Ministries Making a Difference

‘Place-based’ ministry

As a homeschooling mom with four kids, one thing I appreciate about the Charlotte Mason method of education is that it takes a less traditional, inside-out approach to most subjects.

In geography, instead of mapping all seven continents and the terrain of Africa or Asia, we start by learning about the hills and valleys of the East Coast. We learn to map our house and property, then our neighborhood, and work our way outward.

In science, instead of learning about exotic animals like zebras and elephants, my kids are learning through the animals and plants in our own backyard. They read nature lore, which helps them understand what they see as cardinals begin growing families, as bumble bees dart from bloom to bloom gathering pollen dust on their furry coats, and as squirrels shoot across branches, dropping acorns as they go.

Through the disciplines of observation and attention, they begin formulating ideas about life cycles and seasons, weather patterns, and the interconnectedness of God’s amazing creation.

It’s called place-based education, and it lays a foundation for their understanding of the rest of this vast world.

Similarly, we are partial to place-based ministry here at MinistryWatch. That generally means starting local, and developing a relationship with one’s own community—not because we should ignore what’s going on in the rest of the world, but because it lays a foundation for ministry that evolves outward. Always, though, it involves a level of engagement.

Even international ministries are most effective when they have boots on the ground and meaningful partnerships with local leaders.

This week, we focus on ministries that are, in one way or other, doing place-based ministry—and working their way outward.

Photo via Baptist Press

Volunteers with Texans on Mission put together gift baskets for families of victims who died in the devastating floods that hit Central Texas over the July 4th weekend. Through search and rescue connections, they had recovered personal items belonging to some of the flood victims. The volunteers organized them into gift baskets, alongside a homemade blanket and signed Bible, and returned them to the families.

Video screenshot via FOX43

RAISE 28, a faith-based afterschool program in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is celebrating 43 years of offering free programs for K-12 students. More than 100 kids a week come to play, build friendships, receive a free meal, participate in learning activities, and listen to a Bible lesson.

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Photo of training session / IMB Photo

A partnership between a small Illinois Baptist church and an International Mission Board (IMB) missionary has grown into a fruitful friendship. Teams from the U.S. church hosted training in a small South Asia church, teaching discipleship and evangelism. Despite local persecution, South Asian church members were emboldened and went on to plant five new churches in a span of six months. The Illinois church was also challenged to share their faith back home, and continues to communicate with the Christians in South Asia, calling, texting, and sending teams over for mutual edification and training.

Video screenshot via Iris Global

Missionaries with Iris Global are distributing solar powered audio Bibles produced by MegaVoice to marginalized groups in Mozambique, making it possible for people to hear the Bible daily in their own language.

Photo by Audrey Jackson via The Christian Chronicle

Misión Para Cristo in Nicaragua, a ministry associated with Churches of Christ, raised funds for and sent 10,000 Bibles to be distributed throughout juvenile detention centers in El Salvador, where just 10 years ago gang-related crime was at an alarming high. According to The Christian Chronicle, it is a welcome gift. “The El Salvadoran government has partnered with multiple faith-based institutions and organizations to provide material on morality to at-risk youth and their families,” it says.

MINISTRY LEADERSHIP NEWS

G3 Ministries named Scott Aniol as its new president earlier this month, effective July 9. Aniol, a professor and author, has been executive vice president and editor-in-chief of G3 since 2021, and is credited with expanding the ministry’s digital platform. Aniol replaces Josh Buice, who resigned in May after being caught running fake social media accounts that criticized his church’s elders and other G3-affiliated pastors.

Scott Aniol / Video screenshot