Community Transformation!

Last month, Pastor Norm, Kyle and I traveled to Costa Rica to speak at an international pastors and pastors’ kid’s conference. As we spent the week there, one of the first things I noticed was how involved the church was in their region. They provided basic services like English classes, building houses for the impoverished, and giving medical assistance for their communities. When the community had a need, the church got involved, and in some cases, was the primary contact government officials talked to when they desired to organize a community event. A pastor from Guatemala shared that because of his commitment to following his Kingdom mandate to meet the needs of the community; his church ran the villager hospitals, schools, construction, and daycares. His children’s ministry was over 1600 needy kids.

It led me to wonder, as MC graduates who all have spent a year of community service (if I can frame it that way) or more, how we are helping to solve our region’s or city’s problems. Since we are the church, are we taking an active role in bringing God’s kingdom and ways to our communities, or have we become dualistic and separated church work from marketplace work? Our responsibility as Kingdom ambassadors (try not to skip over that phrase as cliché) is to see our communities transformed into the Kingdom of God. Are we acting in that capacity, as individuals, families, and churches?

So how can we get started? Just find a need and meet it. If there are homeless or hungry people, feed them. If the city is dirty, clean it. If there is a flood, help rebuild houses. The needs of society are so practical, and yet we often wonder why we aren’t the light shining on a hill for all to see. God is good- and he’s also practical. Let’s get started today. Do or plan something for your community, and watch God act. - Braden Unger