Henri Nouwen once posed the question most ministers ask of themselves at some point in their lives "Why do i spend so much time in preaching the Word of God,  while those I really would like to reach are never in my Building?"

Why do I spend so many hours talking about the individual pains of people, while I leave the Society that creates these wounds unchanged?

To recognise injustice and to help break the chains that contribute to social breakdown is to help the helpless believe that there is hope.

Many years ago, a Vietnamese refugee family of 8 came to live with us in our extended family home in New Zealand suburbia. It was like Vietnam had arrived as we learnt firsthand the difficulties which this family had expereinced thru the war and subsequent internment in a refugee camp.All of a sudden, washing appeared on trees, and bushes, and the unripe fruit on the fruit tree was fair game for a hungry child, and the late nite gambling with other ethnic friends became a hallmark of nite life on the property. 

The family  soon stopped attending the church which had sponsored them, because firstly they could not understand the language and secondly they stood out to such an extent, it was an embarrasment to them.

Many of the results the church wanted never materialised, because they were all conceived inside 4 walls that were foreign to the world the family understood and knew. What they did understand was family relationships, and the importance of building a new life in New Zealand and the importance of their children finding friends in the community.  Helping Rit to work the washing machine, and show her how to shop and what to shop for were fun ways of building bridges

Disciplemaking is best done in the context of the world that people live in, That is why Mercy Teams sees so much fruit in South East Asia. Because firstly it is authentic and secondly practical and thirdly relational.

If you would like to know more about joining our Disciplemakers Team, why not write to our Recruiting Officer  and get more information .   Address your email to   recruiting(at)mercyteams.net  and we will be in touch.