Moving Forward

This Summer we’ve been studying When Helping Hurts: The Small Group Experience based on the book by Steven Corbett and Brian Fikkert.  

Our Goal is Transformation: “To restore people to a full expression of humanness, to being what God created us all to Be, people who Glorify God by living in right relationship with God, with self, with others and with the rest of creation.” [i] 

So this week we wrap up our Summer Series 2015 by discussing where we go from here:

Let’s look at a key Bible verse that sums up Our Goal:

Col 1:28-29 NASU:  We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

That’s IT! What it boils down to is working together to help FACILITATE the Transformation of each & every person into becoming what God has created each of us to be.

Implementing An Asset-Based Participatory Development Approach 

Locked and loaded with newly-acquired wisdom regarding how best to proceed may seem overwhelming, but Fear Not! Let’s take it One Step at a time:

STEP #1  Assess and mobilize the gifts of your church or ministry:  A great place to start is to simply do an inventory of the assets God has already gifted you with. You will be amazed at the hidden treasures of talent hidden in your congregation just waiting to be tapped for His Glory.

STEP #2  Learn about the existing ministries & organizations already working in the area. Then PARTNER with ‘em!:  No need to “recreate the wheel” here—so before you launch into new programs or services, find out who is doing what in your community. What a great way to allocate resources wisely and build new relationships and partnerships in the future.

 STEP #3  Adopt “first-encounter” policies for when your church is approached for help:  Having an official policy helps minimize frustration and maximize transformational efforts for everyone.

STEP #4  Explore the possibility of starting a new ministry to address the key gaps that are not being met:  Once you know what you’ve got and what’s available along with an official policy about how best to deploy those resources, you can begin to think about starting something new. Yeah verily we serve an Isaiah 41:13 God who may just be preparing you and your congregation for something truly Transformational!

In His Accessible Grace,

Linda 

IMAGE SOURCE:  http://goo.gl/AmrRGs

• [I]  Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts:  How To Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting The Poor—And Yourself (Chicago, IL:  Moody Publishers, 2009), Kindle edition:  Location 74.