Right now in Iraq, ISIS is radicalizing thousands of young men to commit terror. Right now in Ferguson Missouri, a family and community are mourning as tensions with police continue to flare. Right now somewhere in Texas, a nineteen year old woman is beaten and tried and forced to have sex with men she does not know. Right now in South Dallas, there is a High School student that is terrified he will be murdered in gang violence this week. Right now in Vickery Meadow, there is an immigrant that just arrived in the U.S. He has been put into an apartment, handed $425, and told he needs to figure out how to survive. Right now at an inner-city Dallas School, a teacher is praying constantly because she has no idea how she is going to get her students to pass the state exam. Right now wherever you are reading this, you are probably thinking, "What do all of these things have in common and what do they have to do with my church?"
Well, whether it is confronting radical Islam, racial reconciliation, sex trafficking, gangs, caring for immigrants, apartment ministry, or student mentoring, chances are that your church has some ministry or missionary that is focused on at least one of these areas. Also, all of these situations have two common contributing factors: sin and poverty. Your church probably does a decent job at addressing sin, but does your church have anything in the way of formal training on Understanding Poverty?
Probably not!
Ephesians 4 :11 -12 states that we have been given "... the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry...." So it is the job of church leaders to equip their people for ministry, including ministry to the poor. Now your church probably has opportunities and ministries to serve the poor, such as backpack and coat drives, volunteering at a food pantry and international missions opportunities to third world countries. These are all great opportunities to do good, but how we go about doing good determines if we are doing what is best. What if, in our efforts to do good, we are actually hurting the poor more than we help? This question has haunted me for nearly twenty years, including when I was running non-profits that serve the poor and working as a missions pastor in a local church. This is the reason why I have developed a specialized training titled Understanding Poverty for Churches and Missions.
Over the coming weeks I will post blogs here to help you and your church leaders with serving those living in poverty. Also, I am offering two preview events on September 25th, 2014, at Grace Bible Church, Dallas, so you can experience this training first-hand and see what it could mean for your church or ministry. The morning event (9am to noon) is for church and ministry leaders only, while the evening event (6pm to 9pm) is open to anyone. You can find more details and purchase tickets at UnderstandingPoverty.com and click the Trainings tab.
Please share this with your church's elders and pastors and invite them to the Dallas trainings on Sept 25.
You can also come to a training yourself!
"There are more than six billion people living in poverty in the world that you could be helping, employing, selling products to, or teaching. But you are probably not! Why? Because they think differently than you and you think differently than them. It is time that you gained an Understanding of Poverty. You can not afford not to."
Be on the lookout for: "Is my Church Equipped for the Poor - Part 2” in the coming days.