In 1995, Dr. Charles Roesel, now retired pastor of First Baptist Church of Leesburg, Florida, co-authored a book entitled, “Meeting Needs, Sharing Christ,” in which he introduced the term Ministry Evangelism.

What is it? Is it feeding the hungry and clothing the naked? Is it just meeting the physical and emotional needs of people? Or does it also mean sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ? Roesel says it this way: “Ministry Evangelism is meeting persons’ needs in order to share God’s love and forgiveness with them.”

The greatest model for doing Ministry Evangelism is our Savior, Jesus Christ. He cared about the total person, his physical, emotional and spiritual needs. The gospels describe Jesus going to towns, cities and villages, wherever people were, and meeting whatever kind of needs they had. He was motivated by compassion. Whenever He saw the Father working in lives, He joined Him. Jesus saw people and touched them at the point of their need with the goal that they come to know Him as Lord and Savior. The church of the Lord Jesus must fulfill its mission – the Great Commission – “making disciples.” This means evangelizing and maturing the new believer; it means looking out in your community as a church, searching for opportunities to meet needs and share Christ. 

What opportunities await you as you look at the community surrounding your church and the lost surrounding the homes of your church members? Here are a few simple ideas and some helpful Websites with free downloads. 

1. Do a community assessment and discover your community anew, seeing the needs that are waiting for you to meet in a caring and loving way. For help go to: www.namb.net.
2. For new ideas on how to meet those needs you discovered, examine The Ministry Evangelism Tool Kit: His Heart, Our Hands (you may purchase this directly from the North American Mission Board). Use the link in #1 for ordering this kit.
3. Another place to find good ideas and resources: www.servantevangelism.com

God will bless you as you begin to move toward being an outward-focused Christian and an outward-focused church. Instead of waiting for people to come to you, you must go to them and show them the presence of God’s love by your simple acts of kindness. May you have fun doing ministry!

© 2007 Healthy Church Group