The Local Church: Our Ministry Home Base
“We need a generalized radical attitude among ordinary Christians. We need whole congregations who desire to include the poor among their ranks.”
-Randy Nabors, New City Network
During my time as a We Will Go Ministries missionary, prayer requests for jobs were a common request. In fact, most people looked to divine assistance in the area of work. When someone asks God for work, they are saying -- all at the same time -- I don't have a way to consistently pay bills, purchase food, pay rent, buy household items, secure childcare, etc. In short, I can't live beyond the next emergency. What they are also saying is this: I don't feel right. Something is missing in my life, but when I work I feel better, more accomplished.
There is a deep longing among individuals across our city to live in God's design for 4 key relationships: with God, self, other, and the rest of creation (stewardship of work, finances, the environment, etc). We have never been more excited, burdened, equipped, and focused to continue the work we started 4 years ago! Born out of a desire to see Jackson's most vulnerable populations connected to quality employment opportunities they can thrive in and provide for themselves and their families, Hope Exchange started small. At first we ran just one workforce development course called Work Life connected our church. Several classes in, we knew that in order to stay connected to the local church, we needed an equal but separate focus: equipping the church to develop healthy and lasting relationships with the people connected to our ministry.
A certainty that motivates our work is that Jackson is a broken yet beautiful place with hurting and helpful people. The needs are diverse and many, the problems historic and complex. The poverty, crime, and broken infrastructure receive much attention, but for us the division between the wealthy and poor (and often the church and the poor), is glaring and fuels the other problems. Close to our heart is the dream that all across Jackson its thousands of churches would be accessible and relevant to the poor. What if Hope Exchange could inspire and act as a sort of incubator of culture change in local church bodies?
Hope Exchange uses church-based poverty alleviation curriculum as the core of its emphasis on people development. The church connection is crucial: vulnerable people (historically disenfranchised or cut off from the system or from a background of generational poverty) need an active support system to effectively walk out the changes required to embrace and persist in a new way of living. A church is an ideal place to find a variety of people willing to help. However, a church body that is trained in the principles of poverty alleviation is even better. There are other reasons this church-based emphasis is important. We love the church; it is a stable entity in a local community that can -- if its leaders and people are willing & engaged in the life of the people who live there -- bring about long-term investment and restorative compassion into a neighborhood. We also think that the church as an organization has the potential to offer a person many more opportunities to continue the discipleship that began with simple connection to our ministry. Being church-based strengthens our ministry and enables the church to share the Gospel in word & deed, even to its neighbors. Even more, the church provides a community of belonging so that a person served can eventually serve others in return. In short, because we care about the people involved in our work, we want them to experience holistic care: for the practical details of their life, their eternal soul, their mental and emotional health, their dignity, and their belonging.
Over the years we've discovered how important it is -- to our work and also the health of our city -- that the local church is known as a place where spiritual nutrition, practical assistance, and safe community are easily accessed. We want other congregations to offer our classes. We want their churches to become safer places for vulnerable populations to experience God's kingdom care. Imagine how many more people could be trained through Work Life and Faith & Finances if other churches in the metro prioritized this work and got trained to facilitate it. We are motivated to encourage churches in this direction because our vision and the health of our city depend on it.