Scripture:
Deuteronomy 15:11: " For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.'
Mission: To extend the supremacy of God by engaging poverty and oppression in Waco with the Gospel and the Kingdom of God.
Goals: To accomplish this mission, we have the following general goals:
- To bring the gospel to those who are in poverty and are oppressed.
- To make disciples. This should underpin everything we do.
- To be a social and physical impact in the community in the way the Kingdom is brought into serving those in poverty.
- To influence those we interact with in the community to see serving those in poverty as a Gospel endeavor and the Kingdom of
- God breaking through into these situations.
- To be a support to those organizations within our community that serve poverty and oppression.
- To welcome the broken, the oppressed, the impoverished, the hungry, and the needy within the body of believers at Redeemer.
- To be a resource for information on how to serve those in poverty and oppression.
- Supporting the Deaconate in their service.
Values: To accomplish these general goals, the following values describe our vision:
- The Gospel is the center and rule of all that we do in serving those in need.
- We are doing this because we need the poor, the downtrodden, and the broken in our lives. We are the Broken and we need Christ’s streams of mercy.
- We are engaging people, not just a social condition. We are called to make disciples.
- Our purpose is not to just address a physical or social need, but to address and engage the person with Jesus.
- We desire to show the compassion and the truth of God.
- The Gospel involves the Kingdom of God breaking through into our world. Jesus demonstrated this in how he met the physical needs of those around Him. The Gospel involves engaging physical needs as well.
- We will seek to be an open hand to those who are in need.
- We desire to integrate them into the body of Christ, they are not just people we minister to, but people who minister to us, and are vital to our growth.
- We learn and grow together as a body.
- The poor, the hungry, the oppressed, the broken, the needy should be a part of our everyday general life. Along with proclamation, the Gospel invading the everyday life is a powerful declaration of the Gospel that reaches the ends of the earth.
Strategic Initiatives: To accomplish the mission, goals and values of the witness team, the following objectives define the initial activities of the ministry:
- Seek God and pray. What is God putting in front of us?
- Discipleship. Learning practical ways to disciple others both within our group and without.
- Learn together about God’s heart for the poor and for us in this ministry.
- Learn more information about poverty in Waco.
- Continuing to intentionally build and nurture relationships with service organizations in the community.
- Learn together how to engage poverty.
- Begin taking steps to engage our community.
- Become a part of our own neighborhood and a part of our neighbors’ lives.
- Teach the church about poverty
