Men roll up sleeves for widows, sole mothers
by Lavinia Ngatoko in Challenge Weekly, New Zealand
April 10, 2007
AUCKLAND, NZ (ANS) -- A new and unique men's ministry to the widowed, solo parents and others with long-term needs in their churches and communities is being launched in a number of churches around New Zealand.Promise Keepers New Zealand, with New Commandment Men's Ministries in the United States, is assisting churches from Nelson through to Tokoroa, Tauranga and Auckland to get the programme going.
Herb Reese established New Commandment Men's Ministries in Broomfield, Colorado, when he realised after pastoring in a number of churches that although the Bible talks about widows, single mothers, fatherless children and other people in distress, many Christians did not know how to serve them.
He made it a priority everywhere he served to encourage men who loved Christ to assist such people. New Commandment ministries helps churches to recruit, train, organise and deploy teams of men for this purpose.
John Subritzky, communications director for Promise Keepers, says the programme is still in the beginning stages, with a few churches about to start sending out teams.
A team of about four men will give three hours of one Saturday morning a month to do chores such as cleaning carpets, windows and stoves, fixing plumbing, checking smoke detectors, lights, faulty taps and roofs and do any building work required.
All the teams must meet for prayer, Bible study and last-minute planning before going out. At the end of its visit, each team reads scripture, prays with those who have been helped and for other people in need on the block.
The thing that makes this ministry unique is that each team "adopts" a person and returns to the same person each month. So rather than becoming just another monthly project for men, the relationships built between the team and those helped and among the men on each team become powerful and compelling.
Mr Subritzky says that often when a person had gone through a crisis or traumatic ordeal such as the death of a loved one, everyone rallies around them for the first few weeks before moving on.
With this ministry, teams were permanent and their service could extend over months and years.
"You are moving away from just meeting a need to showing the love of Christ," said Mr Subritzky. "You're actually caring for them. It is great to have men's groups so mission focused."
Although the vision of the ministry need not necessarily be limited to those in the Church, Mr Subritzky says those within the Church who need help will be given priority.
The safety and security of those helped and the helpers was of primary concern and a number of policies had been recommended.
These include: No team member should go to help alone or be alone in a room with a child of any age; if budgeting or debt relief is sought, the pastor or appropriate staff person should be notified and team members are not allowed to give investment advice. Group meetings should not be skipped before going to the care receiver's home.
Churches are also encouraged to do background checks on the men who are participating.
© 2007 ASSIST News Service, used with permission.
