John Wimber once said, ‘If you’re not going to care for the poor, then don’t use the Vineyard name.’ We have taken that statement seriously since early on in our church and have tried to care for the poor in some way.
Ministry to the poor in a church almost always starts small. It certainly did with us. We began giving a little bit of food away on Saturdays out of a closet that we had in one of our first rented buildings. Over time, that closet ended up growing into a larger space, and then a larger space, and then a larger space.
When we felt God was wanting us to build the auditorium we are in now, we felt like God wanted us to build an entire building that was used to minister to the poor. And, we felt God told us to make sure we built that first, before we built the new auditorium or added more children’s ministry space. So, that’s what we did.
Since that time, our ministry to the poor has evolved into a ministry that reaches thousands of families each year, in all kinds of different ways. We have a food and clothing bank that is open six days a week. We have a free medical clinic open every Saturday afternoon. We do multiple large ministry outreaches to our community including our annual Thanksgiving Outreach. (Last year we gave out over 1,200 complete turkey dinners, which fed 5-6,000 people.) We also partner with our city to paint houses for the elderly, and we hand out hundreds of backpacks and school supplies in our annual Back to School Outreach, along with free ESL classes, tax assistance, resume writing and job placement.
In today’s economic landscape it is crucial that churches show the love of Jesus in tangible ways to their surrounding communities!
[bctt tweet=”Caring for the poor is in the genetic make-up of the Vineyard. -Brian Anderson” quote=”Caring for the poor is in the genetic make-up of the Vineyard.”] Our hope is that all Vineyard churches take that seriously, care for the poor, and see what amazing ways God multiplies their efforts!
