In 2001, one hundred "Lost Boys" from Sudan arrived in Dallas, Texas. Our church, Richland Bible Fellowship, was able to help 14 of these orphaned young men adjust to life in America. When hurricane Katrina hit, Dallas was again the new home to many folks in desperate need; our church adopted two families.
The magnitude of these disasters highlighted our congregation's lack of readiness and sparked a desire to move from good intentions to action in helping those around us.
"The stories and experiences of our friends from Sudan and New Orleans—Abraham, Peter, Tiffany, Terrell and Oceanic—connected us directly with marginalized people and opened our eyes to our own world," said Nita Thomason, the volunteer who now leads the church's local Mercy Ministry. "I remember learning how to ride the city bus so that we could teach the Lost Boys how to get around town. What an eye-opener!"
Actually, our thoughts in this direction had been incubating for quite some time. Several years ago our entire church studied The Purpose-Driven Life, with Rick Warren's catchy, undisputable statements such as, "A non-serving Christian is a contradiction in terms" and "You were put on earth to make a contribution."
Each year, we offered classes to help people discover ministry areas they are particularly "shaped" for, as Warren calls it. As we considered our neighborhood, the natural question was, what else could we do for those in need around us?
Then our pastoral staff taught a series called "The Treasure Principle" based on the book by Randy Alcorn, who challenges readers to ask God 31 radical questions about their personal giving habits. One of them: "Where in my community—or in the whole world—do You want me to go, to see, and participate in meeting physical and spiritual needs?" These sermons convicted us deeply with Scriptures such as "The righteous care about justice for the poor" (Prov. 29:7) and "A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor" (Prov. 22:9).
Desiring to turn our newfound good intentions into action, Nita and her husband Mark asked if they could call an all-church town hall meeting. It was announced only once, very grassroots, led by volunteers not staff, with the goal of getting the pulse on how folks felt about the issue. More than 50 people showed up.
In the first town hall meeting, everyone's "causes" were scribbled on a whiteboard. Thomason recalls, "The multitude of ideas, the many areas of expertise and the variety of giftedness energized the crowd and it was obvious that momentum was building. We had over 30 ideas!"
The bookworms of the group were assigned specific titles that dealt with poverty, and then reported their findings at subsequent meetings. (See resource list for books.) We surveyed our members on their interests and involvement in local ministries. We also opened each time discussing a segment we watched from the video series, Intersect Culture.
We knew if we wanted to make a significant impact, we had to narrow our focus. We settled on five categories (eventually becoming four): basic human needs, single parents and widows, the elderly, education, and finally, community development, which we later realized was more international and better suited under foreign missions.
Rick Warren says, "If you are serious about having your church make an impact, become an expert in your community." So, we looked at all kinds of nonprofits such as, Habitat for Humanity, the Boys and Girls Clubs, and a local food bank. The "gatherer" reported the organization's mission, needs and volunteer contact information. If the group fit within our four categories of interest, a representative was asked to come and give a 15-minute presentation on how we could partner with them.
We discovered that there were things already happening right in our church. For example, once a month, instead of the usual Bible study meeting, our junior high pastor takes his youth group on service projects. The leaders of the Mercy initiative felt the need to pray consistently for unity and guidance, so a prayer team was established. Efforts like this were made more visible.
Challenges and encouragements
In the first meeting with a white board overflowing with worthy ideas, there was also the overwhelming sense of need—where do we begin? Organizationally, there have been frustrations, such as, how does a committee with so many interests work together? Or after actually doing a project, discovering that it is not a fit for us.
We quickly learned that initiatives to help the poor often require money, and because this is a new ministry for us, it is not a budgeted "line item." Volunteers looked for creative ways to fund projects, such as, setting up an E-bay store where people could donate items to be sold, with proceeds going to the ministry. In the future, such projects will be budget items, while the "emergencies" (paying rent, grocery gift cards) will continue to be provided for under pastor/elder discretion.
Still, encouraging things are happening. Jennifer Simin shares her experience: "As a result of attending the Mercy meetings, I now know where to turn for help when God places the needy in my path. Like the mother of eight I met at a church picnic who had survived Katrina but lost everything she owned. When she had to move to a different house, I turned to the Mercy Ministry and found needed boxes and help on moving day, all with one simple e-mail."
One need that emerged from the fix-it projects for the single moms was for financial counseling. Tracy Russell, a financial planner, volunteered to do one-on-one counseling that has greatly benefited these families.
Two volunteers heard about a nearby elementary school's back-to-school fair for homeless and low-income children; they recruited others to gather donations and in the fall will work the event.
Small groups are reading books that spur social action, such as the bestseller by Ron Hall, Same Kind of Different As Me, about the friendship of an international art dealer and a homeless man.
Recently our elders decided that reaching out to the poor would become one of the stated key values of our church. Our church is moving to a new building, and because of the new emphasis, the staff has designed the food pantry twice as large as the present one and right in the church lobby.
As our first year of efforts comes to a close, the Mercy Ministry team is pleased that their good intentions have led to several worthy actions, and our pastoral staff is excited to see so many volunteers taking the lead in this ministry.
Starter Steps
Here are some of the initial efforts the Mercy Ministry volunteers got the church involved in.
- Coat and Can Drive. This was our first endeavor—a simple one-time clothing and food collection to help a local food pantry. A member parked his trailer in the church parking lot on a Sunday morning, and as the services let out, people watched it fill up.
- Fix-it Projects. Some 50 letters were sent to single parents, widows and widowers associated with our congregation, offering to fix things in their homes. Fourteen responded. Small groups were recruited to "adopt" each one and then scheduled a time to do repairs such as sheet rock repair, tree trimming, and ceiling fan installation.
- Habitat for Humanity. One Saturday, we partnered with Habitat for Humanity to help a single mom build her first home. It was a huge success and one of our most attended events.
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