“holistic ministry is ministry through acts of love towards people”
based biblically out of the two greatest commandments- LOVE GOD-LOVE PEOPLE
finding new ways to be effective, sometimes you will have budget constraints but there are ways to get around budget.
holistic ministry is about using other means of ministry such as feeding people and helping people through counseling to minister to their spirits and introduce the idea of Jesus Christ
What are the concepts behind holistic ministry
Geography, demographics, politics, denomination, socioeconomics
Uniting trait is that the church must preach the Gospel and that community outreach is a main priority.
One-on-one relationships leads to
Lasting change leads to
Moral framework
Leads to faith in Christ………………..All of these things take patience and time
Focus on social services ministries as ad door to evangelism
Felt Needs, Conversation of faith, meaning, and Christ
Focus on ministries of reconciliation that witness to unity in Christ
Racial, Economic, Physical and mental, social and family, multicultural and worship
Focus on community development to express God’s love for whole persons and communities
Pervious conditions, self sustainability, provides identity, schools health clinics, rec-centers
Focus on justice ministries that embody the empowering message of the Gospel
Unjust systems, Racism, sexism, political corruption, unfair economic structures, prevents development and progress, social advocacy
Focus on reaching skeptics by demonstrating that the church makes a difference
Image, self serving, hypocritical and irrelevant-secular society, developing reputation for social activism.
All of these things provide opportunity for witnessing.
Pastor Gerry stoltzfoos - Speaker from freedom valley
Mike flemming (missionary to the DR- working together on a church plant)
Haiti sending people to the DR
Pastor Gerry- Respects the dedication of America to rush into help other countries.
Great up Amish, struggled with the idea of pacifism and had to work through those issues with his family, this was a defining moment for him.
Had struggles with the idea of his church not being acceptance. Ended up checking out a Pentecostal church
Went to the church and hated it, ended up being introduced to someone there, was impressed by the relationships with people. The care from individuals replaced the problems he had with the church its self.
Ends up becoming a church planter ends up in Gettysburg,…..crazy god occurances worked out well in the long run even tho it wasn’t wanted by him….good quote while he was going through some pressure someone told him “ who do you serve (he answered Jesus)…the guy then replied, well what did Jesus go through?)
His churches strategy was to reach people who had given up on church (this remains his churches mission)
Knew a girl who got saved and started a ministry in a tattoo parlor, ended up buying the lease on the tattoo parlor so they could stay open as an effective ministry until they could purchase the lease
Bought a Harley to raffle off, ended up having to buy a PA gambling license…….BUT the guy who won the bike ended up getting saved.
gerry@freedomvalley.org
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