USA (MNN) — The coronavirus has put a damper on the ministry models of ministries that rely on face-to-face interaction. Even Zoom and Skype aren’t helpful in communities with limited technology.
Spoken Worldwide works with oral learners around the world to communicate Gospel stories and truths. But in an oral culture, trying to share Jesus without meeting in person is like fishing in a cornfield; it just doesn’t work.
Ed Weaver with Spoken Worldwide says during the COVID-19 pandemic, their local teams around the world are getting creative and making connections in safe, new ways.
(Photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)
One of those ways is by being the hands of Jesus and helping meet physical needs in their communities.
“We’ve certainly had some fields of ministry that are driven more by, ‘Hey, more afraid of starving to death than we are of the virus.’ So those particular pockets of ministry have focused on those things that will sustain life,” Weaver says.
“It’s not something that we have initiated here from the United States. It has been locally-driven. People have literally been saying, ‘Well, what can we do and what would we do? How would we go about it?’ They’ve been forced to be creative. I think that’s just an amazing response — a response that’s been full of faith and said, ‘Okay, Lord, what do you want us to do? What should we be willing to do? What are we called to do?’”
In the middle of a global crisis, it is easy to focus on ourselves. But as believers in the West, we can be encouraged by and learn from our Christian brothers and sisters in other parts of the world.
Weaver says, “One of the things that I want to encourage your listeners in terms of this conversation is that people are lifting up their eyes and saying, ‘What can I do for other people? I’m not going to sit around on my hands and just wait for everything to get better and wait for the world to take care of me. I’m going to go ahead and take care of the world.’
“A lot of times in the West, we think of we’re trying to disciple others in the rest of the world. No, there’s plenty of discipleship that can be given back to us. They [are] leading us, helping us, encouraging us, and demonstrating to us what it’s like to live a life of service to the King.”
(Photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)
To learn more about Spoken Worldwide’s ministry, click here!
“Let’s rejoice with believers around the world, parts of the Body of Christ that are finding ways to operate in practically impossible situations.”
Header photo courtesy of Brett Zeck via Unsplash.
