When I was tasked to head up the PVFC Care team I was totally unprepared and did not consider it to be my particular gifting. However, after some serious prayer and trying to find reasons for not getting involved in such a difficult ministry, I understood that God was telling me to be obedient, and to trust him. This was almost a year ago and I must confess that although we have gone through some rough patches, it has been a very worthwhile experience and a wonderful blessing; more to us than the people being cared for.
My initial thoughts were that this ministry should belong to the whole church, as Jesus’ clear command was that we love one another (John 13:34-35; Matt 12:48-50) and that we care for our neighbours (Luke 10:25-37; Matt 25: 35-40) and now that the Vision is moving us towards Gospel centred Worship, Discipleship, Community and Mission I’m more convinced that it should be so. After all, we are part of God’s family here on earth and are meant to live in community with one another, caring for and looking out for each other.
One of the families who has been prayed, counselled and cared for wrote:
We want to thank the PVFC Care team for their ongoing love and care, for opening up their hearts to us as they have done in our time of desperate need. As we have been fed spiritually, the Care team has also fed us physically by providing for our basic needs like food. May God bless this ministry as it goes from strength to strength, as you do the work of the Ministry of the Kingdom of God faithfully according to God’s call, by being His hand extended here on earth. We pray that God will use you more and more as you show yourself faithful to him and his calling as you work among those in need - spiritually, emotionally and physically. Most of all, thank you Father God, Lord Jesus Christ and and Holy Spirit for being faithful to your promises of never leaving us, nor forsaking us and for being with us always. May your name be Glorified!
We as a family have experienced first hand , the love, caring and practical Christianity from the Care team at PVFC. After assessing our needs in relation to the challenging financial situation we as a family are presently in, the Care team stepped up and have helped us with groceries and other items. that in the true sense of the word have kept us alive, sane and helped us maintain our dignity. It is so overwhelming to experience such love and practical Christian faith in our lives at this time, we feel so blessed. Just saying thank you seems so inadequate. The Sunday notices read 'Care Ministry - call our help line and someone will come to your aid'. What a fantastic statement that we have experienced first hand. Thank you Care Team.
We realised from the outset that, with limited knowledge and experience in counselling, it was going to be a low key affair and that it would consist mostly of being a good listener, holding someone’s hand through a difficult time, helping with practical needs, where needed, and generally just being available. As one member of our team notes:
Reflecting on my role in this team, I realized that I often wait for big tragedies to hit to be able to care. Pastoral care is however less about counselling and fixing the problems of the world, than it is about intentionally seeking out every possible opportunity to walk with someone along their path – whether that path is something as devastating as death, divorce, losing a house or something as ‘trivial’ as loneliness, feeling unworthy or hurting relationships. We all as God's ambassadors need to use every opportunity to genuinely bring Jesus love into each person’s life and guide them to a deeper relationship with Jesus.
Maybe people in our community and congregation never ask for help, because maybe they also expect that their problems need to be catastrophic before they have the “vrymoedigheid” to approach us. But we should be serving in the simplest of ways – praying with someone through a tough decision, talking about fears and hurts and doubts, being a friend to the lonely. Isaiah 61 sums up pastoral care well: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
This about sums up what we have been doing this past year and although we are not qualified as psychologists, we have managed to cope with most things that have come our way. We have also managed to identify a number of suitable Christian professional people to back up the ministry in case of need. It is really a matter of serving Jesus by being available, using your common sense and doing a lot of praying, before engaging an issue. Caring is not confined to the poor community only, there are many wealthy people in our neighbourhood that are in dire straits, but for various reasons, prefer to carry their own burdens. How sad is this! It is the responsibility of every one of us to intentionally seek and save the lost.
The Care team is currently a small but dedicated team, but it is important to expand the Care ministry to the HomeGroups, because it is there where most of the caring should take place. To this end we have arranged an evening with Grant Hopkins, from Durbanville Methodist Church, to give us a coaching workshop and we are asking all HomeGroup leaders and everyone else that is interested to come and get equipped so that you too can be part of caring for the community that is PVFC. I am therefore making an earnest appeal to all of the Home Groups to seriously consider coming to this meeting on Monday, 16th April at 19h00, please contact Paula to RSVP for this training.
Grace and peace
Leon
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