The Nazarene World Mission Society

More documents

Recommendations

Info

$Balloon animals -- instructions from Pioneer National Latex (sold$

Compassionate Ministries / 93needs. Most importantly, they could be trusted not to use the aid forpersonal gain.Organized Compassionate MinistriesEven though compassion lay at the heart of Christ's ministry andcertainly was, as Dr. W. M. Greathouse put it, "an authentic expressionof holiness," the church seemed reluctant to embrace this ministryas a basic element in its mission. There was a lingering apprehensionthat such activity might dilute the primary emphasis onevangelism. The two were somehow perceived as being mutually exclusive."Social gospel" implications were inherent in such activity.The net result was a less-than-ardent response to humanitarianconcerns and in some quarters outright resistance. True, there wasbox work for the sending of used clothing to the mission fields. Orphanagescontinued as important adjuncts on many stations. Specialappropriations were made from time to time to meet emergenciesoverseas occasioned by floods, famine, earthquakes, and so on. Infact, an informal survey revealed that 30-40 percent of all missionarieswere involved in some way with compassionate ministries,though mostly in medical missions. 3As the concept of world community grew, however, and the newsmedia, particularly television, shattered the complacency of favorednations by depicting the multiplying human tragedies around theworld every day, the call could not be ignored. The church had torespond, not to the detriment of its evangelistic mission but to augmentand reinforce it.It was a multifaceted challenge. Not only did food need to be sentto avert famine, but long-range solutions had to be found with improvedagricultural practices and nutritional improvements. Self-helpprojects needed to be launched to lift the 800 million people living inabject poverty out of their miserable existence. Sixteen million refugeesneeded to be rehabilitated.In the 1970s the Church of the Nazarene began to enter thearena of compassionate ministries as part of its planned agenda. Itan in Haiti when in 1975 a famine called for response, and aplaneload of food and vitamins was sent in. This prompted the establishmentof a Hunger Fund to help meet such crises.Then on February 4, 1976, a violent earthquake devastated alarge area of Guatemala, and the church responded with supplies,medical aid, and personnel for reconstruction and to aid the rehabil-
94 / Mission to the Worlditation of displaced families. This new dimension to the humanitariancause prompted a change of name to Hunger and Disaster Fund.Appeals to the church for contributions to this fund found readyresponse as new calamities struck around the world. By 1980 not onlyHaiti and Guatemala, but Peru, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Cape Verde,India, Chile, Cambodia, the Philippines, Mozambique, and South Africahad been recipients of aid. Contributions went from $104,243 in1980 to $285,000 in 1983. By the close of the quinquennium $1.25million had been sent in, and 23 countries had received help.Famine relief, particularly in Central Africa and Mozambique,brought forth a great outpouring of support. In addition to a specialgrant of $100,000 from general funds, over half a million dollars camein to purchase, ship, and deliver grain, dried milk, and other fooditems to these countries. In Kenya, one of the prominent directors ofthe food distribution program was a Nazarene layman, Leo Mpoke.Relief was also sent to sufferers of numerous natural disasters—typhoons in the Philippines and Fiji, an earthquake in Chile, floods inArgentina and Portugal, drought in the Cape Verde Islands, to name afew.Long-range ProgramsHaiti was also in the vanguard of development of long-rangeprojects of humanitarian nature. In 1973 Charles Morrow introducedmodem agricultural methods there that improved both the quantityand nutritional quality of their food. Steve Weber came in 1975 tolaunch various cooperative self-help projects that eventually numberedabout 20. South India, under the leadership of Bronell Greer,established similar programs.The term agmissions was coined to cover farm projects to improvesoil productivity and the quality of herds. Well-drilling projects inHaiti, Swaziland, and India sought to provide safe drinking water aswell as irrigation for the fields. By 1985 some 7 percent of theCompassionate Ministries budget was being invested in the variousagmissions projects. The agriculture department of Mid-AmericaNazarene College provided principal support for this program.Health clinics in India, Haiti, Guatemala, and Brazil were alsogiven assistance, and nutrition centers were set up in several countries.Grain mills in Malawi aided a self-support program there.An unusual opportunity for the Church of the Nazarene camewhen missionary Dr. Glenn Fell, an expert in soil science, became a
Page 1 and 2: Chapter 5The NazareneWorld Mission
Page 3 and 4: The Nazarene World Mission Society
Page 9 and 10: missions. The concept was not entir
Page 18 and 19: Work and Witness / 87sized team of
Page 20 and 21: Compassionate Ministries / 89lives
Page 22 and 23: Compassionate Ministries / 91hospit
Page 26 and 27: Compassionate Ministries / 95high-r
Page 28 and 29: World Mission Radio / 97church and
Page 30 and 31: 98 / Mission to the World5- to 15-m
Page 32 and 33: 100 / Mission to the WorldIndonesia
Page 34 and 35: 102 / Mission to the WorldDedicatio

The Nazarene World Mission Society

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?