During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. Acts 16:9-10
“Words matter. The change of one simple word in a phrase can make all the difference.
Words convey a message, which is why it is so important for us to consider the difference between “ministry to/for the poor”, and “ministry WITH the poor.” The change of a single word makes ministry look different.
At its most basic, one form of ministry is a hand out and the other is a hand up. One form of ministry is hands-off, and the other is relational. One form of ministry will help someone out, and the other will transform lives.
It is crucial that in our churches we put an emphasis on ministry WITH the poor.
Why is that? When we are in ministry with, rather than to or for, we are respecting cultures, practices, resources, and giftedness of any given people or community. In ministry with we take the time learn names, stories, and real needs. Ministry with takes out the assumptions we tend to make about people and situations. It empowers and equips people to live into God’s reality for them.
When I’ve visited places of brokenness, poverty, and suffering, both in my community and abroad, in most cases what I’ve witnessed are not needy, helpless people. Instead I’ve met hard-working, passionate, creative, faithful people who don’t need someone to do for them, but rather someone to walk alongside them, offering support, resources, or a hand when needed.”
Katie Lineberger in “Why the “WITH” Matters in Ministry WITH the Poor” a post of the WNNC.
Notice in today’s Scripture that cross border ministry engaged a person standing and begging. This implies he was in the posture of a servant and needing some assistance. The vision was to come and to help.
Lineberger is spot on in speaking about the importance of ministry with people. At GTP we also say that such giving provides a hand up rather than a hand out, which actually creates unhealthy dependency.
If this post resonates with you, then I’d encourage you to support GTP. This is what our work all over the world is all about: empowering national workers to build trust and grow local generous giving to God’s work.
Skilled servants are crying for help! We are praying for $75,000 in the next month or so to add staff in 2022 to respond to unanticipated demand. Got a grant for part of the funding. Praying for the rest. Click to give here.