By Rick James
Last week we considered whether mobilising the church and community together was the pearl of great price. I wonder whether, in all our activity as churches, mission or development agencies, we are missing this pearl or at least not giving it the focus and effort it merits. Faith based organisations talk easily about the added value of faith in international development; how the local church is so widely spread; in the poorest, most remote areas; present for the long term; and a respected voice influencing behaviour. Yet so much of our funded development projects actually bypasses the local church. Have a look at some different approaches.
Jesus tells the parable of the merchant who sold all he had when he found the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45-46). Some agencies are certainly experimenting with these local congregation-based approaches under a variety of labels, but few are selling all they have to concentrate on it. To be honest, all but one or two, are pretty half-hearted, maintaining existing traditional projects because such projects are easier to raise money for and better fit our grant-making systems.
This week consider:
What would it mean for our congregation, our mission or development agency to sell all we have for this pearl of great price?
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