In our traditional church here in Brazil we have been having a little flood of baptisms. Ten here, three there, then six more. What is counter intuitive is that none of these baptisms are a result of any evangelistic push or visitation program. They are not the results of church programmed home bible studies nor any of our community ministries. They are just the cumulative result of members telling others about Jesus.
Our ministry forums (the preaching services, children’s church, crafts ministry, etc) are not where the real ministry happens in most cases. They are points of connection that make sharing Jesus possible.
One example is of a lady who came to our church during a Wednesday afternoon to ask for a basic basket (that is a box of rice, beans, flour, sugar, oil, pasta and salt) from the benevolence ministry. She came while the crafts ministry was meeting. During that time, she neither got involved in the crafts, or got a hold of a basic basket, because no one from the benevolence committee was there.
What she did get though, changed her life. She began talking to one of the women, who put her project down and paid attention to the newcomer. She learned her name and found out where she lived. She asked if she could pray for her during the week and what this lady needed. The week passed and she came back again the next week singing a different song. “I don’t need a basket, I need Jesus,” she said. “No one ever prayed for me like that before.” A friendship was born, and because Jesus belongs to one, he was shared with the other.
This ought to happen much more often.
So, if your church has an AWANA ministry or angel food ministry or any other kind of “outreach,” remember that the ministry forum is not the real ministry, it is just an opportunity for real ministry to happen. The real ministry happens through people, not projects.
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