7 comments

Kimberly Wagner

Taking the Gospel to the Hurting

Posted on 09.29.09 by Kimberly Wagner | Twitter: @KimberlyWagner7
Topics: Impacting your world

The purpose of today's post is not to heap a guilt trip on you, but my desire is to open our eyes a little wider to the hurting and oppressed. It's easy to develop an "out of sight, out of mind" mentality toward those who are truly in need. I can definitely plead guilty. But in the last few years I've been asking God to broaden my vision beyond those who are in my immediate periphery and allow me to have His perspective on the world's helpless.

Here are a few websites and articles that may broaden your perspective a bit:

http://solofemininity.blogs.com/posts/2008/11/meditations-on-thanks-and-giving.html

http://www.om.org/

http://www.prisonfellowship.org/prison-fellowship-home

http://www.care-net.org/

http://solofemininity.blogs.com/posts/2008/11/alis-african-adventures.html

http://www.cwmission.org/features/combating-human-trafficking-in-the-netherlands.html

http://www.joshuaproject.net/

http://www.calebresources.org/


What can I do?
helping the needy
Educate yourself and inspire others.
Spend some time in research in order to find ministries or missionaries who are taking the gospel to the darkest parts of our globe and meeting physical needs in order to reach the lost with the love of Christ. Inspire others in your church family to get involved, perhaps even motivating your church to adopt ministry organizations, by developing a Kingdom perspective that is larger than what you now have.

Cultivate a heart for the oppressed within your children.
Inform your children of the plight of children across the world who are living in poverty-stricken conditions. Prepare them to be open to giving their lives in ministry to the broken and needy. Challenge them to think beyond the "American dream" for their future.

Minister to the needy.
Find ministries, missionaries, persecuted churches, or impoverished people groups to whom you can personally minister or financially support. Prayerfully consider where and how God would have you funnel the abundant amount of resources He's provided you with. Develop a global mindset when it comes to sharing the gospel.

"Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back" (Proverbs 24:11).

"How blessed is he who considers the helpless" (Psalm 41:1).

Inspired?

How will you minister to the hurting today?

Comments

  1. Psalm 41;1-3 Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
    The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
    The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.
    posted by Leslie N.
    on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 2:57 am
  2. Prayer is the most effective way to minister. I can not spend all day on my computer searching websites but I can PRAY. II Thess. 5:17, "Pray without ceasing" God takes care of the sparrows and God will take care of me. Our missionaries need our prayers. They are going places I cannot go so the least I can do is pray for them.
    posted by debby
    on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 9:11 am
  3. "Here I am! Send me."
    Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

    “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
    the whole earth is full of his glory!”

    4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

    6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

    8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

    Romans 10:14 "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?"

    there lots of options, pray, then go!
    posted by Sara M.
    on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 10:23 am
  4. Greetings, dear Kim, and dear sisters!

    The scripture that came to my mind in reading this post was Pr. 31:9: "...plead the cause of the poor and needy." As I looked it up in several Bible versions, vs. 8+9 were both a blessing, thinking of this post (if anyone has time you might want to look them up in KJV, NKJV, ESV).

    That phrase first stood out to me as it was mentioned in the newsletter of a Christian orphanage in Romania -- someone gifted in music had written a song called "Plead the Cause" as part of an album they produced, with the theme similar to this post, as I recall.

    Voice of the Martyrs has been a real blessing to me over the years (magazine, video, website, resources for children inc. magazine and website). Also, if you get involved with sponsoring a child through a Christian ministry, that is a blessing too.

    Amen, Debby, prayer is a very important way to "plead the cause of the poor and needy", to "defend their rights" before our Father's throne. By His grace I try to remember to do that.

    Nancy's teachings have reminded me about having a "global mindset" about sharing the gospel. We have been blessed with friends/missionaries who have traveled to China/Indonesia to share the gospel. You feel like part of the work when you pray for them or support them financially.

    We have friends who are soon headed to the Phillipines, where the wife was born and raised, to minister to her people (and visit her family). The husband will minister at the little church there. The sheep are very hungry, from what our friends have told me. If the Lord moves on anyone's heart to do so, please support them with your prayers (leaving end of November for about 3 months).

    Greetings, Leslie N.! Thank you (and Arlene) for your encouragement to me the other day; you ministered life to me. May the Lord bless all you true women and help us all to "plead the cause of the poor and needy" (in ways in which each person can, perhaps that just means prayer for some --).

    In His love,
    posted by Leslie S.
    on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 4:55 pm
  5. Recently the Lord placed upon me the responsibility to serve a very helpless people--the elderly. My mother passed away August 3. Once the details were pretty much taken care of, I went back to the nursing home where she lived her last 15 months and asked if I could volunteer. It is a small home with only 37 residents. The administrator is a believer and the activities director is a believer also. Within a week they had me leading a weekly Bible study. A handful of them are already believers and how they love to sing! I am making them a large print song book with just words, no music, and we sing without instrument help. Their joyous singing attracts others in the building to join us and we are having a precious time going through Philippians. The study sheets are attractively done with color and also in large print. My goal each week is not only to give out words of hope and joy and challenge but to not have anyone fall asleep! The home lets me go in and out of rooms (I had the required medical stuff done) too and visit and pray with those who are bedfast.

    This is something I want to continue to do for a long time. My mother died in that home. She had severe dementia. I went to see her almost everyday and if I did not go, my daughter went in my place. Some of the residents have only one or two visitors per month. I involve my grandchildren by making the residents small what-nots to put on their doors and at Christmas, we sing at each room for them.

    You might be timid about starting this kind of ministry, but believe me, after a few visits, they all become sweet "family" and it is a very fulfilling way to minister.
    posted by Karyl
    on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 7:27 pm
  6. Wow! This post inspires my heart to beat faster! Thank you, Kimberly and all ladies for your posts. Leslie S., amen to your suggestions to pray for the persecuted church. There a many kid friendly suggestions for ministry to the persecuted church which would be great for home school moms and fit into any budget at all. Also HALLELUJAH Karyl! My husband and I have done a nursing home ministry for the last five years...sounds very much like yours. This group of people is filled with widows and "orphans" in the sense that they often feel very abandoned. They also are at the end of their life with their last chance to hear the gospel. We have been blessed to sharge the gospel with people just before they die, and pray with families during the dying process of their loved one. The most important thing with any of these ministries is to PRAY (thank you, Debby!) God moves mountains!!! It is never us, always Him. Praise His mighty name forever and ever.
    I am currently under a great deal of stress due to a crisis that has brought sadness and despair. I praise God for this post for it blesses my heart and God has strengthened me tonight through it. He has been ushering me through this tough time which without Him would be utterly insurmountable. With Him hope abounds. He has used all of you, my dear sisters, and I thank Him, and you.
    Much love to you all,
    Brenda
    posted by Brenda Knee
    on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 8:50 pm
  7. Brenda, As the Lord brings you to mind I will try to keep you in my prayers (praying for you now). Your posts are always a blessing! May the Lord firmly hold you up and gently guide you through this difficult time. I'm sure you are a blessing to many. Thank you and Karyl for sharing about the nursing home ministries. This is something that may be in the future for my family, as He leads...(we have already done this sort of thing when visiting friends and loved ones in nursing homes, in years past...)

    In His love,
    posted by Leslie S.
    on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 9:11 pm

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