Stephen Glover, pastor of the Montgomery and Monroeville, Alabama, and Columbus, Georgia, churches, commented that "God has blessed our neighborhood and my own family with a tremendous ministry to the children and teens.
"We live in a part of Montgomery that is experiencing the deteriorating effects of the mind-set that when large numbers of African-American families move into a community, then that area will naturally begin a downward spiral toward drugs, crime and hatred.
"This precipitates white flight involving both individual families and churches.
"In studying this condition it occurred to me that God has called Christians to stand in the gap for him. As a father of eight children (five birth children and three adopted children), I am concerned about the effects of social decline on my own children and also on the neighborhood children.
"God convicted a few other children from the neighborhood to clean the streets one hour each weekday.
"Many who saw our group working stopped to say they were inspired to see the children helping build a better community. One woman wrote an item for the newspaper on how her days were brightened by seeing us on the streets.
"Then God really caused things to take off one day when a couple of boys two houses down called to me over the backyard fences to ask if I would let them play basketball in my yard.
"Our house has a concrete slab, and I had put in a basketball goal for my family. I told the boys to come on over, and when they came into the yard their numbers had grown to seven or eight.
"We played ball for the rest of the afternoon. I told them that as long as they respected my yard and neighbors they were welcome to play at the goal when they wanted.
"This began a relationship that has continued to grow and now includes many children, teens and adults in the neighborhood.
"The boys have some rough edges but have been willing to cooperate with the rules of the yard.
"Eventually we decided to run a tournament on Sunday afternoons with officials and teams. We even served hot dogs barbecued on our grill. The result was astounding as we had 50 to 70 children, teens and adults from the neighborhood come over to play.
"Our next door neighbor graciously allowed us to open up part of her backyard so those not playing basketball could play other games."
Ingrid Mandel, who serves the Kalamazoo, Michigan, church with her husband, Wilhelm, talked about the sister church relationship they have.
"With our transfer from the German-speaking region to the United States, we have been blessed with a congregation of great musical talents in Kalamazoo, Michigan," Ingrid said.
They wanted to establish sister church relationships with the churches the Mandels pastored in Germany and Austria, so they send music tapes to them.
The Mandels also translate letters so members can be penpals. This allows members to get to know each other and each other's countries, to share joys and sorrows and give encouragement in each other's Christian walk, and deepen prayers for one other.
Ingrid said that "since the churches in our former area of Germany and Austria are small, and the brethren live miles apart, a loneliness as a Christian can often set in. Through this outreach we are trying to bridge this gap."
Ingrid also noted that while it is "exciting to see our talents and gifts being used in ministering to others, we must not forget one of the most important ministries--the one to our own family. Besides Christ, it is the core element for the well-being of our church and the nation."
Charles Holladay, pastor of the Minneapolis South and Mankato, Minnesota, churches, talked about a ministry conducted by Gene Hecker, a deacon in the Minneapolis South church, and his wife, Jo, a member of the Bloomington Assemblies of God. Charles said that they like to refer to themselves as a Christian couple serving the Lord.
Gene said that Shoebox Ministry is an idea born from what Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, was doing for residents of Bosnia.
The Minneapolis South church was host to a guest speaker from Project Offstreets, a drop-in center in downtown Minneapolis that offers counseling, food, work programs, education and health services to the estimated 1,500 to 3,000 homeless 10-to-18-year-olds in the area.
These children are out on the streets for various reasons, only a few because they want to be. They become victims of drugs and prostitution. The idea is to rescue them and get them back into mainstream society.
Gene brought the information home to his wife, Jo, who asked, "Why can't we do what Franklin Graham is doing, but for the kids in our own city?"
And so Shoebox Ministry began. Gene and Jo decided to collect shoe boxes and fill them with personal care and hygiene products, a type of survival kit. The South church along with several of its small groups support this effort.
Youngsters in the South church put on a puppet show that raised more than $400 in cash along with several bags of personal care products. Gene asked for prayers that some corporate sponsors would come forward to help.
Joel Rissinger, pastor of the Meriden, Connecticut, church, advised against getting involved with too many ministries.
"Sometimes we get the impression that we should be involved with every ministry the local church sponsors," Joel said.
"After all, if they are good ministries, shouldn't we participate in them? It's impossible for one person to be involved in everything the congregation does. It's OK to say no.
As pastors, we shouldn't start a ministry unless two things are present: Gifted leadership for that ministry and people who need what that ministry has to offer. If those things aren't present and the ministry is already functioning, then it's time to give that ministry a decent burial.
July 22, 1997, WN, page 5
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