Would you be able to love deep enough to lay down your life for your brother?
Children at risk are usually at risk because of generational wrongs. We have to figure out how we are going to break that.
The risks that children are under:
- Abuse
- Dysfunctional families
- Inadequate infancy
- Lack of education
- Extreme economic poverty
- Violence
- Refugee/displacement
- Problems with the law
- Physical/mental difficulties
- Addictions
- Living on the streets
- Miscellaneous risks
It's not what we do it's who we are that will make a difference!
How can we help street kids?
When we help street kids, by giving them material possessions we are not really helping them. This allows them to continue begging, and will only help them go to hell more comfortably. (That may sound blunt, but think about it, it's true). If we are not feeding them spiritually and/or taking them off the streets it doesn't matter what we do, it's not going to help them.
How to effectively build up ministries in helping children at risk:
The first step to building our ministry is always prayer.
-Lamentations 2:19- "Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street."
The second step is to ask God what your focus will be (ex. street children, 0-12 years old).
Don't try to take on every problem in the world!
God will give us a calling with limitations, not to limit us, but to protect us. We need to do our part and God will use someone else to do the things we can't do. We need to be faithful and focus fully on what He is calling us to and stay inside those limits so we don't take on too much, get overwhelmed, and finally quit.
-John 17:4- (We are to bring):
1. Honor and glory to God
2. By competing the task
3. That God has called you to
If you aren't satisfied with what God has called you to do then you are trying to be better than Jesus. Don't get discouraged when you don't see the fruit of your labor. Just do what God has called you and rejoice in that. And that way you can say you did all you could do. You may not see the fruit in your lifetime, but you never know who you will run into in Heaven someday, because you were faithful in what God gave you.
First work on what is unseen: faith, intercession, the word, calling, relationships, dependence upon the Lord, Jesus is the Savior not me, right motivation, spiritual warfare, etc.
Then move to the seen: building friendships and trust, going where they are, find and train staff, build a home, rescue children, bring them into your home, etc.
Do you have the right motivations?
If your ministry built on any of these motivations alone it will not last:
- Children's needs (there will always be needs in the world)
- Outside pressure (someone pressuring you to do it)
- My own needs (Wanting to fulfil your own needs, like you are only comfortable working with children)
- My own wants (I've always wanted to live in _____ working with children)
- Ministry needs (we have to have a ministry to children)
These things are not bad things, they just aren't enough, but themselves. When we only have these motivations our ministry will not last, you are going to eventually walk away from it.
Our main motivation needs to be:
- For the sake of His name (giving God all the glory, allowing Him to send us, we are just his hands and feet)
Only when our motivations are right will we truly make a difference!
Most importantly: KEEP JESUS CHRIST IN THE CENTER OF ALL YOU DO!
Steve Bartel and his wife Evie are the founders of Formando Vidas and they have been working with the street children of Bogota, Colombia for 28 years. They have taken in many kids in their own home over the years and they currently have 9 children living in their home.
Check out their website here: http://colombiastreetkids.org/
*Teaching by Steve Bartel
No comments:
Post a Comment