Neighborhood Ministries

  Finding the Resources-Many churches tell me they don’t have the resources to do outreach. My wife and I once belonged to a house church with only six families. One day I was called to a railroad bridge where I spent an hour convincing a teenage girl that she didn’t really want to jump. I later related the story to the church. They were very concerned about the high suicide rate in the county and that galvanized them to act. They contacted an organization called Contact USA which helped them plan and organize the needed organization. They began contacting other churches and in 12 months were able to recruit and train 129 volunteer phone workers and secure enough local funds to pay the cost of office rent, utilities, and the phone bill. The phone bill alone was over $1500.oo a month for feeder lines allowing someone to call from anywhere in the county toll-free. They went on the phones just a year after I sat on the bridge with the girl and continued to serve that community 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for almost 50 years with no government help. Can you imagine what the average church could do if they had a half dozen couples that were that committed to a ministry.