, instead of turning her away, they gave her my phone number and told her I could help. So she called, and we did have a heater that someone else had donated. She had just gotten out a prison and was trying to put her life back together. Her husband had taken her back and rented them a trailer which turned out to not have any heat. We were able to provide not only a heater, but also some other necessities to help her get started in life again. People sin, and that has consequences. The church being able to help people recover from those consequences and experience new life in Christ is what it's all about. Helping the church meet needs they couldn't otherwise and reach out to people they couldn't otherwise is what Mountain Vision is all about.
Meredith is in Ohio on a mission trip with our local church. A group from our church is doing an Upward Basketball camp in two poor towns in southern Ohio. Meredith and some other ladies are ministering to the mom's of the kids who come to camp.
1. Please pray for soft hearts and for the gospel message to be very clearly proclaimed among the children and the parents.
2. Please pray for Meredith as she teaches about financial responsibility and how to honor the Lord with your money.
3. Please pray for the team to be united and Christlike as they serve together.
4. Please pray that everyone makes it home safely!
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| Ready for church. Love the shoes. |
Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,
we've got just a couple of Frequently Asked Questions left to answer in this blog series, so if you've got a question we haven't answered yet, shoot us an email and let give us a chance to address it. We always appreciate your feedback.
So, Why are we doing benevolence ministry and what does it look like? [Benevolence means "desire to do good to others, goodwill, an act of kindness, charitableness.] Like so many other questions, the answer to the "why" is multifaceted.
First, we're Christians. To be a "Christ"-ian, a person must follow the example and the teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus spent his earthly ministry meeting not just the spiritual needs of people, but their physical needs as well. Very often, Jesus met someone's physical needs as a bridge to meeting their spiritual needs. At Mountain Vision, we strive to do the same thing. We try to show people the love of Christ in a tangible way by helping meet some of their physical needs, while praying the Lord gives us an opportunity to explain how He can meet their spiritual needs forever.
Second, despite the fact this are is very poor, only a few churches here work to meet people's physical needs. There's a poverty culture that exists here, and that's part of the problem. People abuse the system, and they take advantage of those who try to help them. As a result, most churches have simply stopped helping people because they're tired of getting burned by the fakers. However, the presence of lazy people who abuse those who try to help them doesn't nullify the command and example of Jesus to help people. In fact, the lazy liars are some of those who need to hear the gospel message the most. So part of our mission is to equip churches and church leaders in this community to meet people's physical needs as a bridge to the gospel message. We're not replacing the church, we're mobilizing it.
Third, providing a resource local churches is helping us develop relationships with churches and their pastors, with the hope that in time we'll be able to train and invest in their church leaders. This is the next phase of our ministry that we're working and praying hard to launch in the near future.
What's your benevolence ministry look like?
On the surface, it looks very simple. Underneath, it's a complex operation with a lot of moving pieces. On the surface, we collect items and give them away to families in need. Underneath, there are layers of relationships that we maintain with churches, businesses, volunteers, and supporters who provide the funding, the donations, the manpower to process them, and the referrals who come to us as clients.
Over the years, we've developed relationships with a number of local churches. These churches collect or pass through donations of all types of usable items, which we then distribute to needy families. We provide a mechanism for like-minded churches to share physical resources, like clothes and furniture. Let me share a typical example. One day last winter, a young lady called me asking if we had a heater. At the time, it was still in the 20's at night. She had walked into one of our partner churches looking for a heater, which they of course didn't have. However, instead of turning her away, they gave her my phone number and told her I could help. So she called, and we did have a heater that someone else had donated. She had just gotten out a prison and was trying to put her life back together. Her husband had taken her back and rented them a trailer which turned out to not have any heat. We were able to provide not only a heater, but also some other necessities to help her get started in life again. People sin, and that has consequences. The church being able to help people recover from those consequences and experience new life in Christ is what it's all about. Helping the church meet needs they couldn't otherwise and reach out to people they couldn't otherwise is what Mountain Vision is all about.
Things you can be praying for this week:
Meredith is in Ohio on a mission trip with our local church. A group from our church is doing an Upward Basketball camp in two poor towns in southern Ohio. Meredith and some other ladies are ministering to the mom's of the kids who come to camp.
1. Please pray for soft hearts and for the gospel message to be very clearly proclaimed among the children and the parents.
2. Please pray for Meredith as she teaches about financial responsibility and how to honor the Lord with your money.
3. Please pray for the team to be united and Christlike as they serve together.
4. Please pray that everyone makes it home safely!
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| Lily loves to wear mommy's shoes around the house. |
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| She's headed to church. |
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| She walks in them remarkably well, all things considered. |
