I recently dropped a question into various social networks asking, “Hey… is there any difference in teaching kids vs. ministering to them? What should be the focus if you desire spiritual transformation in the community?”  This is how everybody from Durham to Chicago (written collectively) responded.

Hispanic boys

I don’t think there is a difference. Ministering is teaching and teaching is ministering. They both lead to spiritual transformation in the community. I like the “hang out with people in the community” idea, just like when we hung out with the boys in the hood. The thing they pointed out was “we just kept coming back.” Cool things do happen when you go hang with people in a non-judgmental, respectful, and listening type of way… I also think that you have to be part of the community and not just show up and be like here I am, listen to me. I think you have to not only meet their spiritual needs but their physical ones too; you have to meet them right where they are… build a real relationship.

Interesting… that’s exactly the way our CEF staff and local committee responds to city kids and communities everyday. The Gospel is central to everything we do, which transcends teaching, serving, helping, etc. Our approach to ministry can be framed with the 10 Keys to the Kingdom (above) and are based on Isaiah 58, 61, and Luke 10. This journey gets more exciting with each step!