| Give Them The Tools, Not A Handout |
Give Them The Tools, Not A Handout Imagine facing each day with the only emotion being desperation; awakening before dawn you race to the marketplace to secure your place in a growing line-up of fathers in search of a way to feed their families. Imagine life’s purpose reduced to surviving another day; a “successful” workday defined as laboring ten to twelve hours in the baking Indian sun just to earn enough to put food on your scant table that evening, awaking the next morning to do it all over again. While you’re away your wife and young children will hit the streets of Mumbai hoping for a “good” day of begging. More than likely they will be brushed aside as mere nuisances and unwelcome reminders of man’s duty to “the least of these” or reduced to the curious spectacle of visiting tourists who returning to the safety of their hotel rooms thanking God that they weren’t born in the slums of Mumbai. Desperation might be the least of your concerns; purpose driven doesn’t even come into your thinking, your life situation has pretty well defined it – to survive another day, to provide for your wife and children. This is the world below the poverty line, where two-thirds of India’s population lives, young and old; it’s the world which Crossroads, Mumbai staff member Swaraj works in every day; these are the people he interacts with. Jobs may be number one on the list of greatest concerns but sickness and water follow closely behind. Many suffer with chronic sickness due to the unsanitary conditions associated with life in a slum; lack of food on a regular basis and an unhealthy diet contribute to the chronic sicknesses (there’s a reason for the saying “beggars can’t be choosy”). Yet Swaraj remarks how he has seen God’s hand move on people as he has prayed for their healing. Signs of God’s healing power is one of the ways God is opening the hearts and minds of Muslims and Hindu’s, set in the cultural concrete of prejudice and deception, to the truth of the Gospel. Working in the backdrop of Mumbai’s ever burgeoning slums Swaraj carries the Gospel of Christ to the forgotten and neglected. Having joined Crossroads last year Swaraj has already seen fruit from his endeavours. Focusing on relational evangelism Swaraj has planted four small “house churches” in recent months; plans and prayers are that three more will be planted in 2010. The success of this church planting movement hinges on the proper grounding of the average believer together with the training of lay leaders capable of leading the emerging church from these humble beginnings. Poverty, illiteracy, and lack of access to formal Christian schooling stand in the way. The solution comes in the form of an LCD projector which enables Crossroads to purchase and present solid biblically based instruction across the spectrum of need building strong and faithful followers of Christ as well as preparing emerging church leaders. You can help make strong disciples for the emerging Indian Church by donating towards the purchase of this projector. Help us put the tools in the hands of those carrying the gospel to the least of these. The cost of the projector is $1,950.00. Any help you can be will make a difference. 100% of your gift goes for the purchase this vital tool. Thanks for your help, Kent Kelley Founder, Crossroads International  |
