Why
Go?
The Greatest Commandment, to love God and love
others (Matt.
22:34-40) is
included inside of the Great Commission (Matt.
28:16-20). He commands us (this is not a
suggestion) to love and care for the spiritual AND physical well being of
others.
How
does going affect us?
* Obeying God pleases Him (and is good for us!).
* Opens our eyes first hand to poverty.
* Introduces us to the Great Commission and
mission work in general.
* Demonstrates Christ's body working on
something practical.
* Many opportunities to stretch ourselves beyond
our "comfort zone".
* We can learn a lot from the Mexican people's faith,
family life and culture.
How
does going affect them?
* Benefits the community
* The projects are our first step
in engaging the community further.
* They see in a practical and spiritual way
that they are not forgotten.
* Sharing our lives with our Mexican
neighbours is invaluable.
ClubRust is
re-focusing our efforts to be more "developmental" (and less
"relief" or charity based). Working closely with local
pastors, leaders and ministries, we continue to pray together, exploring
better methodologies of serving in the communities.
Why
development and not just relief?
We are all familiar with the proverb "Give a
man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you
feed him for a lifetime." Development focuses on empowering the
local community to define, participate in and resolve their own goals,
with their own ideas and resources.
Some
of the principles emphasized are:
* Address both physical and spiritual community needs ("wholistic"
approach).
* The community develops the ideas and the
solution to their own problems.
* The resources to implement the solution
come from within the community.
* Volunteers, Ideas and solutions increase,
and spread to other communities.
* The community learns how to reach its own
goals with God's help.
* We learn
from each other when we all participate together - We are equals.
* We model Christ's leadership style by
serving all whom we work alongside.
What
are we doing about this?
While
ClubRust may never become a purely
developmental effort, our desire is to be part of the process that sees true
development flourish. To that end, we are working closely
with several developmental ministry partners. The inroads we have in
the communities because of these projects will be instrumental in their
developmental efforts to further God's Kingdom here on earth, as it is in
Heaven...
Some
practical ways that ClubRust is doing this:
* Teach/Learn - Construction, Electrical, Plumbing, etc...
* Resist giving away items such as clothing,
food and money.
* Work through a local committee to determine
the real needs.
* Regular visits with pastors and leaders to
build more relationship.
* Community nominates families for homes or
projects to be done.
* Invite the communities to the Ranch for meals,
fellowship, and services.
* Bible storying, crafts and activities with
community kids during build days.
* Encourage locals to volunteer alongside us
for any project.
* Team devotions - Story/skit tying physical
& spiritual at work site.
* Prayer walking in neighbourhoods.
* Prayer meetings in churches in the
communities with locals and pastors.
To
learn more:
The
CHE Network
Global
CHE Enterprises
Medical
Ambassadors International
Rancho
La Paloma Ministry Center
* CHE stands for Community Health
Evangelism.
